I can't believe yesterday my baby turned 1! Seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant with #3 - much to our suprise!!! I just love Elijah Allen - he is sooooooo sweet, so fun, so precious!! I just love God's suprises

God is amazing. I learn that more and more daily. He truly is a God of love, of hope, of change. He changed me from a self centered, hypocritical, nagging, self seeking, dominating woman, into a true (work in progress!) wife. I am so not there yet, but I can see the changes daily. I can see me putting Micah's needs first, serving my family joyfully, keeping my mouth shut when I have nothing nice to say, encouraging instead of discouraging, and in constant prayer with Him. Like I say, I am not perfect, not even close, but my heart has changed. I now want to do what is right in the eyes of God, not in the eyes of man. I want to serve Him, serve Micah, serve my family in the same way Christ did. I strive to be more and more like Him daily, but unfortunatly, I fail daily...its okay though, God's grace is enough for me. I know that in His eyes, I am perfect, I am righteous, I am His child. This is my hope that keeps me going. That one day, I can understand why He is so good. Why he restored my marriage??!! I have met several women since Micah and my hard times, and I can see thier pain. I remember it all too clearly. I know how it is when you think there is no hope. But...I can offer them hope. I can tell my story. I can pray for them, I can sympathize, because I was there. Granted, we all have different issues in our marraiges, but I can gaurantee, the pain is very similar. But WOW...our God is good. He heals the broken hearted, he changes His children, He loves us!!! When we hurt, He hurts, I have to remember that! It's like when I watch my child hurt...it hurts me so much more because of my love for them! That is the way God looks at us! He love us so much more than we can understand and He wants us to have the joy of Christ in us! He wants us to shine for Him and to be the light! He wants to save marraiges and the picture it represents - of Christ and the church.
So...with all that said, we just celebrated our 7 year anniversary. I am more in love with Micah than I was the day we married. I didn't think that was possible, people say that, but you don't believe it. Well, now I do. God has changed both of us and I thank Him daily for that. It is nothing I did, except accept the gift of His son and gave Him control of my life. He does the rest. And wow, what a job He has done. I have an amazing marriage, 3 beautiful children, a home, and above all, a personal relationship with my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. I could not ask for more. I don't care about anything else, not material things, not what kind of job my husband has, what kind of car we drive or clothes we wear, all I care about is following JC the rest of my life. And I have to say, of course we are so far from perfect, but that is not the point...we have our eyes on Him, that is the point. He then changes us, and gets the glory, not us. He softens our hearts, focuses us, guides us, uses us, and by doing all this, He has created an intimacy between Micah and I that is amazing (fireworks sometimes . Satan, watch out, you are not tearing this family apart anymore!!!! The Swindell Army is here and ready to fight!
Romans 8:31 ...."If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Here is to another 7 - 17 - 70 years

I can't believe it has been 6 years. At 8:05am 6 years ago, Noah was born. It was such an amazing time in my life. It was one of those times that you realize you can actually love something more than life itself. I remember looking into his eyes and just falling completely in love. He was perfect. He was precious, and or course, mommy and daddy cried when he was born, it was amazing. The labor on the other hand was very hard lol...and it took 2 hours of pushing to get that kid out!!! And of course, he was born in a jacuzzi tub He still loves the water!
Noah is an amazing son. He is a persistent, caring, sweet, active, loving, physical, curious, smart, boy that follows his daddy like a puppy dog daily. He wants to live in that mans shadow 24-7. It used to be me...but now its daddy. Which is okay, just kind of sad...he is growing up. He still loves to crawl up in my lap and snuggle. He loves to be held and kissed...he is so sweet One day soon he will be as big as me and I will be so sad. I ask him all the time to stop growing, but he tell's me "I can't mom, I have to grow up!"...I guess so...So, with all that said, God is amazing. He has blessed me with 3 amazing children and Noah as the first. God knew what a great big brother he would be. He helps me daily, he loves his siblings, and he loves the responsibility of caring for them. Don't get me wrong...he also gets in LOTS of trouble, but deep in his heart is the sweetest, gentle, God-seeking boy that I can't wait to see turn into a warrior in God's army. God is so good.