A NEW SEASON

William Bradly Mendenhall

born Wednesday April 20, 2011

                   @ 9:46pm

  7lbs 10oz and 19 inches long

I am amazed yet again just how intricate our bodies are. How well designed and put together God made us. If ever in doubt of just how well we are made, the delivery room is the place to be reminded of how great our God really is. Shaun and I again had the privilege of bringing baby Mendenhall 7 into the world on Wednesday April 20, 2011 at 9:46 pm. It was a really long day. I awoke that morning not feeling real great. Had some discomfort in my lower back and as the day progressed so did my contractions. However, they were not strong enough nor were they very close. By 5 that evening we decided to head to my parents who are only 3 minutes from the hospital. The contractions at this point were still pretty sporadic and not painful at all. We decided to take a walk around my parents neighborhood at about 6pm and by 7 they were getting more consistent and by 8:30pm Shaun and my mom were taking me into the hospital with contractions ranging from 3 to 5 minutes apart and lasting about 60 to 90 seconds. (now that doesn't sound long, but when you are contracting that minute to a minute and a half feels like FOREVER!) Once at the hospital I was checked and told that I was 5 1/2 to 6 centimeters. I was asked if I wanted any pain medication. Early on I had decided that being our last baby I didn't want any medication. So I said "no" very hesitantly. As the contractions continued to grow stronger and closer I remember telling Shaun that I just can't do this. He was so strong. He kept saying "yes you can, you are doing great". 9:40 the midwife checked me again and it was time. She broke my water and our precious baby boy was born only 5 minutes later. It was truly amazing! Just another example of God knowing what He is doing. As Terri, my midwife placed him on my chest to give us time to bond another doctor came and scooped him up and they began to monitor him very closely. Apparently when they broke my water there was maconium in it and when William took his first breath he aspirated it into his little body. As he lay there on the table I looked over and saw Shaun and my mom talking with the doctor and they were discussing his struggle with breathing and so forth. To lay there, still being taken care of myself, knowing that something is not right with your new little blessing there are so many feelings and emotions that come rushing in.  I really didn't know anything that was going on. No one was talking to me, and yet I knew something wasn't right. Immediately I began to talk to my Heavenly Father, just asking that He would take care of this little life. This precious, innocent little being that  He created. About an hour later they left us hold him and I got to feed him. However, we were instructed on what to watch for during the night and throughout the next day. So, carefully I watched. I watched his little chest go up and down and listened to his little grunts and groans that we so easily forget they make. He seemed perfect to me. Beautiful, handsome, just perfect. As we entered the next morning they monitored him and by the time Shaun got back to the hospital at 9:30am the doctor came in and told us that he checked him and his lungs were completely clear and he was going to be fine. PRAISE JESUS! I cannot express the emotions that come rushing in when you have your prayers answered in such a way. No infection, no damage, no nothing, just perfect!  
We are now a week and a half into our new season with William and it is so great to watch him adapt and change. To know exactly how he started in the womb to where he is today amazes me. God just absolutely amazes me. The brilliance of new life. The beauty of creation and to witness not only the birth of a baby, but the birth of Springtime. To sit and watch things bloom from day to day and week to week. To understand and grasp that it is nothing that I have done, but only God alone. I am in complete awe. To know that no matter what comes our way, He is faithful to the end. He is there with us through the pain, and gives us the strength to get through. And He is still there in the end of that struggle. God is faithful!  Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for HIS compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23

BEAUTIFUL THINGS.....

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14



Do we really believe that? I mean really, do we? Have we ever complained about the way your hair is, your pimples, wrinkles, foot size, short fat fingers, the color of your eyes, the size of your nose, or even how you do or don't smell? I know I have had my share of complaints about the things I would LOVE to change regarding my looks. As I was confronted with this verse in Psalms today along with a great book I am reading I got to thinking about how as a mother my comments or complains may be affecting my kids in a way that is tearing down rather than building up. Wandering how my words of complaining about how I wish I were this way or that instead of praising the Lord for making me just the way HE wanted me to be. 

     I mentioned a book that I am reading. I was desperate to find help in understanding my tween girls. Yes, I said girls. Plural. In my attempt to find help I was thinking only of Madalyn at the time. But was soon realizing that our Elizabeth is beginning to deal with the same things that her older sister has been struggling with for about 2 years now. That "tween" stage. That age when they don't really play with the dolls so much, but they aren't ready for facebook, or makeup yet either. That age when our bodies are changing, but we haven't hit puberty quite yet. That awkward stage.  Anyway, as I was in my search this book jumped out at me. I have been reading it, soaking it up, and just completely in awe of things I am reading. The book is called,  Moms' Ultimate Guide to the Tween Girl World, written by Nancy Rue. The book is WONDERFUL and I would highly recommend it to any mom who has girls between the ages of 8 and 12. It is filled with so much, but what stuck out to me today was eye opening and extremely convicting at the same time. So I want to share them with you. Nancy is sharing with her readers what their tween daughters see when they look in the mirror and I just want to take a moment to share 5 things that just made me sit back and examine many things. 

 1. What the Beauty Culture is today.... 

     societies view of "beautiful" is impossible for 98 percent of women today. their idea of "beautiful" is Flawlessly thin (14% body fat), C or D-cup bust size. Thick, straight, ultra-shiny blonde hair (without any split ends), nails that are perfectly done weekly, and the whitest teeth with plump, luscious lips.  This is what we as women are faced with EVERY time we go to the check out counter at the the super market, or the commercials we view on TV. Guess what, it is what OUR daughters are faced with too. They are told that unless you look like this, or smell like that, or dress this way, or so on and so on you aren't beautiful. No wonder there are so many girls today struggling with eating disorders. Which brings me to...

