​Lyrics that mock my heart right now. ​

“I may not understand what you’re doing yet, Lord and I may only have my close-up vision glasses on, but I will still choose to trust you and believe that you do have a plan for our lives and that there is a deeper/bigger reason to all this waiting. I put my faith in You, but also help me with my unbelief! Amen!”

*There’s nothing bad happening, just trying to seek God’s will for our lives and to lay our worries of tomorrow at His feet. There’s days when it’s easy to do that, and other days when it’s not so easy because my flesh gets in the way. But I trust that God knows my heart/our heart, and that He will guide us in every step that will keep us in His will.*

Since we had no official plans tonight, I wanted to think of another date night that was either free or relatively free. So of course I go to my handy-dandy Pinterest Board called “Date Ideas.” I came across one that listed coloring as an idea. 

The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of coloring for tonight’s date idea. However, I was trying to think of how to incorporate it into something other than just coloring. Sooo...

The finale consisted of Sparkling Cider (non-alcoholic, of course), peanut butter cookies, candlelight, and taking a picture of our land and making it into a coloring page to see how each one would color their own. 

It was very interesting to see the differences. Brandon Baker​ took the approach of making it look more like the original, where as I added things to mine. His took maybe 30 mins or so...whereas mine took hours haha. Brandon had a more fun and relaxed time doing his. Whereas I had more of a perfectionist yet rewarding experience. His represents how he enjoys the simplicity of the land, whereas mine represents the things I look forward to the most when we are there: our house (living there), the barn and horse, the sunshine (which also represents God’s presence on our little piece of Heaven). 

Either way, we both appreciated the outcome of our own artwork, as well as each other’s. Plus, it was fun being able to “color” our land, something that means so much to us vs just a random coloring page. 

Now that it is 1:16 on Friday morning, before it gets to be too much later, here is my “Thankful Thursday...”

I am SO thankful that we have a personal God who can handle us pouring our hearts out to Him while at the same time understanding our hearts and still loves us unconditionally! 

Tonight was a heart-to-heart prayer and a written conversation seeking His will for Brandon and I’s life as individuals and as a couple. It was a cry for help and guidance in what He has planned for us in the future, as well as in day-to-day life. I expressed my open and honest feelings about what my heart longs for. 

My heart longs for our future house in the country and everything else that will come with that. As much as my heart longs for that dream to come true (and obviously sooner rather than later), deep down though and beyond any other “want”, there is NOTHING I want more than to be in His will and to have His will be fulfilled in our lives, both as Christians and as people. 

My fleshed heart can play tricks on me though. Most of the time I don’t allow the “waiting game” to effect me, but then there are times when I allow it to overcome me (and clearly today/tonight is one of those times haha). It’s weird because I don’t struggle at all with believing and knowing that our future place WILL happen and that it IS apart of God’s will for our lives, but it’s the process where my faith lacks sometimes. I hate that it does, but if I’m being honest, then it does haha. 

But I have learned 2 things about myself by writing this letter, this prayer:

1 - When I pray for our future and for His help in the process of reaching that future, I always expect Him to answer my requests right then and there, and although I could be wrong, it seems like He rarely does that sort of thing. I'm not saying that He doesn't work in that way, it just seems like He doesn't do it very often. So basically with me expecting Him to answer "my" immediate requests, I’m unintentionally taking it into my own hands by not fully trusting and giving God the room to work things out in His way, which is as I said before is my #1 goal in life as well as in this whole process of reaching our future goals/dreams...which brings me to my 2nd reason...

2 - I get SO caught up in making sure that I am doing the right things to be in His will (and yes, there is such a thing) that I worry and stress so much over doing so, which therefore again leads to me “taking control” in a way over the situation and not allowing God to just “work it out”. 

Sooo by the end of all this, I will do my very best to “let it all go” and to stop trying to take control over it and just wait and see what God does. After all, another one of my #1 goals in this future house stuff is that I want God to get ALL the glory, praise, honor, and credit for what He does for us and for His people. I don't want others to see us as being winners of our dreams, but that they see God's work and miracles through this whole process, and that it is through Him and ONLY HIM that we were able to reach our goal/dream. We want His presence and anointing to be seen throughout this whole thing adventure. But I do ask for prayers for this, as this will not always be easy to do, especially in the warmer seasons as it is in those times when I REALLY long for and desperately want our house and to begin our journey in the country!!

​So here is MY part in the challenge. I am thankful for the spontaneous, Summer (even though we're in February) picnic dinner at the park with my Honey! It was such a lovely evening and time spent together!! And NO BUGS, which was also very nice!!!

Although we did not meet the goal of this challenge for me to post a video of me singing tonight, there were 10 different photos or comments and 2 likes for the Baker's Journey page.....so I will extend this challenge until the end of the day on Sunday (25).
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So again, if I can get 30 people to share what they are thankful for either by posting a picture or a comment in the comment section on the "Terrific Tuesday: Photo or Comment Challenge - Part 1" post AND 10 different people to "like or follow" the facebook.com/bakersjourney, then I will post a video of me singing a song. The reason the stakes are high is because I have NEVER sang in front of people before by myself, so I am really sticking my neck out here lol. So be sure to share and tell your friends to get the word out there!!

You know your church is awesome when they voluntarily offer a FREE, delicious spaghetti dinner in honor of Valentine’s Day! And all you have to do is sit and enjoy the food, fellowship, and each other. ❤️
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The candle in a bottle you see on the table were the coolest things! And we got to take one home!! The goal behind them is to start a family tradition and light them whenever you have Italian meals together. I LOVe things like this, so I am super excited about it and look forward to starting that tradition!

Oops, I forgot to post this yesterday...I've been mixed up all week with my days, so I forgot that it was Thursday yesterday haha...

​Anyways, I found these pictures (and a silly video at the end ;)) from when I washed my old truck, it was one of my first times washing it so I took a lot of pride into it. I loved this truck, as it was also my very first truck. I know it's just material, but there is something about owning your own first truck. I have to say I miss it sometimes, but I'm also THANKFUL for our new one as it has more amenities and is more accessible to babies and children. ​

I came across this article earlier today, and fell in love with it! I couldn't believe how perfectly it related to my own blog post called, "3 Raw and Honest Reasons for A Fresh Start", which is about the reasons why we are doing the "Fresh Start" series.  One of those reasons talks about putting each other first before our soon-to-be-son due in March (as well as our future children).  This is a lifestyle we want to strive to maintain while raising our kids, and this article gives light as to why we have that goal. I hope you all get as much out of this article as I did!

Let’s face it, sometimes in life we will misunderstand each other, which can cause arguments, saying things we don’t really mean, and tension. However no matter what the situation is, we should never end the day with a bad attitude. It’s important to talk through those misunderstandings, even if there is tension. Your relationship (especially marriage) will strengthen if you are able to make an effort to talk through and get past those awkward moments and feelings. It may be harder to do at the time, but you WILL be grateful for it in the end if you do! My husband and I experienced this last night, and can tell you that by refusing to go to sleep until it was worked out and we were on the same page, it made our night go a whole lot better! Whenever those misunderstandings come up, no matter what the situation is, we both make sure to take care of it and get each other on the same page before going to sleep. It helps us in the moment, helps us to sleep without guilt or grudges, and it helps us to start fresh the next day. I tell you all this to show that life can (and will) bring challenges, even to those who do have a strong relationship/marriage like we do, but it’s all in how you decide to handle them that can make or break your relationship/marriage. We choose to fight for our marriage in those moments and to win!