A few of my favourite things

Well, one of my favourite things: The album that Joel and Liz got me for Christmas... Sandra McCracken's "The Builder and the Architect". This beautiful piece of musical art is a collection of hymns, re-written and otherwise. Her beautiful alto and choice of folksy guitar and banjo compliment her song selections so well!

Currently the song that I keep playing on repeat is "In the Secret of His Presence". This song has really spoken to my heart of clay (Isaiah 64:8). Recently I have really felt the pressing of the Holy Spirit on my heart. I have such a desire to read God's Holy Word and to pray "without ceasing". I have felt burdens lifted, sorrows eased, insights into parts of my life that I'm not used to insights into and last but not least A JOY IN HIS PRESENCE. I know that it sounds awful to hear a Christian say that she recently found joy in the presence of the LORD...I can say I've had this before, but when you stop communing with the LORD on a regular basis it is easy to find being in the presence of the LORD burdensome.

For some time I have not sought wisdom from the LORD, nor have I prayed on a regular basis. I have all the head knowledge, but my heart was hardening. What a sad place to be.

But this song describes the joys of drawing near to our Heavenly Father...and this is what I've been experiencing as of late, Praise the LORD!

"In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side!Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go,To the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, ’neath the shadow of His wingThere is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;And my Savior rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet:If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet,What He says when thus we meet.
Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs and fears;Oh, how patiently He listens! and my drooping soul He cheers:Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false Friend He would be,If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see,Of the sins which He must see.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?Go and hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;And whene’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,You must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face,Of the Master in your face."

To Listen to Sandra sing it go here.

Brothers and Sisters, if you do not know the joy of the presence of the LORD pray for it and ask for it. "For anyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." Matt 7:8

You asked for it, here it is

The new belly pics! We are at 23 weeks, over half way there :-) Or so "they" say.

I guess the way I can tell I'm getting bigger is that you can actually see the panel from my pants through my shirt. And, maybe this is too much information, but oh well, I think I'm getting a stretch mark! Now while some people are very bothered by this, I am not. I had a discussion with my dearest, Nicole, and she and I agree that stretch marks are reminders of what the Lord has blessed us with.

After the snow stops coming we will get a pic of the Honda Pilot up here. Yes, that is what we purchased. A 2004 Honda Pilot EX. It, from all appearance, seems to be a good family vehicle. There are absolutely no frills about this thing. There aren't even cup holders in the front. Yeah that's right. This is something we did not notice until after the purchase, but we are coping. The few things I will miss about my Subaru: heated seats, huge sun roof, 6 CD changer. But all's well that ends well--we have a car, that will seat more than 4 with a car seat in place.

Oh and one more thing!!! We got a crib for free!!! All we had to do was drive to Sparta :-) I love free and/or second hand things.

A Couple Links

Just a couple of links that I've been thinking about. Actually 3. The first 2 are actually from Joel and Liz's blogs and the last is from Girl Talk. All of these blogs are linked at the right hand side of my blog page. But here are the addresses for all: Liz's post, Joel's post and the GirlTalk post. All thought provoking :-)

I will post pictures of our "new" SUV soon and also, we need to get a new "belly pic" up and a picture of the awesome PJ's that we got for little man. They are so cool... :-) The reason for the new belly pic is because people are constantly coming up to me saying "you got bigger!" So I guess I "got bigger". Just a word of advice, unless you are super close to a pregnant woman, do not go up to her and say the words "you got bigger", because 1. no duh and 2. pregnant women's emotional status is easily shattered.

Oh one more thing...we might be getting a crib for free from a lady on craigslist. I love craigslist.

kicking, kicking, kicking...

Hey All! A little update on our little boy :-) As you can see in the title that's what he is doing! It's such a cool feeling. I've been feeling him since 15 weeks, but now he is so much bigger and stronger that his kicks don't feel like flutters anymore. For a little peek as to what he looks like here's a link: http://www.babycenter.com/fetal-development-images-22-weeks .

