Taking Time To Clean Our Burners

I don't think our stove top has ever been this clean!

Last night as I was cooking dinner, I started to smell a strong burning smell come from the kitchen stove. When I looked close enough, I could see that something was on the bottom of the burner and was burning more and more as the food was cooking. This morning I decided that it was time to take the time to clean the burners on the stove top. I don't know about you, but it's a big enough blessing to have the time to cook dinner...much less, take the time to clean the burners. As I was thinking about this though, it clicked with me that there was a "life analogy" happening right before my very eyes. 

We often go,go,go...tons of great, fun, busy, exciting, positive, life-giving, blessed things going on, people we love to be with, sweet fellowship, wonderful occasions to be celebrated and so forth...but there comes a time when we have to be disciplined enough to step back and take care of ourselves before moving forward. The marriage moment of the week that comes to mind in all of this is the fact that we were planning to go out of town this weekend to one of our favorite places...Nashville! 

At the beginning of the week when we started talking through how busy we've been and how life doesn't look like it's going to be slowing down anytime soon (!!) ... we talked about committing it to prayer this week about whether or not we should go or stay here and have a chill weekend...just the three of us! There was no specific occasion we were going to Nashville for, simply excited about connecting with dear friends and enjoying a fun Fall weekend in one of our favorite spots. Well, the reality is that we need to take a step back and take care of ourselves...make time for those husband and wife moments of quality time on the porch that get lost in the hustle and bustle...have a cozy Saturday morning at the house as we make pumpkin blueberry pancakes and snuggle our baby boy...and take one minute at a time and not have every minute planned out. Whoooo! Much needed! It's hard to do though! 

So bringing it full circle...life is much like the burners on the kitchen stove. Sometimes you have to make the time to stop and clean the burners so that it doesn't smell awful each time  you cook in the future. In the same way, we are putting a halt to "our plans" and choosing to take a weekend to rest in the plans the Lord has for us and "clean our burners" so that we don't run on empty in these days and weeks to come...

This Afternoon

Thought it would be appropriate for Nels to wear his
"Every good and perfect gift is from above" onesie today!
He truly is a gift to us from GOD! 

It is with thankful hearts that we report that all went well this morning with Nelson's procedure. The Lord went before and behind us and made our path straight. After we got called back to a room, Brandon asked the doctor if it would be alright if we prayed over her once we were getting ready to start - she said that would be fine. So when the doctor came in and her team of five people - she said, "Alright Dad, you're up"...meaning, time for you to pray! So Brandon got to pray for the Lord to work through the doctor and team's hands. At the close of the prayer he said, "OK, we'll look forward to you coming to get us when it's over"...(because we had heard that it was common for the doctor to ask the parents to step out since it's hard for the parents, especially the mom, to see the baby so upset)...but our doctor said, "Oh no, y'all stay. And mom, could you go stand by Nelson's head so that he will see you?" WOW! I wasn't planning on that but sure was honored to get to stand there next to my precious son and look into his big blue eyes every step of the way. I held both of his hands and didn't take my eyes off of him the entire time - and yes, it was very, very hard to watch him cry and cry so hard - but I had to keep reminding myself that this was for his good AND he would not remember any of this!! 

The procedure went smoothly and the doctor did what she came to do - thank you, Lord! And then after that they put his fifth set of casts on. That's not ever a fun process for him due to the fact that he is a mover and a shaker and he has to be held down and still for a couple of minutes - but he made it through and was such a warrior! I kept remembering how a dear friend had prayed over me when Nelson was in my belly, that he would be a warrior for the Lord...and that no weapon formed against him would prosper. I was clinging to that today!! As soon as the procedure and castings were over, they put my precious boy right in my arms for me to nurse him. That consoled him immediately and then he went into a peaceful sleep. Not too long ago, he woke up after a three hour nap and ate again and I could tell was a little more fussy than normal which was sad to see, but the Lord blessed me with the most dear little smile from the precious fella, which reminded me that he is OK and that this is all part of the process. He is now back to resting peacefully again and smiling here and there while he sleeps...so cute!! The next step is for him to wear this set of casts for the next three weeks and then we will go back in to check on the status of his feet and more than likely move him into the shoes with the bar. 

