expectant heart

Over the past few months {really much longer than that, but it's just now coming into focus} the Lord has been working on our hearts. He is bringing our dreams together, making them one. More on that later. 

I am just so in awe of how much love is around us and how blessed we are. I have said over and over again that I am focusing on the 99%. I am determined to not live my life based on the 1% of my life that "isn't what I dreamed it would be". That is not how the Lord wants us to live. He wants us to glorify Him in everything, in every situation. That is one of the thousands of things the Lord is teaching me on this journey.  

Another something that has blown me away is my sweet husband. He is legit, y'all. He amazes me everyday and is such a blessing to me. I am so thankful that he is mine. We are continuing to pray and seek right now for what is next for our family. I will update the blog world when the time comes, but please join us in prayer for wisdom and guidance. The Holy Spirit will guide you on how to pray, yeah, that's awesome. I serve an amazing God. 

Happy Sunday to each of you! 

I pray the Lord brings peace to your hearts today. 

Rest in Him. 

Love, 

KB 

gettin' healthy #1

I posted a while ago about some changes that Dru and I are making to live longer and healthier lives, so I wanted to update you on the most recent one.... we are getting rid of BPA!

Two of my closest friends are big believers in all things organic and healthy. They have had great influence on my life over the past year and challenging me to make some healthy changes. I am very grateful, because I was very ignorant to what all of the things I was putting in my body and what they were doing to me.

So, I guess it's been about a few months, but Dru and I cleaned out our cabinets and removed all of our plastic containers. Don't worry, I didn't throw them away, I gave them to a local thrift store and to my parents :) I guess that kinda defeats the purpose, but oh well. We will slowly stop using canned goods, but I'm not throwing those away. {I have tons of canned goods.} I also will not buy any more plastic cups, we will drink out of glass.  

I wanted to share some research with you that I have come across, but honestly most of what I'm learning is from my friends. A sweet blog friend of mine over at Team Harries Beats Infertility, shared a little about what they are doing to beat infertility naturally. One of those ways is by getting rid of BPA! Go check it out! Another blog I have been reading is called Naturally Knocked Up and she discusses why BPA is just no good :)

Stay tuned for more ways the Birkelands are gettin' healthy! 

Love, 

KB

Switch-a-roo!

Since google reader is gonna be gone-gone soon, I did a little reading and have decided to use Bloglovin..... 

You can Follow my blog with Bloglovin or click on the button on the right side :) 

Happy Friday! 

exodus 23:26

A sweet & amazing woman of God at my church prayed this verse over me at a meeting one night. I haven't forgotten it and I continue to pray it over myself. 

Those of you who are struggling with infertility & Jesus is you Savior, please find rest and hope in this verse! 

He is ALL we need. 

Happy Thursday!! 

KB

being thankful in everything

Today, once again, Jesus Calling was right on. It's kinda crazy how every day I read this and it just slaps me in the face. Today was no exception. 

June 22: Jesus Calling

THANK ME for the very things that are troubling you. You are on the brink of rebellion, precariously close to shaking your fist in My Face. You are tempted to indulge in just a little complaining about My treatment of you. But once you step over that line, torrents of rage and self-pity can sweep you away. The best protection again this indulgence is thanksgiving. It is impossible to thank Me and curse Me at the same time.

Thanking Me for trials will feel awkward and contrived at first. But if you persist, your thankful words, prayed in faith, will eventually make a difference in your heart. Thankfulness awakens you to My Presence, which overshadows all your problems.

Philippians 4:4-6 (The Message) 

^4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

^6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Psalm 116:17 (NKJV)

I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord.

*********************************************************************************

Awesome, huh?

And did I mention that signs of George approaching are here... which puts me in the throws of self-pity and anger. The Lord knew how much I need to hear this from Him and exactly how to speak to me. 