Last night Scott felt him for the first time! Normally I feel him jump on my bladder, and kick in that general area. Last night, however, I was sitting on the couch, knitting, kind of reclined and I started to feel him kick around my belly button, and a little higher. I was just sitting there thinking and feeling him when it got stronger, so I called Scott over. He sat for a minute with his hand on my tummy and suddenly the baby kicked and Scott looked up really fast..."I felt it!!! Wow, that was cool!" Scott then proceeded to talk to little man and try to coax him to kick more. It didn't work. :-) I'm so excited for this milestone. The biggest bummer about pregnancy is that while it is bringing Scott and I closer to one another, I can't share all these feelings with him all the time, like I want to. But! Alas, this is how our Lord created this process...

In other news, we still don't have a car. We are looking at the Honda Pilot. We went to a shady used car lot last night, in the pouring rain and were led around by Juan to many a repossessed Honda Pilot. The one that we were semi-interested in had been in an accident, which we don't want. So, we thanked them and left. It was a long night. Scott has a new top 4 and so we shall start all over again.

Meanwhile, we found out that our insurance is not paying for our rental like they said they were. So we are racking up the Christmas bill for Enterprise :-)

In our Small Group we are studying the book of James. How applicable here! So I leave you with this:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

I know, I can't believe it either!

I'm posting twice in one week!!!

This will not be astounding, I assure you...I just wanted to share a few things:
First of all, I made my own laundry detergent yesterday:-) Yeah, I know, it's weird. I don't care. It costs about 1 cent per load and I am pleased. It didn't take long to make. It was actually very easy. The hardest part is grating the soap into the pot on the stove. I've done 2 loads already with it, and it does the trick! The only thing is there is no scent, for those of you who like that sort of thing. Here's the link for the site I found the recipe on: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

Secondly, and I should really take pics of these and post them, I got diapers from my mom and grandmother! They are so adorable :-) For those of you who are now wondering how Huggies are adorable, I'm using cloth nappies...again, I know, weird. And again, I don't care. I'm using a very close knock off of the BumGenius brand. And I've gotten to use my new laundry soap on these little things, because you have to wash them three times before the first use. The first use, I know, is a while away, but I'm taking advantage of my comfort and energy level and doing all the baby laundry I can!

Thirdly, in light of the busy holiday season I have a great link to share with you ladies from the ladies at GirlTalk...so here you go! http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/09/managing-busy-s.html

Much love to you all!

p.s. Isn't it funny that the "i before e" rule does not apply to Weird?

Our Cup Overfloweth...

Well, the Thanksgiving week is past, but our thanks has only increased!

The week started off with some exciting news that, not only are we to be parents (you/we already knew that) but we are to be parents of a baby boy *contented sigh*... Scott and I have desired a boy, not for any astounding reason other than that we really want a boy. The Lord does not need to give us a baby or a boy, but He chose to give us both. What a picture to me of Unmerited Favor!!!

Then the next day (Tuesday) my mom and brother arrived, both safely. I have not seen my mother in a year and scott in two years, it was very nice to have her to our house for Thanksgiving. It was also a blessing to have my brother for 5 whole days! :-) During the week we ventured out to buy some clothes for my college-broke brother, we made a large Thanksgiving meal, decorated for Christmas, went to NYC for the day, and celebrated the first Sunday of Advent together. Yes we did all that and baby and I slept very well, I must say...especially after our day in NYC...all....that...walking!

Thanksgiving was beautiful, we were able to have not only 3 parents but 2 siblings, a cousin and a dear friend, Jamie in for dinner. Ashley (cousin) decided to come to NJ to stay with "Uncle Ron and Aunt Linda" for the holiday, just because she wanted to see us all--it was really great to see her again, after 3 years! Many different things were raised in thanks to our Lord and Saviour...

The last, and most exciting thing about this week was that yesterday my mom and I were on our way to Bethlehem, PA for some shopping and excitement when we got into a car accident :-( I won't go into sordid details but my poor little Subaru is mashed in the front. No one was hurt and I went to my mid-wife last night to check on the baby. I'll just start giving praises right now about this little bend in the road because praise is all I have about yesterday...

