Where is God?

It seems like more than ever these days, there is so much pain and suffering. From natural disasters to deaths, many people, including Christians, are beginning to question where is God in all this?

Dr. John Townsend attempts to answer this question and more in his new book Where is God?. Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me a free copy of this book in return for my review. Normally, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this book. While I personally am not questioning God, I felt very encouraged by the spiritual truths Townsend presents in this book. He shows us through illustrations, real world examples, and Scripture how God is at work despite what we think. He accurately portrays God as a loving, caring God who works all things in order to bring us or others closer to Him. I felt reassured that while I may never know why God is taking me through a certain circumstance, He does. He may be using it if nothing else to use you as a vessel for someone else who is suffering. I also liked his point that God is empathetic and sympathetic to our trials and it suffers with us. I would recommend this book to believers and non-believers; it will encourage you and help shed light into your current circumstances.

Jen and Adrian's Wedding

This weekend we celebrated the union of Jeremy's middle brother Adrian and his lovely bride Jen. Jeremy was honored to be a groom's man for his brother.

Because Jeremy was in the wedding, I had to juggle a 17 month old and a camera. Please forgive me for the lack of quality pictures.

Friday night's rehearsal
The mothers looking onSaturday..my 2 handsome men. Check out Owen's seersucker suit! :)
Madison, our niece, and Owen playing before the ceremony
Our first picture of just the two of us in 17 months (I think). I was an honorary bridesmaid.
Our family of 3
Brother and sister in laws, Nathan, Erin, Jesse, Emily

The happy couple

Cutting the cake
Leaving amidst the bubbles
(There were many other great pictures but in respect to others, I promised not to post their picture. )

It was a great weekend and we are so excited to add Jen as a member of our family.

Recapping The Last Few Weeks

I have been bad about updating the blog lately. So here's what you've missed.

The stomach bug finally left our house but not without trying to rare it's ugly head again. I thought I had it last Monday but luckily it was just a really bad stomach ache, which lasted only about 12 hours.

I've been working A LOT at Sylvan...almost every night unless Jeremy has had to work. It's hard not spending time together as a family. Hopefully this is only a phase in life and it won't be something I need to do forever.

Last weekend my brother came home and we got to meet his new girlfriend. She seems like a great fit for him and we really liked her so we're all happy.

Jeremy and I spent the day together in Raleigh. Well almost..I worked at a consignment sale for a few hours while he ran errands. We then shopped together for Owen's summer wardrobe. I felt like we came home with some great stuff though I really wanted some outside toys, which were off course gone.

Next weekend Jeremy's brother Adrian gets married! We'll spend the weekend in Charlotte celebrating.

I've been playing with Photoshop again and made a new blog header. If you're reading this through an rss reader..you should click on the blog and check it out.

Well that's it folks. I hopefully will be better about updating here in the future.

Frustration

Disclaimer: This post is more of a rant so if you don't feel like hearing me complain, you should just move on.

First, our house was hit pretty hard with the yucky stomach virus. Owen started Thursday night by throwing up for 3 straight hours. After that he struggled with diarrhea for the next two days. Saturday morning Jeremy woke up with a stomach ache and by lunch time, he was full blown into the stomach bug. Because I was at work, my mom took care of Owen. Sadly, this caused her to contract the bug as well. She was out of commission all of Sunday. This virus is no joke. Jeremy has lost close to 8 lbs. While I want to lose weight, I do not want this bug. Luckily I have managed to stay healthy. Thank you preschool for helping to build my immune system up.

We thought we were finally over it, then Owen wakes up at 5 this morning throwing up again. He has had two runny diapers again. I called the doctor, and the nurse said you can get it again. I hope this is just a random incident and he is not getting it again. GRRRRRRR!

Second, Owen has gotten in trouble at preschool now for biting. Yesterday he bit all 3 of his friends in his MMO class. The teacher said he is not doing it out of meaness; he isn't trying to take a toy or no one has done anything to him. The teacher said he is happy the whole time, but now his friends are scared of him. I'm frustrated because I don't know what to do. He doesn't bite us at home and I'm not in there when he bites. Tomorrow I am going to be the room with him to see if I can figure out a solution. If we don't get this under control, he'll be asked to leave, therefore I lose my job. Please pray that we can solve this quickly.

Last the on-going frustration is Owen's development. He still is not walking on his own and he is only saying about 3 words. He will walk while holding onto your hand, but he has to be in the right mood. He is very stubborn and if he doesn't want to do it, he'll sit down and refuse to move. I'm frustrated because I don't know how to make him do it. I have used everyone's suggestions and it doesn't seem to help.

Ok thanks for listening......I just needed to vent.

New Job

Monday I started my new job at Sylvan Learning Center. I am working at nights from 5:30-7:30 after Jeremy gets home and some Saturdays. While my schedule is never the same, this week I am working M-Th and Sat. Nothing like jumping right in! :)

So far it's been going really well. I didn't realize how much I missed teaching. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the school setting...the discipline, paperwork, meetings, etc. I miss the actual teaching aspect so this is an ideal way to fill that void.

Sadly the hard thing about the job is that we lose our family time together. Because of the time schedule, Owen and I meet Jeremy at work, where we switch cars and he takes him home. They cook dinner, play, and do the bedtime routine. I get home after Owen is already in bed. :( Jeremy and I still get time together but we don't get the time as a family. I'm trying to look at it optimistically.....at least Owen doesn't have to go to daycare. Another weird thing is that we get paid every two months because of a contract we are working on with the state. Kind of hard to plan and budget don't you think?

I am very grateful for the job and the added income it brings in. Hopefully this will help us bring down and keep down some of our debt.

Celebrating a New Cox

Saturday, my mother in law, sister in law, and I threw a shower for Jen. Jen will be marrying Jeremy's brother Adrian, in a few short weeks. Since it was Valentine's weekend, we had a pink, red, and heart theme. My mother and sister in law made an awesome breakfast spread while I did the invitations and the games. Because of the weather, attendance was lower than we had planned but we still had fun.Jen opening her many of her nice gifts.


My niece Madison with her great-grandma Cox
Emma (MIL), Erin (SIL), Jen, her mom Elaine, and I
Jen, we can't wait for you to join our family next month!

A Few Pictures

Ok so I haven't been as good of a blogger lately. It's bad when my dad commented on how infrequent my posts are. This from the man who used to make fun of me for blogging. :P

So while there hasn't been a lot going on, here is a few pics to satisfy some people.

How cute is my little man...he's getting so big.Hanging out with his sock monkey and enjoying an afternoon cup of juice. Grandma Cox made him that monkey and he loves it. Dinner was so good, he decided to lick his plate clean. Can you believe that we had tuna cakes for dinner that night. Owen loves to play in the kitchen at preschool. I hope he takes after both of us and loves to cook. Girls like boys who can cook!My new market basket. I have wanted one for a while and I finally got one this weekend with some Christmas money. It's so handy for carrying all of our stuff to preschool/Mom's house, etc.The footballs I made for the Super Bowl get together at the Langstons. I used this recipe and they were yummy though they aren't attractive.
I made this baby set for a friend of a friend. The friend picked out the fabric which I thought was super cute.
So that's it. I promise to update more soon.