Words cannot even express how much the messages, emails, calls, and texts meant this morning. We could feel the army of prayer warriors of dear family and friends surrounding us and lining the walls of the room where the procedure took place. We have had the song "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)" by Matt Redman on our lips all morning and all day long. Brandon and I were singing it in the room before the surgery took place. You can click here to listen to it and read the lyrics. Thank you again to each and every one of you for lifting up our precious Nelson in prayer today and standing beside us throughout this entire journey. I will close by saying, it's amazing how God gives you the strength and grace when you need it. If you had told me even a month ago that I would be looking into the face of my child while he bawls his eyes out, I would have told you that I would bawl my eyes out too. But today...we had to be strong for Nelson...and through the strength that the LORD gave us, it was possible! We'll keep you posted on our little man's progress! 

This Morning

Thank you, Lord, for this happy boy!! We know he is in YOUR HANDS!!! 

Good Morning! We wanted to write you a quick message to let you dear prayer warriors and readers of the blog to know that Nelson's tenotomy procedure will be this morning at 11:30am (CST). Please pray for the Lord to guide the doctor's hands and for the Great Physician to give baby Nelson a peace that can only come from HIM!

As we were praying last night, we remembered how the Lord told us throughout the entire pregnancy and labor and delivery to "WALK BY FAITH" (2 Corinthians 5:7)...and now we are "approaching the throne of grace with confidence" (Hebrews 4:16) and asking the Lord to give us faith that through this procedure, our precious son will be able to WALK in Jesus' name when that time comes. 

We will update you later on today with how the procedure goes...until then, thank you in advance for your prayers. We have already thanked the Lord for how we know He is going to take care of our dear 10 week old son. 

A few of the verses that we are clinging to this morning as we take "ONE STEP AT A TIME"...

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." -Isaiah 26:3

"He will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast trusting in the LORD." -Psalm 112:7

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." -Exodus 14:14

"He makes my FEET like the FEET of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights." -Psalm 18:33

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21

'How beautiful on the mountains are the FEET of those who bring GOOD NEWS, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" ' -Isaiah 52:7

Happy Friday...From Nelson!

Happy Friday from the Nall home! It's been a great week getting readjusted at home after a wonderful week away with family at the beach. So thankful for those rejuvenating times away but it is true that there is no place like home. This week we'd like to ask your prayers for wisdom and direction as we take the next steps forward (literally) with Nelson's club feet progress. 

On Wednesday, he got his fourth set of castings removed and we found out that he will be having the tenotomy procedure in both feet so that will be sometime next week. We'd like to ask you to pray specifically for the doctor's hands when they perform this procedure...and for God's peace to rest on us as his parents before and after this procedure takes place. There's not enough time in the day to tell you about all the times we have seen the fingerprints of God...even this week...as different family, friends, doctors, people we've never even met...have come alongside us with words of wisdom and prayers for our precious son. We are so thankful to the Lord for giving Nelson to us and are humbled to be on this "one step at a time" process towards complete healing in both of his feet. 

As we celebrate two months of Nelson's life, we thank the Lord for many things...including his health, the calm nature that exudes from him day and night, and most recently...his precious smiles. It is true that "new life" brings forth "new life"! We are so thankful for the new life we are experiencing each day in our home and in our hearts. Thank you for your continued prayers as we march through the doors that the Lord has opened for us to walk through this next week. Praying to keep our eyes on Jesus every step of the way! 

A Day In The Life

"Hello" from my 'lil blog helper!

Whew! What a past couple of days it has been!! In the past 24 hours we've had one car overheat and one car battery die. We have been counting down the days until this Friday because that is the start of our much needed family vacation! We are heading down to Dothan, AL to introduce Nelson to more family and friends...then we will make our way down to one of our favorite spots on earth...the Emerald Coast...to officially introduce our dear son to the "umbrella forest" and spend time with family for a week as our toes stay hidden in the sand. Until then...