1. No one was hurt
2. The other driver's car was not damaged
3. My mom was with me and helped me to think through the "what do I do now?"
4. The tow truck was only $48
5. Jamie, the guy mentioned above, is my mechanic, friend, brother in Christ and general go-to guy about many issues, ESPECIALLY broken cars. :-)
6. The body shop owner has been super good and honest.
7. We have no collision insurance....but we do have savings (praise the LORD!)
8. The whole day our baby was kicking me like crazy, as if he was saying "hey! don't worry mom, I'm okay!" (I actually watched him push my tummy out for the first time :-)
9. We have a beautiful church family that always cares for us in our time of need, and my mom noticed that too.
10. Nicole packed her 3 daughters into her car and came to pick us up.
11. My husband is one of the best in the whole world and just said, when I called him, "I'm so glad you all are okay, I love you so much.".
12. My Lord and Saviour always cares for me.


And just as a side note and a lighter ending to this crazy post...we are not naming him "Harold" :-)

The Growing Belly

Alright, I'm back...emerging from the world of make-up and visiting nursing... whew! Some updates: First of all, we had our first "snow-storm" of the year up here. Did not take pics because Mama Pearce and I were out in it shopping and sitting on a closed Rt. 80. Tres fun, I assure you. That same day I had my 16 week check-up with my mid-wife. Little Harold might actually be a Harold after all. The baby's heart rate was 132...which is slow...which "they say" is a boy heart rate. Time will tell, we will be having our ultrasound just before Thanksgiving. Our plan is to have the ultrasound tech write the sex on a piece of paper (if they can tell) and put it in an envelope so that we can open it at our leisure. We are so very excited to find out what we are having. I felt the baby move for the first time a week or so ago. Which, they say is early, but I seem to be super in-tune with my body and can feel everything. Scott says I can feel my appendix working (he's not in the medical field, folks, hence he does not know that an appendix does nothing. :-) So anyhow to get to the point of this post...the first belly pic!

You can see my belly is growing, but thankfully the rest of me is not! I have only gained somewhere between 4 and 5 lbs. So we are right on track. So here's to how sugar makes me feel caffeinated and all the protein I need to shove into my tummy...yum...

Unveiling

It seems that since I've been pregnant I've gotten busier and busier. I'm leading GEMS, working in home care nursing 4 days a week, women's book study, trying to be an excellent wife to Scott and to be a diligent homemaker...add to that random commitments to youth group and friends at church and a book club I've joined (this is my fault, but it's Jane Austen!!!!)....*whew*! This is a lot of stuff. But through it all the Lord has been faithful and I've been learning to spend my time more wisely and to seek Him in what I do. I also have gotten more organized! Yay!

So in light of all of that stuff what do I do? I started my own Mary Kay® business :-) That's right, I could be your new Mary Kay® beauty consultant!!!! This has been a huge deal for Scott and I, we are both excited.

Here are my reasons for starting this little business: 1. I already love my baby and want to stay home with him to love and raise him to know the LORD. 2. I really love my husband (!) and I want to take a small part of the financial burden off of his shoulders while caring for our little one. 3. I feel that this will be an awesome ministry opportunity. 4. Rachel is a really great friend, whom I trust, and she loves her MK® business so much and she assured me I would love it. 5. I am a people person and I really like meeting new people, therefore I feel this will be a great outlet when the baby is small. 6. I REALLY like Mary Kay® skin care and make up. It makes me happy to be able to share that with other women.

So that is the newest challenge that is going on at 30 Broad. We are enjoying this season of life, God is really showing His goodness to us and we are praising Him for it!

News Flash!!

Sara Groves' new album is for sale!!! And also it's on sale for $9.99...check it out!

