Grace Upon Grace

So, after a lot of prayer and talking things over with Cedrick... I have decided to take some time off school. Being a mom, wife, Christ follower, and student is a lot to handle and unfortunately adding the role of student has caused me to seriously slack in other areas of my life. Areas I can not afford to not be dedicating 100% to.  

I do not really know where this blog is starting or where this is going. I was just given a title and felt led to begin typing. 
Transparency. "Let's be real". "Let's be honest". How ever you want to say it, it is something that we as disciples need to constantly look to Christ for the ability to "be real" with others. To be transparent. To ask for help or for prayer. To ask a brother or sister to intercede in prayer for us. 
I do not really know what the root of it is. Pride? Fear of rejection? Embarrassment? 

Well you all.. I've got some news. We are all struggling. Just take a look at 1 Peter 5:9... 

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

Clear as day. The same sufferings! This is meant to encourage us! Other people struggling and over coming is a blessing. How can we be encouraged if people aren't being transparent with their struggles? How can we lift one another up? We can't. That is why we need transparency. 1 Peter 5:5 says: 

"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble"

In that spirit, I want to become very transparent as of now. I need that supernatural grace. I am asking for support and prayer about what is to follow.

Recently the Lord unlocked a gift for me. Something I never saw myself doing. 

Something I still kind of giggle at the thought of. 

Poetry.

And honestly, I don't really know if it is classified as poetry. I've just been writing what I hear and it tends to come in fragments, similar to poetry. 

So, with that being said, here are two poems the Lord has given me in the past couple weeks. 

Hey guys!!!

Things have been absolutely nuts over the past couple months! I have been adjusting to life with TWO kids (still seems totally unreal) and it has definitely been an adjustment. We've also been working on figuring out what the Lord has next for our family. I've been drowning in paper work and the general bureaucracy of higher education. Not to mention also drowning in spit up and breastmilk poo. 

I was also able to get my hands on a computer! So more blogs in the future, yay!!

SO, here is an update on things in our lives. Changes, news, what the Lord is doing, etc.

So to follow up my last blog, and now that Jacob is here, I felt I should share the story of his birth! 

Here it is... the story of how Jacob Israel Morrison joined us earthside. 

Let me start this off by saying this : 

I understand this can be a very controversial topic. I am not here to tell anyone what is right for their family. I am here to share my personal convictions and why my family has chosen this route. I believe every family should do their research, educate themselves, and pray prior to deciding how they feel their children should enter the world. 

That being said... After research, talking it over with my husband, and a lot of prayer, we have chosen to have a freebirth with our child due any day now.

 "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" 

This is the question Christ asked Peter after He was resurrected and had revealed Himself to His disciples. 

Three consecutive times the Lord asked this to Peter. Why? Restoration. Forgiveness. A calling and a purpose.

So tonight in the middle of the night I was listening to Love Never Fails by Brandon Heath. It struck a nerve. It rang so true to what the Lord has been showing me recently.
There's a line in the very first verse that says, "Love after all, matters most". I am finding this to be more and more true. 

Happy Sunday guys!
I hope everyone has had an amazing week and weekend so far. 
Last weekend the Lord gave me the strength, motivation, energy, and ability to clean and organize a lot of my home. Its such an amazing feeling coming home to a clean and organized home.... So lets praise the Lord for that, because my flesh is the last thing from organized and cleanly. 
Anyways... Ever since the Lord gave me that bit of information on my name meaning grace grace and the scripture in John 1, the Lord started showing me the word "fullness" is all over His scriptures. So I thought I should ask Him... "God, what is this fullness? Why are you bringing it to my attention? What do you mean by fullness? What does this fullness include? How do we become filled? Why would you fill us?" and on and on. And boy, did I receive an answer.

Hey guys!
I know it's been like a month since I have blogged. Things have been super crazy, but the Lord has been showing me more and more how to manage my time that I may get all of His assignments for me completed. It can be pretty crazy trying to work 40 hours a week, keep a clean home, keep a happy (and fed) family, spend the NECESSARY time with the Lord, write a blog, go to Bible study, and keep my temple up... especially if you are trying to do all those things out of your flesh, and not through Christ. He has been teaching me organization and time management. Praise the Lord that He is concerned with EVERY part of our day. 


Anyways... In this time the Lord revealed something pretty cool to me... I want to share this with everyone because it is the reason I have changed the name of my blog. 
As everyone knows, there is a lot in a name, especially biblical names. 
My parents named me after Hannah in the Bible... Honestly, I am not quite sure why. If you ask my mom she will tell you she named me that in the case that I was born dyslexic I could still spell my name. She's SO funny. (I love you mommy!) 
Regardless of  why they chose to name me that... the name Hannah meansGrace.
My parents also gave me my mothers middle name which is Annette. Any one want to guess what Annette means? From my title you can probably guess pretty accurately. Annette means Grace.
This makes the meaning of my name Grace Grace. After realizing this my husband immediately sent me to John 1:16 :
"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." 
So by that I feel like the Lord showed me that I have received a double portion. I have received the fullness of Christ. I AM grace upon grace. So I feel this is the best name for my blog. Grace Upon Grace.

When I say fruit, what do you think of? Probably a banana, apple, pear, grape. Some of you may even lean into the exotic side of things... Maybe a papaya? Well, I want to take a little time to look at fruit, tests, trials, and pruning. I know that seems like a lot but by the grace of God, He will some how tie all of that together. I have some scripture written down but I am not really sure where He is going to take this... So lets dive in.

Yesterday and today have been a struggle for me. I truly have not been in the Word and if you would have been around me, you could definitely tell. I’ve been unnecessarily irritable, lazy, not in prayer, and just flat out -more like myself and less like Him. 
I think that my lack of reading His words and my lack of prayer left the door wide open for attacks from the other side. I got to a place this afternoon where I completely broke down when my husband told me he was leaving to go to starbucks to spend some time with the Lord. I was mad, not at him, but at myself for not utilizing my free time and spending it with Christ. I had thoughts along the lines of “maybe my heart isn’t sincere enough”, “maybe I am someone who just can’t do this”, “maybe God does not want me”. I acknowledge these are attacks but I realized that I have not been preparing for this. 
As Christians we sometimes believe that being in Christ that there aren’t struggles. I think that we get this false notion that because were Christians life is suppose to be peaceful. GUESS WHAT? Its not. Jesus addressed this in Matthew 10:34.

"Do not suppose that I have cone to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

The Word of the almighty God is our sword. He has given us the weapon we need to fight off these attacks in His name, because we certainly can not do it ourselves. As I am sure many of you have read in Ephesians, we are taught about the armor of God. That every day we are called to wake up and put on the full armor of God.

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." 
Ephesuans 6:10-17

He calls us to do this EVERY DAY that when these attacks come we are armored and prepared to take up our sword and defend ourselves against darkness. This is what the Lord reminded me of today. That every day we need to be in the word, in prayer, fellowshipping with other believers so that when attacks come we do not fall to them.

So I want to challenge all of you to join me in this. To make a habit of it, every morning, to wake up at least 30 minutes early to spend time with the Lord, put on your armor, and prepare for battle. Do not be discouraged by other believers walks, but be encouraged, be empowered, and know that with a willing heart our God can do anything through you.

Please be in prayer for my struggles and feel free to ask for prayer. We are all parts of the body. We are all in this together!