Tonight I am holding down the fort here with Nelson while Brandon is at a dinner for work. I ate the rest of the leftovers for lunch today which means I am going to be enjoying eggs for dinner! Before our heads hit the pillow tonight, there are bills to be payed, bags to be packed, cars to be charged with jumper cables, umbrellas to be dug out of the corner of the closet, and so on and so forth! Yet here I am...writing the weekly blog! We long to be "real" on here and show our true colors...and I thought...it doesn't get more real than this! Not only do we have a number of things to do around here before daybreak, but this will be our first real trip for a prolonged period of time with our baby boy! So to say there are a "few things" to be packed is an understatement!! Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I will be enjoying a piece of Ezekiel Bread with my eggs over easy...and yes, it's the bread that was salvaged after getting run over by a car last week in the Whole Foods parking lot when we left our bag of groceries on the ground and completely forgot about them until we were back at the house! See last week's post for details!! 

We were talking last night about how it's a challenge these days to find time to commit to being in the Word and connect with each other, in the midst of all the other things on our plates. Brandon was sharing how it seemed to be a lot easier for him when he was playing baseball and had "down time" when he wasn't on the field or at practice because he didn't have so many other things on his mind. I, too, was thinking back on the days when I used to have time to even...JOURNAL! Those days seem like lightyears away at this point... The marriage moment we have talked about a lot this week is how our heart's desire is to pray about finding what this new balance looks like in our lives. For any of you that are a few (or more!) steps ahead of us and a few more children down the road than us...feel free to share your thoughts or any recommendations on how to make time for our first Love, the LORD, each other, and our family...in the midst of the busy "day in and day out" hubbub of life! We know that getting in the habit now that we're in this new season, will set the stage for many years to come...

Thank you for your prayers as we pack up tonight and hit the road tomorrow! What a treat it will be to get on I-65 South soon and very soon...! 

Celebrating Progress

This week we have a lot to celebrate. When we went to the Club Foot Clinic on Wednesday for our weekly casting appointment, the doctor removed the casts as usual (this was our third set of casts) and let us know the great news that Nelson's feet are making beautiful progress. The doctor mentioned that Nelson's right foot will not need a tenotomy (the procedure that is common in between having the castings and getting the braces) and the left foot will more than likely not need a tenotomy after a few more sets of casts! This alone would have left us skipping out the door with smiles! Well...she went on to mention that Nelson will not need to get a new set of casts this week because it is time for him to be measured for his shoes and brace! In other words, we will have an entire week to bathe him, kiss his feet, rub his legs, change diapers with ease, and breastfeed what seems like a "light as a feather" baby since the casts do add quite an amount of weight. We were ecstatic! 

The 'lil cutie-pa-tootie after his bath! He loved it!!!

Leaving the doctor, we couldn't stop thanking the Lord for the wonderful progress of Nelson's feet AND for the gift of getting to love on him in all the ways mentioned above...things that may sound simple or mundane to you (and did to us before club feet) but now we have a greater appreciation for each of them. Amazing how perspective changes everything! We have so much to be thankful for and this was just a simple yet profound example to us when we experienced the joys of the little things on Wednesday! It's been the gift that keeps on giving this week as we are constantly reminded of all that God has done, is doing, and will continue to do! 

May we zoom out of the box that we get so focused on with ourselves and see the greater picture of what God is up to. Wednesday morning started off with so many praises...and by Wednesday night we had dealt with many curve balls including B getting in a fender bender (praise the Lord all are ok), Nelson and I going to pick up Brandon to get him to a meeting on time after the car situation, the three of us having a relaxing walk through Whole Foods (truly is stress relieving for us to walk around in there and enjoy the cheese samples and take it all in) to coming home from our nice outing to realize that we had left the groceries we had just purchased, and many other things in between. {Sidenote: When B went back to Whole Foods to look for the groceries, they were right where we had left them...in the parking lot on the ground by the car! NO JOKE...as B said, only at the Mountain Brook Whole Foods could you leave your groceries and the people who had pulled up next to them not steal them but probably think to themselves "oh, these people forgot their items...I'm sure they'll realize it and be back in a few". When he got home with the items, he mentioned that all looks well for the most part...except for our delicious "Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Bread" that is now a little sideways since it got run over by a car!} Ohhhh...a day in the life! We share all that to say, we have to often remind ourselves of the quote that says, "You have to laugh at yourself or you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't!" ... Yesterday was certainly one of those days where you can feel yourself becoming more seasoned per say. Now we understand why our parents didn't freak out over the years when we called to tell them this or that...they, too, had days where they had learned from life experiences! 