Art*Music*Justice Tour

This weekend Scott and I ventured out to the wilds of Central PA to see Sara Groves and some other singer/songwriters perform at Messiah college. What started out as a little get together with Shana and Chris ended up being a whirlwind of reconnecting with old friends! We saw Dan and Amy Eckel as well as Amy's friend and my acquaintance Heather. Then we ran into Deb Stuber. We also caught up with Bill and Becky Waring--Becky is another friend of mine from back home. It was so fun! One thing I noticed is that with some friends, extended time between visits doesn't change much. Amy and I hadn't seen each other in 3 years--and we noted---"nothing has changed, it's so fun and easy being with you!"

Amy, Dan and Scott

Bill and Becky in their hippy apartment :-)

As for the concert--what a beautiful and heart wrenching display of God's people loving the poor, oppressed, widowed, orphaned and needy... I cannot say enough of the efforts of the 6 people we saw and heard from. Please check out what is going on with that tour at http://www.saragroves.com/. Also you can find out information at Food for the Hungry and International Justice Mission. This tour was the brainchild of Sara and her husband Troy after they went to Rwanda in recent years. Sara has shared her heart and how she was affected in song on her newest album "Tell me what you know". The things they mainly focused on at the concert were the current issues of sex trafficking and modern day slavery in the world, things we would find gruesome and hard to swallow if approached with in our world right now. But these things are happening all the time, right now.

Sara, Troy, Sandra and Derek

Sara singing "Add to the Beauty"

Sandra McCracken

Derek Webb

Needless to say this concert has afforded me with more information in my brain that I must now wrestle with. It feels so hard to know how to divide your time and prayer life sometimes. Scott and I struggle at times, because we would like to help with all kinds of things, but we know that is impossible. This causes us to draw near to God and ask Him what should be the desires of our hearts and where we should be ministering.

Another, but more frivolous and fun, thing that I discovered at the concert is Sandra McCracken whom I have immensely enjoyed on the two Indelible Grace albums that we own. I now have the sampler from her newest album "Red Balloon". You can get it here. You can also get her husband, Derek Webb's newest album there as well.

You put the lime in the coconut...

Apparently Harold is the size of a lime and we are at 12 weeks! Finally there is an end in sight to the first trimester...Don't get me wrong, this has been fairly easy so far. But, just seeing the end of this delicate stage is so nice, I just want our baby to GROW! Not that I'm looking forward to the stage of tremendous belly, I just want to get to the point where it feels like that baby is safely growing.

Yesterday I had my hair trimmed at my friend Dee Frayne's and she said, "I like to look at women and tell what they are having by their appearance...I'm always right." I started laughing, of course, and said "oh really?!" She replied, "Yes and after you deliver this baby boy..." 'Nuff said for me, I'm buying it hook, line and sinker :-) Actually as much as I would love a baby boy I have come to the realization that a girl could be very fun! As much as I dread hormones and "princess" stages and tons of pink...I think we will have a cool girl. We can mold her right? :-)

Speaking of girls, we heard the heartbeat for the first time on Monday night. I thought I would be immune to the thrill of hearing my baby's heartbeat. Just on account of how medical it is and all that. But it was so cool!!! It was beating at 172 bpm. Holy beating like a drum batman! The reason why I say "speaking of girls" is because "they" say that the fast heartbeat means a girl. It also could have to do with the chocolate I ate before the appointment and how nervous I was during the appointment. Also, my midwife said it was way to early to tell the sex by that stuff...or so she said. Let me just say we stopped off at Aron and Megan's afterward to pick up my ipod, which, like an idiot, I left in Megan's car the other day, and I prattled on and on. I was so excited! Just the assurance of a heartbeat---Praise the Lord!

Side note (very side note, since this takes us down politics lane): If I never hear the following words again I will be a very happy girl--- "Maverick", "Wall Street/ Main Street" and "Community Organizer". The latter is probably my least favorite, since it never existed to me until this election. That's all on a red, white and blue note.

More to come after the concert this weekend...

we work for the weekends...sometimes...

Yes that's right...Scott and I have made an impulse decision to go see Sara Groves along with 4 other artists this Saturday night. This impulse decision was made easier given that it will be near Shana and Chris (this is really a guise to see these two lovely people) in Grantham, PA (Messiah College). And also the tickets were only $10 each. YAY!!! I have been wanting to see Sara for a long, long time.

