praying God's word...a little catching up

I have not done well at keeping up with documenting my journey of praying through God's word.  However, I have definitely been blessed by doing it.  I want to share just a bit of what the Lord has taught me in the past couple of weeks.

week 3: He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you.  My power is made perfect in weakness."

2 Corinthians 12:9

This week was very personal for me.  One thing that has really been on my heart lately is my struggle with perfectionism.  This has been something that I have dealt with my whole life.  Growing up, I saw it as a positive thing {which it can be} particularly with regard to academics.  I pushed myself to do my best because I actually wanted to, and it provided scholarships, job opportunities, etc. that wouldn't have happened without that.  However, I think I never realized how much my perfectionist tendencies had crept into pretty much every facet of my life.  I am not comfortable with any of my imperfections.  Let me be clear that I have no expectation of others being perfect, but this is simply a burden I place on myself.  I want everything I do, housekeeping, mothering, teaching, hosting, etc. to be PERFECT.  And, I feel inadequate when it's not.  So much so that I won't even attempt something if I know I will mess up.  And, that is messed up.  God has been bringing this reality to the forefront of my heart and mind a lot recently, and this verse was a good, and harsh, reminder that I don't have to be perfect.  God's grace covers my imperfections.  And, my weaknesses give him an opportunity to display His power.  So, I am trying to let go of my perfectionist ways, and the Lord is slowly working on my heart in that way.

week 4: Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.  He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.  James 1:19

This past week was a challenge in being thankful.  It's easy to come to God when things are tough.  It's easy to come to God when amazingly wonderful things happened or prayers are answered exactly to our liking.  But, I find that it's difficult to remember the good things, day in and day out, with which the Lord has blessed me.  And, it reminded me that even on days when it seems like not much is going right that simply the knowledge that God will NEVER change is more than good enough to praise Him.  I still need this reminder, and this verse may pop back up in later weeks :)

Finally, for this week's verse:

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:2-5

Chris's mom, Holly, is having her 4th neck/back surgery tomorrow.  We will be spending the day in Temple praying and being with family during the surgery and visiting Holly after.  So, healing has really been on my heart, and I will be spending a lot of time praying this verse tomorrow and this week as I think about Holly and ask for protection over her surgery and recovery {would love you to join me in that too}.  I have 2 favorite things about these verses: first, the confidence the psalmist has that God HEALS, not might heal, but will heal.  No doubt.  Utter confidence and belief in God's ability to heal.  Also, I love the part about your youth being renewed.  I will be praying that over Holly all week, and I am so hopeful that this will be part of her life soon!  Be blessed in your prayer time this week! 

the big reveal

Since we found out we were expecting baby #2 a week or so before Christmas, we knew immediately that we wanted to wait to tell our families at Christmas.  It just seemed like perfect timing!  We also knew we wanted Micah to be involved in some way, but it was too late to order any big sister shirts.  So, we enlisted the help of our amazing graphic design friend, Gretchen, who kept our secret and designed the most precious big sister shirt for Micah to wear.

Since we had Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve, they were the first to learn the big news!!!  We dressed Micah in her shirt but put her coat on over it.  We had to do a little stalling because some of my family members weren't quite ready for lunch {ahem...Lindsey...ahem}.  Once everyone was gathered to start eating lunch, we took Micah's coat off and told them to check out Micah's new "Christmas" shirt.  As they all processed what it said, there was lots of screaming!!!  {I'm really sad that I don't have pictures from this!  We were all really hungry, so we changed Micah out of her shirt really quickly because she had to wear it the next day...bummer!}  It was super fun and a great way to start off our Christmas celebrations.

We planned to do the same thing with Chris's family the next day, but a couple of days before Christmas, we got a big and exciting surprise.  Chris's sister, Angela, is also pregnant and due about 11 days after us!!!  How crazy is that?!?!  So, we of course decided to tell Chris's parents and siblings together with a big brother shirt for Cade and a big sister shirt for Micah.  The kids revealed their shirts at the same time, and the reaction was priceless!  Grandmommy and Pops are ecstatic about having 2 babies around soon!

{I know they don't look excited, but they are :)}

We are all so thrilled and so thankful for the chance to grow our little family!  Being parents is such a blessing, and we are grateful to add more joy to our lives.

praying God's word - week 4

I apoligize for the delay in getting this week's scripture posted. If you read my previous post, then you know why :)

For now I am just going to post this week's verse, but I promise to actually catch up on what God has been doing in my life through this journey of praying His word.
So, week 4:
"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." James 1:17

Be blessed this week!

going from 3...

...to 4!!!

That's right, Micah is going to be a BIG sister!

We are so excited and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents again.

I had no idea how I would feel when we got pregnant again.  I mean, with Micah, I was thrilled out of my mind, and I just wasn't sure what it would feel like this time.  But, amazingly, it felt exactly the same!  I felt the same rush of joy and disbelief and thankfulness. 

Seeing those lines {or words or both in my case} is such an incredible reminder of God's power.

 We went to the doctor yesterday and got to sneak a peek at our itty bitty, and we got to hear that beautiful, strong heartbeat.  That sound is one of the sweetest ever.  Everything looked perfect...yay!  Baby love is due August 22.

The kids {I kind of love the sound of that already :)} will be about 20 months apart.  I am excited for them to be so close in age and hope they will develop a wonderful friendship for the rest of their lives. 

