couple songs for and from my husband

Can you believe this picture was taken on DECEMBER 16!! I was astounded to have 50+ degree weather for our winter wedding!


When I say I Do
Matthew West

There must be a God, I believe its true.
Cause I can see His love, when I look at you.
And he must have a plan for this crazy life.
BecauseHe brought you here and placed you by my side.

chorus:
And I have never been so sure of anything before,
Like I am in this moment here with you
Now for better or for worse are so much more than only words
And I pray everyday will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'
Yeah I mean what I Say when I say 'I do'

You see these hands you hold, will always hold you up
When the strength you have just aint strong enough
And what tomorrow brings, only time will tell
But I will stand by you in sickness and in health

Cause I have never been so sure of anything before
Like I am in this moment here with you
And now 'for better or for worse'
Are so much more than only words
And I pray every day will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'
Ya I mean what I say when I say

Take my hand and take this ring
And know that I will always love you through anything.

And as the years march on like a beating heart
I will live these words 'til death do us part'

Cause I have never been so sure of anything before
Like I am in this moment here with you
And now for better or for worse
Are so much more than only words
And I pray everyday will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'

Also, during the wedding, my amazing husband sang the following song. Here is a pic of him singing, and you can also see how we had the stage area set up at church... so pretty ;)


Out Of My League
Stephen Speaks
(there's another verse that combines these two, but you'll get the idea)

it's her hair and her eyes today
that just simply take me away
and the feeling that I'm falling further in love
makes me shiver but in a good way
all the times i have sat and stared
as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair
and she purses her lips, bats her eyes as she plays,
with me sitting there slack-jawed and nothing to say
'cause i love her with all that i am
and my voice shakes along with my hands
'cause she’s all that I see and she’s all that I need
and I'm out of my league once again

it's a masterful melody when she calls out my name to me
as the world spins around her she laughs, rolls her eyes
and i feel like I'm falling but it's no surprise
cause i love her with all that i am
and my voice shakes along with my hands
cause it's frightening to be swimming in this strange sea
but I'd rather be here than on land
yes she's all that i see and she's all that i need
and I'm out of my league once again

long day!

So, i'm not sure what the deal is, but you'll just have to bear with the underline and boldness b/c i'm extremely too tired to figure out what the deal is! the following are pics from today in reverse order of events throughout the day.

"Look, Ma! No hands! " Okay, so that's not QUITE what she said when this picture was taken, but cute nonetheless... actually, while playing with the slide, she "politely" reminded her cousins that they needed to share. "Share, Micah, share."


so apparently we're back to normal font now... whatever... this was taken at the zoo. emma and cousin elyssa were watching the ducks/lemurs/flamingos out across the water on their respective islands. emma likes being with the "older" girls. Actually, she REALLY likes hanging out with youth group and older girls at church.

another pic taken at the zoo today. they have a shark petting area in the oceans exhibit. emma was willing to touch the sharks at the beginning of the summer, but now she's not quite so sure what to think about them. anyway, here's a quick peek:

and finally, this picture wasn't taken today, but on Friday night we had dinner at Pastor Jeff's house. it was a nice-sized group of people and it was great to get to know them outside the church building. i quickly staked out a super comfy seat for me to plop down for most of the night. here's quick snapshot of me and emma eating dinner. random story: all night emma kept calling pieces of lettuce "cookies"... she had LOTS of cookies for dinner that night and was completely satisfied with it! if only i could get my husband to think of lettuce as cookies :)

loyalty

so i've been thankful to be able to pick up some extra work/typing from my father-in-law. it's such a nice break from the regular MT (medical transcription) reports i type on a daily basis. it's also nice that there is some actual value to the audio that is being processed through my ears and out my fingertips. God has impressed a few things upon me through these sermons.