Also a plus? Sandra McCracken and Derek Webb will be there. Maybe they will sing this beautiful song "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go". Scott and I, thanks to Joel and Elizabeth, two of our favorite siblings (you know, aside from Allen, Alex, Amy and Guy) as well as two of our favorite brothers and sisters in Christ, have really gotten into Indelible Grace Music. (run on sentence?) I would encourage you all to check them out!

Other than that, on a more serious note, please continue to pray for Scott in his affliction of this abdominal pain. He started having the pain again in church today, and is now laid up in our bed trying to cope. Pray for healing and for his spiritual well-being as this is very discouraging for him.

More to come, I'm sure...

Where in the world have I been?

Well, I've been right here. The only reason I haven't posted since our appointment on Monday is because there isn't much to tell. The midwife could not find Harold's heartbeat...but no worries :-) It's not always a given that you will hear the heartbeat, and we are going back on Monday night for another go at it. Other than that she said everything seems to be growing as it should--do I need to go into details?!

Other than that we have been plugging through the week. We bought a deep freezer on monday from Sam's club, which is AWESOME! I know it sounds silly, but we have approximately 50 lbs. of venison coming our way and we need a place to put all that delicious meat! The other thing taking up my time has been conservative talk radio...oh my it is easy to get sucked in. I think next week I will take a break...much to my husband's pleasure. He has been reading Amusing Ourselves to Death and has informed me that I really don't need to be listening to all this political jibberish, my vote is not going to change. He's correct. Still it's kind of fun--I guess that is Neil Postman's point, it's entertainment.

I have also been busy trying to keep our food bill at $50 a week. Quite a challenge, but worth it in the end. I also have decided to sell MaryKay--I will fill you all in on that later.

Other than that, not much is happening in our boring little world. Aren't you glad I posted about such nonsense? Will post on Monday if we hear our little person's heartbeat--oh what JOY! Please pray that we will!

Until then....

correction

Sorry everyone! I have a little correction to make: there will be no ultrasound on Monday. SORRY!!! I just got a phone call from my OB and they said, "We just wanted to verify your appointment @ 7:30 on Monday night." Me: "Oh, 7:30?! Thought it was 7...that's fine, see you then. Oh! Wait! Do I need to bring anything or have anything prepared before the appointment, I mean, aside from drinking water for the ultrasound." Nice receptionist: "Ultrasound? We don't have an Ultrasound machine here. Are you having a problem? Do you need an Ultrasound?" Me: (forlorn voice) "No. I'm just dumb and totally thought you said I'd be having an ultrasound this week. It's okay I just told the whole world that I'd be having an ultrasound on Monday...don't worry, I have a blog to to post an apology and correct it all." That's how that went. Hope you aren't as disappointed as I am, or Scott will be when I tell him this *pout*.

Kumquat

Well Harold is growing and growing! So am I :-) If you want to see what is going on here's a link: Harold is 10 weeks old! And while you will see there is so much going on with him there is nothing new going on with me. I know I'm a boring pregnant lady...I actually much prefer it that way. The only thing is that I have been taking long naps everyday. Mostly because I get so tired I can't keep my eyes open around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Then I lay down and set my alarm for half an hour and wake up an hour and a half later!!! I recently have felt like nothing was getting done around the house, so I made a little schedule for myself. I know it sounds dumb, but just having that little bit of structure has really helped!

I seem to have gotten myself involved in so many things at church that I really need the structure. I am doing GEMS, leading women's Bible study, doing a girls study on Modesty, Dating and Purity (this is the scariest one) and also we are greeters and help with the youth group. So I am staying busy, and it's all fun stuff so time is flying, which is great. Keep praying for us! We will be needing it...

pearces plugging pearces, among other things...

Couple of items:

Want to woo your attention over to my hubby's blog. His post picks on me...so it must be worthy read... :-) His blog is "Because I will never write a book" over on my blog list.