Some days it seems like the plans just don't turn out how you had thought. Whether that's in a good way (for us finding out the great update on Nelson's feet) or in the hard ways (like our car situation, groceries, and everything in between) ... we are reminded by the September 17 Jesus Calling (devotional by Sarah Young) that, "You will not find my peace by engaging in excessive planning: attempting to control what will happen to you in the future...Just when you think you have prepared for all possibilities, something unexpected pops up and throws things into confusion. I did not design the human mind to figure out the future. That is beyond your capability...Commit everything into My care. Turn from the path of planning to the path of Peace." Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." 

Tonight we are celebrating progress...both in the areas of Nelson's feet AND in our own lives. We realize more and more each day that we live in an imperfect world and nothing is in our control. As soon as we think it is, we realize that was a false expectation to begin with and are let down yet again. Thankful that HE doesn't give up on us. Each of these life scenarios bring us to our knees...right where we need to be! 

Celebrating Four Years Of Marriage!

Today we are celebrating four years of marriage! It is so true that “time flies when you’re having fun”!! I remember when we first got married and Brandon was telling me one night that he had a smile on his face and how it was hard to sleep with a smile on! I thought that was too cute! Still to this day we’ll say... “Night babe, I love you! I have a smile on my face!!” Since a picture paints a thousand words...I thought it would be fun to share a few of the highlights of each year of marriage so far. 

Wedding Day - September 13, 2008

Wedding Day - September 13, 2008

  

A highlight of 2009...We bought our first house!

Anniversary Dinner - September 13, 2009

Celebrating our 1st Anniversary - September 2009 - Seaside, FL

A highlight of 2010...super sweet time in Nashville with dear friends! Never underestimate living in the same city with some of your favorite people :) 

Anniversary Dinner - September 13, 2010

Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary - September 2010 - Seaside, FL

In 2011...moved from Nashville, TN to Birmingham, AL 

A highlight of 2011...finding out we are pregnant (!!) while on a trip to San Diego, CA!

Anniversary Dinner - September 13, 2011

Celebrating our 3rd Anniversary - September 2011 - Seaside, FL 

A highlight of 2012...finding out that we're having a baby BOY!

Summer 2012...Good times & super HOT with a "watermelon" in my shirt! :) 

August 7, 2012 ... A day that changed our life for the better forever!
Our precious Nelson Caleb Nall was born!!!

There is nothing that brings a smile to my face like watching my dear husband love our son! 

I thank the Lord every day for answering my many, many prayers for a husband that loves the Lord with all his heart and strives to put Him first in his life. Thank you to those of you who prayed for the Lord’s guiding hand to lead us to each other, before we even met. And thank you to those of you who stood beside us on our wedding day - family and friends - to support us as we committed our lives to one another in this covenant of marriage. And to those of you who continue to walk by our side and point us to the One that teaches us how to walk in a state of forgiveness and so forth in our day-to-day lives...thank you! 

We first started this blog as a way to be real and vulnerable as we walk through the ups and downs of life. A lot of people have even been asking over these past couple of weeks since we became parents, how it’s been between the two of us since we had each other’s undivided attention for four years. Thankfully, even on the sleepless nights and at the end of tiring days, our teachable spirits and gifts of communication through the Lord's strength have helped us work through some potentially “hair pulling” moments...and end the day with a smile on our face. May we continue to seek the LORD with all our hearts - asking HIM to be our strength - in the times of joy and the times of hardship. Praising the Lord today and always for the gift of marriage and how He has drawn us closer to Himself through each “marriage moment”. Heres to many more!