I think it's safe to say that the "thing that is troubling me" is the fact the Dru and I do not have a baby and have been trying for a long time. I was extremely challenged when I read this devo this morning, because I realized that if I didn't start thanking the Lord now that I would definitely sink down into the depths of the craziness that is self-pity. And that means that I would be missing out on the life that I'm living right now because I would be so concerned about what I don't have in my life. It got me thinking about the things that I am grateful for... here's my list. I'm sure it could go on for pages and pages. I'm blessed beyond comprehension. 

So, today, I am thankful...

I am thankful that the Lord is allowing us to walk through this trial together. 

I am thankful that He is continuing to write our story, no one else's. 

I am thankful for my family and friends that care so deeply for us. 

I am thankful for the opportunities that I have had to talk about how faithful the Lord is and how He is sustaining us. 

I am thankful that the Lord continues to show His faithfulness through our finances, our marriage, and our friends & family. 

It's really hard to think about what you don't have when you thank Him for what you do have. You should totally try it, dare ya :) 

I hope this encourages you and speaks to you as strongly as it did me. No matter what trial you are currently walking through, the Lord is there. He is within reach. Thank Him today for what He has done. 

Happy Saturday night!

KB

Road Trip to NC!

As most of you know, my sis, bro-in-law, and sweet baby Brooklyn moved to NC. Bro-in-law moved about three weeks ago and sis and baby moved last week. My Momma & I couldn't even make it a week without seeing them, so we hopped in the car Thursday and took a lil trip! 

Mom and I both needed to see where they were living and what everything looked like. (I needed a visual!) They are getting settled, but really enjoying the people and the city so far. 

I added pics, of course, so check em out and have a great Saturday! 

Mom & I on our way!

BooBug & me

She now knows how do do... "WAR EAGLE... HEY!!" 

 Downtown shopping :) Very cute! 

operation organize pantry

One thing I LOVE about summer is all the time I have to reorganize and/or decorate our home. It's seriously a huge passion of mine. If I had unlimited resources AKA $$$$... I would do that constantly. I would love to get paid to do it, but not sure how that would work out. 

The inspiration came from our campus pastor's wife, Amy. She used these bins in her pantry and I LOVED how they looked. Very clean and simple. 

It makes me so happy :) 

It's most definitely the little things in life, people. 

Check out the before and after pics! 

weight loss update

I can't believe I'm actually putting my weight in blog world for all to see, but I really wanted to share how far I've come in this journey to lose weight & feel better. 

The picture on the right was taken the first week I started medi and I weighed in at 166 pounds.. Yuck! My original goal was to lose 36 pounds, which would put me at 130 pounds. That would be my dream weight, but I have decided that I would like to be in the 130s. 

The picture to the right is this past weekend, but I weighed in last Thursday at 148 pounds, so technically I could weigh less now. I will continue to weigh myself at home and also continue the diet that I've been doing. Hopefully doing so, will result with me reaching my goal weight! 

Thank you for the encouraging text messages and emails! I couldn't have done this without the support! 

Much love!

KB

5 years.

Those of you that follow my Instagram have probably seen these pictures, but I'm gonna post them anyway because I just love pictures. 

Dru and I celebrated five years last Friday, June 14th. Can we just take a second and think about how long that is.... Gosh! Where has the time gone?!?! Dru and I have talked about it a couple of times and we are like... umm... what happened in those five years? What did we do? How old are we again? HA! I know, I know, we are not that old, but we feel like we've been together a lot longer than five years (in a good way, of course!) 

On Friday, Dru woke up pretty early to get the grass cut (I know, really romantic, huh?) I went to the pool to soak up some rays :) We grabbed lunch at The Hound, which probably our favorite restaurant in AU. That night we went to my cousin's wedding rehearsal dinner. So sweet. I cried. (surprise, surprise) 

On our way to lunch! 