 2. The Influence Adults have on the Beauty Culture...

     we are shocked when we hear that our daughters think they are fat at age 8. we don't understand why they would choose clothing that most of us moms consider provocative, and don't understand why they so desperately want to wear makeup. Can we really fault them though? Do we get upset or seemed shocked when 30 year olds are writing the scripts, or 50 year olds are producing it, or even the seventy year olds who are profiting from it all? You know, the movies and tv programs our girls are exposed to today? The magazines that they read over and over again that are screaming fashion and cosmetics far more than articles? The commercials that are supposedly selling soap, cereal, or even dog food? How about the billboards we see as we drive down the road, have you seen them?  How in the world are we to encourage inner beauty with all of this? Especially when the message that is ringing loud is, "Honey, if you don't look like this, you better get hot, or give up." How do we compete with that as moms?

 3. The Influence of their Peers...

     The "other kids" and the influence they have is, or feels like it is unbeatable. Even I struggle with this as a homeschooling mom. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like for you who have daughters in the public or private school systems. Girls are always going to compare themselves to the girls around them. For crying out loud, we as women do this still. It is normal. BUT, what is frustrating is that the age of comparison and the desires for contact lenses, makeup, hair dying and so forth are coming at a much earlier age. It used to be that of teenagers, BUT NOW, it is beginning at age 8. WHY?

 4. The Effect You (mom) have on Her...

     Before I go on, I have to admit that this was the most difficult for me to face. Why? Because I have never really appreciated the way God created me. I have always struggled with wanting to be thinner. To the point of verbally complaining about it. My girls know how unhappy I am and how badly I struggle with self image. Well guess what, I have seen at times the results of that is my own beautiful girls. Especially our oldest. Which by the way is in NO WAY overweight. But, my comments regarding myself have indeed effected that beautiful, talented, wonderful little women. Be careful! Our words are so powerful, no matter who they are directed to. They have power and influence that we so often aren't even aware of.

 5. The Effect Christianity has on Her...

     Did you ever think this would be one? I didn't. I honestly didn't? How often do we teach our kids in Sunday School that God looks on the heart, not on the outward appearance? And in Matthew 6:25 Jesus tells us, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" , All the while the one teaching is in the most current fashion. At best that seems to be a little confusing to me. I am in NO way saying that we shouldn't take care of ourselves. I truly believe that God has entrusted us with our bodies to take care of. But, the problem comes in when our girls leave Sunday School not understanding that there is a HUGE difference in taking care of ourselves and getting trapped into thinking that if we even like fashion a little bit then we are rotten to the core and should just give up altogether to be a good Christian.

These poor girls. They are so bombarded every single day, whether at school, the store, home watching tv, or even at church. How do we as women, as mothers guide these beautiful, precious gifts from God?  How do we as mothers and women grab hold of the truth in Psalm 139:14? How do we BELIEVE and LIVE OUT those words David spoke so long ago?  I so wish I had the perfect 3 step plan, but I don't. I'm still working on excepting me for who God created me to be. One thing I do know is that God makes BEAUTIFUL things, and He made me. So that is where I am going to start.

       I Praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14

LETTING GO.....

    So back in the fall when the whole topic of Winter Retreat came up I was super pumped to trade in my crew here at home for the students going.  My thought process at that point and leading up to the actual day we arrived was getting my "girls" to see God in a whole new way. To experience Him like NEVER before and to witness their lives being challenged and forever changed.  BIG expectations I had, for "my girls" of course. My focus the first night was on them, not me. This retreat was for the students right? WRONG! It was for ANYONE and EVERYONE that was willing to HEAR the voice of God speaking. And He DID  in fact speak.  
     Before I go on any further, let me go back. Our "theme" verse for the weekend was...

~John 10:10~ "The theif comes to kill, steal, and destroy, BUT I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."   

 Satan, the theif, he was present at the retreat. His tactics never cease to amaze me, BUT God was there too. He was BIGGER, STRONGER, and working all around us. I watched Him move during the drama presentations, the times we were in the Word, communion, free time, games, quiet times in our cabins, in relationships that needed mending, and during the times of worship. For me personally, the times of worship were POWERFUL! I had a chance to give back to my saviour, but at the same time be reminded of all He has done for us. The one song that still rings through my mind is "Beautful Things". The words of this song are so comforting and promising. The chorus goes: "You make beautful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things out of us." Then a little further into the song, at the bridge it says, "and you make me new, you are making me new". WOW! Think about that for just a minute. God isn't finished with us yet. PRAISE HIM!!!!!! I for one have so much that needs changed and strengthened and worked on. Those words state that He is still making me new.  So let Satan come, and try and steal, kill, and destroy because Jesus promises that He too has come. He has come to give us LIFE to the fullest! We are the ones that stand in the way, NOT Christ. 

     The weekend was so much more than I ever imagined it to be. I had a chance to focus on the  areas of my life that were in desperate need of attention. The sin of anger has held me captive for so long. It has destroyed relationships in my life over the years and for the first time I felt God saying to let go. To stop allowing satan to kill, steal, and destroy who I am, BUT instead to allow Jeusu to give me the life He intended for me. A FULL ONE!  I'm not healed. Not yet anyway. It is a daily struggling to not yell at the 6 beautiful blessings in my life. I am constantly catching myself. I have to daily make myself ask Him for help and sometimes forgivness. I was challenged by a dear freind to find scripture based on anger and memorize it, for that is such a fantastic defense. So, the verse I am working on right now is; Proverbs 29:11, "The fool gives full vent to his anger, BUT the wise man keeps himself under control."  WOW! Nothing like being called a fool.
My challenge for 2011 is to let go and let God work in my life. To change me into what He wants for me instead of what I want. His ways are ALWAYS better and He promises us that He has come to give life to the fullest. We just need to allow Him to do that.