So, now we just soak up every bit of this miracle of pregnancy.  I love it!  And, we pray protection over our little love growing away.  We would covet your prayers as well! 

week 3

My husband just got home from a week in Ghana with Mercy Project, so this post will be short and sweet. But, I will hopefully find time to elaborate more on what God revealed to me last week and why I chose this week's verse tomorrow.  There is a lot to say about this verse and why it spoke to me today, but for now, here is the verse I will be praying and meditating on this week:

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

  

what's new?

We've made one significant change around the Fieldhouse by welcoming this little cutie into our family!

Chris surprised me with my very own lap dog last Friday morning!!!  His name is Fenway, and he is a 3 year old yorkie.  {Our yellow lab's name is Wrigley, so we decided to honor baseball one more time.  He will go by Fen for short.}  I grew up with a yorkie and have always wanted one ever since Chris and I got married.  Chris got up really early {like 3:45am early...what a great husband I have} to drive almost 2 hours to pick him up and be back home by the time Micah and I were having breakfast.  It was a great surprise!  He is the sweetest, cutest little dog, and I am enjoying snuggling with him already :)

And, for a little Micah update since it's been a while...

She sure is a bundle of fun these days and so super silly.

She is walking all over the place!  Seriously unstoppable!  We have purchased baby gates, so I can at least limit her walking to one room, not in circles around the house :)  Please note the wet sleeves in this picture...she had just finished having way too much fun playing in the dogs' water bowl.

Finally, this is what you can find Micah doing pretty much any time she is not walking around...sitting in someone's lap with a book.  I LOVE this!!!  She will walk up with a book and plop right in your lap.  It's pretty wonderful.

week 2

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.

"They are plans for good and not for disaster,

to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

This is the scripture I will be praying and meditating on this week. As I reflect on this verse, I will be praying specifically for my little family that we would remember that the Lord always has plans for us, good plans, even when they don't look exactly like ours.  I will be praying that we will submit to the Lord as we look to the future and believe and trust in the hope he promises to us.

But, I really want to focus my prayers and meditation this week on the children on Lake Volta in Ghana.  This verse is often taken out of context, so let me briefly put on my preacher hat and explain it a little to give some insight into why I believe the Lord put this scripture on my heart.  When Jeremiah delivers this word from the Lord, His people were in exile.  They had been in exile a long time and were desparately seeking deliverance.  God had not answered their prayer the way they wanted, and in the same breath that He sends them these words from Jeremiah, He tells them that they will not be delivered any time soon.  What the Lord is promising them in this scripture is that even in the midst of suffering that He DOES have plans, hopeful type plans, for them, and that this season of despair does not mean the Lord has forgotten them.

In light of that, I will be praying this scripture desparately over the children in slavery in Ghana this week.  I will be praying that God would reveal their future soon and that His plans for them would be seen by every single one of them.  I will be praying that His hope would come to them even sooner than their rescue so that they would have the strength to hold on.  And, I will be praying that we, Mercy Project, will live into our part of His plans for these children.

For those of you joining in with me, what scripture will you be praying this week?  I hope the Lord reveals great things about Himself to you through your dedication to prayer and His word this week!  Blessings!  

this is my daily bread

I love the idea of a new year.  It brings with it a fresh start.  A time to let go of things that were bogging you down.  A time to create new, healthy, beneficial habits.  I am not big on New Year's resolutions, and I think the reason why is that I never keep them.  I am pretty good at remembering them for maybe a month, and then...not so much.  However, there are always things on which I want to improve each year, and I am positive that spending time in prayer and in God's Word would be on my list every.single.year. 

That really makes me sad.  I do not crave scripture like I wish I did.  There have been times in my life where I have truly yearned and thirsted for the Word and time to sit in prayer.  Unfortunately, that is not where I am right now.  The thought of finding 30 minutes of uninterrupted time every day is slightly overwhelming.  In the midst of being a wife, a momma, Mercy Project stuff, keeping up with the house, church, and my new job {more on that later!!!}, I feel like I need something more "simple." 

One of the blogs I read posted this the other day, and I immediately felt like it was something I could, needed, and wanted to do!  Each week, I will choose a scripture{s} to meditate on and pray over my family, our work in Ghana, our friends, etc.  All week long, I will stop and reflect on that particular scripture in small moments during the day.  I love the idea of having a scripture on my heart and mind ALL WEEK.  And, it doesn't require a lengthy amount of "sit down" time.  The original poster included all the scriptures she intends to use throughout the year.  I may use some of hers, but I also want to open my heart to what the Lord has for me to find each week.  I hope you will consider joining me and others on this journey of praying God's Word...one week at a time.  I plan to share my scripture focus for each week on my blog every Sunday, so you are more than welcome to use mine.  I am excited!!!

This week, the verse I have been praying and meditating on is Psalm 143:8.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

for I have put my trust in You.

Show me the way I should go,

For to You I entrust my life. 

I love the idea of waking each morning being reminded of God's LOVE for me, my family, the world.  This has been a great reminder for me this week of renewing my focus this year on the Lord and His ways, not my own.  I look forward to a year of filling up on the everlasting daily bread.

six years

Six years ago today, I became Mrs. Chris Field.

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

And, I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

In six years, we've done a lot of things and been lots of places.  In all of it, I cannot help but think that God knew exactly what He was doing 10 years ago when I first started to fall in love with a high school senior. God has shaped and molded us, and even though we are no longer those high school kids, I am still falling in love with him every single day.  

I am so thankful that I get to experience life with Chris.  

He inspires me to be better, to serve harder, to give bigger, to love deeper.

Here's to another fun and crazy and exciting year!

Happy Anniversary, sweet love!

I love you, like a million :)