Rehearsal dinner

Tonight, June 17th, we celebrated again. We figured since we didn't get a whole day we would go out another night. The weekend was really busy, so tonight was the night. We went to Hamilton's on Magnolia.... YUMMY! Then we got a redbox and cuddled up on the couch. Perfect night, if ya ask me! 

At dinner tonight 

I could seriously talk about how awesome this man is all day. 

He is so good to me. 

Exactly who I needed to do life with.

I don't know how many of you girlies have a list of characteristics you want your future husband to possess, but I definitely had that list. When I made the list, I prayed over it and expected that my future husband would have all of the attributes I listed. Little did I know that God was going to give me someone that had those things, plus everything I need, but didn't know I needed. He blew me away with the this one. 

I am in love with my husband and will work everyday to stay in love with him. 

I'm honored to call him my husband. 

End of mushy stuff... 

I just couldn't write this post and not say a few things about my man! 

Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday! 

KB

fam beach pics

Hey friends! 

A sweet friend of ours took some pictures of the whole fam while we were at the beach & I wanted to share some with you :) 

Enjoy! 

 

I love my fam oh so much! 

Hope you are having a restful Sunday! 

KB

Sit & Listen

I know I've said that we are definitely on a break from meds/procedures and not really sure we will go back to them (ever)... but I really needed the Lord to reassure me that I was hearing correctly. I wouldn't want to miss anything that He has to say regarding this or anything else for that matter...

Cue Sunday morning at church:

I know I've said it over and over again, but I feel the Lord moving and stirring my spirit more than I have in a long time. (I'm so grateful for this.) Yesterday's message really was just what pushed me over the edge (in a good way) to seek the Lord more than ever.

Along with the message yesterday, I've decided to not get out of the bed until I've sat and talked to Jesus. I just need to SIT in His presence and listen.

This morning I read from my Jesus Calling devo and whoa. I had tears in my eyes as I read. The title was "Rest in Me, My Child"... that pretty much sums it up. I didn't really need to read it, that confirmed our decision to not plan meds or procedures and just rest.

Here is what's been going on in my heart:

If I'm being completely honest I jumped into the procedures without hearing the words "go ahead" from the Lord. Not a good plan, people. And since one of the reasons I went on a break in the first place was to clear my mind, body, and soul; I knew that hearing the Lord loud and clear again was at the tip top of my list of things that I wanted to happen over the past month. I needed to get rid of everything pulling at me and just rest in Him. While I know that I did that, school is something that was pulling at me. Another thing that was pulling at me was the fact that I was literally carrying around 30 extra pounds, which was definitely bringin' me down (figuratively and literally!) Dru and I also needed to reconnect on many levels and recover from the past three months of complete exhaustion.

Now that over a month has past since I said goodbye to many things holding me down... I'm extremely proud to say that I've lost 18 pounds and on my way to losing the other 12 and it's summertime, which you know. I feel so much lighter, in more ways than one, and I also feel more like myself than I have in months.

And while those things are fabulous, over the past few days, I am continuing to feel that stirring. I have felt that tug on my heart. (You people that have a relationship with Him know exactly what I'm talking about.) He is so gentle, and all He wants is for His children to sit at His feet and spend some time with Him. I am there, friends. I am at His feet.

He is drawing me near and I am listening.

I am in Love with my Savior.

Take that & rewind it back...

Ummm..... Can I have your attention, please?!?!?!!? 

Please check out the information below!!! YES!!! Holler at ya FAT! 

And no blog post would be complete without pictures of my sweet little Boobug! :) 

This is her at the pool the other day... I'm happy to say that I'm spending probably wayy too much time at the pool, but hey, that's what summer is ALL about! They are moving on Sunday, so I'm soaking up every last second with her... #tears #lovehersomuch

Happy Thursday night :) 

Oh and tomorrow is our FIVE year anniversary. I'll definitely post about it at some point this weekend, also coming to a blog near you.... some of my DIY projects for the summer... YAY!!!

 Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Love y'all, 

KB