one thing is just the lack of loyalty we possess as a people. our natural tendency is to live for ourselves, satisfying our wants and keeping ourselves as number one. i have been called, especially as a Christian, to be loyal. most obviously and most importantly i must be loyal to my Savior. i am to consciously present myself to Him daily as a living sacrifice. some days this comes easier than others, but i need to strive to bring Him honor and glory with the way i live my life. With this, comes also the duty to be loyal to other things:
my country: i'm sure i will have a much more accurate view of and be more appreciative of the current freedoms that americans possess while we are living in china. we live in a country where it's legally okay to knock on doors and share Christ with our neighbors. it's okay to carry a Bible without the fear of government officials following you with the authority to put you in prison. we will need to be very careful about our actions while in china. it is illegal for missionaries to enter that country. it is illegal for foreigners to share the gospel with chinese nationals. we are already praying that God will show us how to tread safely in this very hostile environment.

my husband: whose leadership i have been commanded by God to submit and whom i have chosen to serve. although, it does help that he's the kind of leader who makes it easy for me to follow. i am thankful for the two years that john and i spent getting to know each other before we made the commitment before God to be faithful to each other as long as we both live. we occasionally have our "spats", but two people drawing nearer to the Lord should ultimately, by default, be growing closer to one another. together we desire to fulfill Malachi 2:15 and provide the godly offspring that He seeks from us.

my local church: i will admit, during the beginning/end of my pregnancy and a couple months after the baby arrives, my church attendance is not all that great. usually, this is due to just physically not feeling well enough to sit even semi-comfortably through a service with the proper heart attitude of worship to my God. however, there are other times when i just don't want to be at church. how ridiculous of an attitude is that? i was very convicted through this sermon that just as i have made a commitment to my husband, i have also committed myself to be obedient to my church, including attendance at services sun morn, sun evening, and wed prayer meeting/youth group. it shouldn't be a question.


i was also blessed to hear a message on avoiding a wasted life. Christians are called to "count the cost" of being a follower of Christ and then going where the Lord leads. John and i have been married for 2-1/2 years now and have made a nice little life for family. we are able to pay our bills each month, we live in a house that is more than sufficient for our needs, and we have been blessed with children--Emerson, Jordan, and Taylor (if she turns out to be a girl). we have worked hard for the things that we have and MOSTLY we don't feel deprived :)... but God has laid china on our hearts. we feel a calling to use teaching English as a ministry, whether here or abroad. we know that the longer we wait to go to china, the more difficult it will be for us to get there. in doing so, we will be leaving behind everything that is normal to us. we will be completely starting over, venturing into the unknown and unfamiliar.

i have plenty more to write, but i must save it for a future post... i'm sleepy (even though i was able to get a two hour nap in this afternoon! half of which was spent snuggling with my little girl--precious!) and, of course, some pictures for you to enjoy.

work, work, work...

things are definitely still staying busy around the sharbaugh household. its been much easier to KEEP the house clean since I've had a good starting place. i'm trying to be consistent about having a clean sink every night before i go to bed... tonight i can say that chore has been accomplished. i find it's also easier for me to be motivated to cook an actual meal for dinner when i have a clean kitchen to cook in! tonight we had calzones and breadsticks--another staple at our house. But, because i haven't had to worry so much about actually cleaning house, i've been able to work extra on my MT stuff. Last week, i made over $200 doing my MT stuff and I put in some hours working for my father-in-law, typing up some of his sermons. We're very thankful for the extra work knowing that we have that car repair bill coming due here shortly!

seems like the weekend was pretty busy, too, but i don't remember much! I've been really tired lately, and i think taking care of a sick baby had something to do with that. Emma had her doc appointment late last week. The doc was happy that she finally seems to be sticking to a growth curve with her weight, it's only 20% (22 pounds), but at least she's not dropping to a lower curve! Regardless of being little in the weight category, she is still growing like a weed. She jumped up the 75th percentile in height and is quickly becoming one of the tallest kids in the nursery at church.

emma's vocabulary keeps improving daily, too! it's so fun to watch her as she says new things. a post consisting solely of emma-isms is sure to be on the way once i've sat down and compiled a few of our favorites.