Also for you Sara fans. I recently was updated on all things Sara Groves and noteworthy item is that she is putting out a Christmas album this year. Guess who will be pre-ordering!!! ME...and hopefully you too! I think the pre-order date is Oct. 16th. Guess I will have to listen to Christmas music well before Christmas...oh bummer...

Harold, his yolk sac and my overly full bladder

Drum roll please...the long awaited first ultrasound pictures have arrived... Here "he" is everyone! Harold, circled in pink... and his first words "hi mom and dad". (cute, ain't it? I totally begged her to type this.... ;-) just kidding...)


Above you will see Harold's yolks sac circled in pink (the colour has nothing to do with gender, just visibility). Also you will note my overly distended bladder--the extra-large void in the right corner of the picture.

On another note...I have no more "morning sickness" as it was. I am now just getting nauseous when I need to eat. So I just eat. I think it has to do with low blood sugar, therefore it's not too bad! I just eat something relatively healthy like candycorn and move on :-)

we pause for this thought...

“It is sad to see a Christian pursuing joy in coarse and earthly pleasures when he has more noble and angelical delights, second only in degree and manner of enjoyment to heaven itself. Our faith takes us to the third heaven. We roll and tumble our souls in beds of roses, that is, our meditations of justification, sanctification, and salvation through Christ. No day should pass without these enjoyments. Should not our soul have her due drinks, breakfasts, meals, snacks, and desserts, as well as our body? Cannot such meditations make pleasant work of our daily tasks? They would make time pass by like a boat with full wind and tide, needing no oars. They would make all of our days like holidays and celebrations.” (Puritan, Thomas Manton)


I found this on GirlTalk Blog...and it made me stop and ponder. I so often wrestle with my faith--I sometimes get depressed and down about it, because I feel so lacking. (It is not me, but Christ in me, right?) This made stop in my downtrodden tracks and say, "Hey! I have the greatest thing!!! What am I doing here?" I am justified, being sanctified and have salvation through Christ Jesus my Saviour. That's HUGE! May I urge you, brother's and sister's in Christ, to be meditating on this as well...renew your joy in Christ :-)


Much Love, and Ultrasound pictures to come, hopefully tonight...

Baby Harold

We've returned from Montrose. All the family now knows our exciting news. We told my dad, step-mom and grandparents by giving them a picture frame with a word document inside of it that simply said, "Baby Pearce *picture of a cradle* April 2009". My grandmom liked the little way of telling them most of all. She said, "See what happens when we're patient?!"

I wasn't so clever with my Aunt Diana and Uncle Bill. I essentially came up from their basement, while they were in the kitchen, turned the corner to face my uncle and stated, "So, we're pregnant." I was greeted with a laugh from Aunt Diana and a confused look from Uncle Bill, for literally about half a minute. I started laughing with Aunt Diana, it was funny. Uncle Bill says, "I was trying to figure out if you were kidding or not." (kidding?!) This was my favorite reaction.

Anyhow, it was very fun to tell them all, and everyone is excited. We explained that, even if it sounds wrong, we really are hoping for a boy. The family, of course, asked us what we would be naming the baby...I said, "Harold." And then proceeded to call him Harold the rest of the weekend saying, "Harold and I are going to take a nap." Things like that. They got the joke and they even started calling him Harold. So Baby Pearce-in-utero has a nickname, and it's not sweet and cute, it's Harold.

Sick Mom, Healthy Baby...

Let me just say: bring on the nausea....ALL---DAY---LONG.

Not complaining, just giving an update, so there you go.

Opening Line

So....Everyone is blogging. Scott already has a blog, informing the world of his brilliant and sometimes pompous thoughts. Joel has a blog informing the world of what he is reading. Elizabeth has a blog informing the world of the inner-workings of her brain. Dad Pearce has a blog which quickly sprang up, but withered in the heat of the summer.

Now that we have a new member to our family--he or she is the size of a lentil bean--we thought it would be time to start a blog, informing the world of the inner workings of my tummy...until approximately April 16 2009. Then it will inform the world of the inner workings of 30 Broad.

Stay tuned...