I also had a doc appointment. i've gained 12 pounds so far, so right on target. my belly is also am measuring 24 cm, which matches up perfectly with my 24 weeks. we were also able to hear a steady heartbeat in the 150s... grow, baby, grow!

and last, but not least, we had kind of a "mishap" with a hair coloring project. apparently, when using the color "darkest brown," it turns to black when accidentally kept on for too long! it's kind of shocking at first, but surprisingly not TOO bad!

work, work, work...

things are definitely still staying busy around the sharbaugh household. its been much easier to KEEP the house clean since I've had a good starting place. i'm trying to be consistent about having a clean sink every night before i go to bed... tonight i can say that chore has been accomplished. i find it's also easier for me to be motivated to cook an actual meal for dinner when i have a clean kitchen to cook in! tonight we had calzones and breadsticks--another staple at our house. But, because i haven't had to worry so much about actually cleaning house, i've been able to work extra on my MT stuff. Last week, i made over $200 doing my MT stuff and I put in some hours working for my father-in-law, typing up some of his sermons. We're very thankful for the extra work knowing that we have that car repair bill coming due here shortly!

seems like the weekend was pretty busy, too, but i don't remember much! I've been really tired lately, and i think taking care of a sick baby had something to do with that. Emma had her doc appointment late last week. The doc was happy that she finally seems to be sticking to a growth curve with her weight, it's only 20% (22 pounds), but at least she's not dropping to a lower curve! Regardless of being little in the weight category, she is still growing like a weed. She jumped up the 75th percentile in height and is quickly becoming one of the tallest kids in the nursery at church.

emma's vocabulary keeps improving daily, too! it's so fun to watch her as she says new things. a post consisting solely of emma-isms is sure to be on the way once i've sat down and compiled a few of our favorites.

I also had a doc appointment. i've gained 12 pounds so far, so right on target. my belly is also am measuring 24 cm, which matches up perfectly with my 24 weeks. we were also able to hear a steady heartbeat in the 150s... grow, baby, grow!

and last, but not least, we had kind of a "mishap" with a hair coloring project. apparently, when using the color "darkest brown," it turns to black when accidentally kept on for too long! it's kind of shocking at first, but surprisingly not TOO bad!

busy, busy, busy...

so we've been working our tail ends off here at the Sharbaugh household. All major projects are now officially completed and the first round of deep cleaning has begun. Many thanks to my mother-in-law who graciously came over and helped clean for a few hours the other afternoon. because of all that hard work, our house is officially on the market! I seriously don't think my house has ever been this clean/stayed this clean for this long...ever! we're trying to set good habits with regard to just picking up after ourselves and doing the dishes after each meal, leaving a clean sink before going to bed. hopefully, these habits will become ingrained within us so that it won't be such a hassle as we continually add children to our family... we'll see if that works. anywho, we've listed the house at $120,300. now, it's up to God to bring the buyer. if you know anyone looking for a great home outside Indianapolis, let us know! Here are a few pics of my nice clean house!

above: entryway
below: office/library--originally set up as a formal dining room


above: living room
below: kitchen



above: master bath
i will REALLY be sad to give up this HUGE shower and the massive closet

finally, a home-cooked meal

We had a rainy afternoon this week so I decided to let Emerson help me make some cookies. We seem to have a bazillion raisins in our house because emma will no longer eat them now that she has tasted the goodness of craisins (dried cranberries)... my attempt at homemade oatmeal raisin cookies was a success! i'm the only one in the house who will eat them--but this pregnant lady will NOT complain about that.


Now for the good stuff!


One of the "staples"in our house when I feel up to cooking (haven't done a whole lot of that this pregnancy) is stir-fry... super easy and super yummy! i had to take pictures in order to prove that i DO actually have the ability to cook for my family ;) Emma likes it!


I thought we were going to have WAY too much... leftovers for sure... was definitely trying to figure out if i was going to be having reheated stir-fry for lunch on Saturday or Sunday. Then I realized what my husband was doing:


finishing off what we had left in the pan!


and, of course, we needed to finish it off with some fortune cookies for which emerson gladly took a seat at the table and gobbled up!