Integrity.

in·teg·ri·ty

  [in-teg-ri-tee]  

noun

"In this world all you ever own is your integrity. If you lose that you cannot buy it back."

Job 2:3-- Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one of earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you enticed me against him to ruin him without any reason."

Job 27:5-- "I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity."

Proverbs 10:9 "The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out."

JOB

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about true integrity is the book of Job.  A man who has everything and worships the Lord, a good and faithful servant. Satan comes a long and tells the Lord that if He was to take away all of Job's riches and family that he would then curse the Lord. So the Lord tells Satan to take everything away from Job except his life. 

Within the first Chapter of Job he loses everything he holds dear: all oxen and donkeys killed, his sheep and camels GONE. Even his children are killed when a building collapses. So what does Job do? He shaves his head and takes his robes off- NAKED he than worships the same God who just took everything from him. This is just the 1st test!

In Chapter 2 Satan returns to God and tells him that if he were to harm Job himself that would make him curse the Lord. So God gives the go ahead to harm him but not kill him. 

Here is the breakdown: 

- Satan gives Job sores from head to toe of his body.

- His wife says to Job "lose your integrity, curse God and go ahead and die!

- Job tells his wife she is being foolish..." shall we accept good from God and not trouble?!"

- In the end he doesn't curse God

Recap:

-NO children

-NO cattle

-Bad health

& yet he continues to praise the Lord and pray to him the entire time. Faithful & Full of INTEGRITY!

In the end the Lord blessed Job twice as much as before. He lived to be 140 years old and to see 4 generations of children. 

Having Integrity is never easy - It usually brings hard times because you have to be moral in an immoral world. It will be challenging but in the end it will ALWAYS be worth it. Integrity is having moral soundness, ethical adherence and ultimately honesty. Job lost everything and yet he still blessed and praised the Lord. It all paid off in the end. 

How many of us would have continued to trust God and not curse him if everything was taken away from us? I know I stress and worry about the littlest things I cannot even believe what I would or could do if my family was taken from me, so from here on out this is going to not only be a challenge for you all but also for me. To live a life on integrity even in the small stuff. God will reward those who believe and trust him. He has our BEST life in mind and our minds cannot even comprehend it. 




Thought I would leave yall with the most precious baby boy ever...Till next time!


XOXO

sweetest face ever.

Happy New Year! CAUTION: photo overload!

I am back! I am in the middle of changing things around on the blog. I cannot believe it has been so long since I have written to you guys! My apologies...it has been a little crazy around the Dixon house! Let's catch up:

Max 

Almost 10 months old. Unbelieveable. 

Crawling machine

Almost walking

Will eat any cherrio/puff you put in front of him. He is going to turn into a puff!

Has 4 teeth

Loves animals

Friends to everyone, loves everyone

Finally sleeping through the night *fingers crossed*

Absolutely loves bathtime

Shrieks for fun

says : momma, dada, ball, and bye bye

waves bye when he feels like it

Has the best old man laugh ever

Yo Gabba Gabba, Backyardagains, Agent Oso = favorite TV shows

& will chew on his drumsticks for the entire day and not get bored

He is such a joy to be around, he has definately grown into a wonderful baby! I am so thankful that I am able to see him grown more and more each day and that I get to experience his "firsts" with him!

Some pictures from 2011

One of my favorite pictures

Right before Maxwell came to us :)

At the hospital. LOVE this picture.

Newborn Max

King of the remote!

Water baby

First time eating rice!

Sitting up like a big boy!

At our friend's wedding

First swing ride

First time at the park.

First trip to Florida.

First time meeting cousin Zoe.

Drool Monster!

Standing UP!

First Christmas

Christmas morning!

Great Aunt Joy

Uncle Stevo

J-MA & Maxwell

9 months old!

Our Family

Sweet Boy

Our little man!

Alright, now that I have caught yall up to speed, a litte...I am going to try to keep up with my blogging this year...

Until next time...

XOXO

A lot on my mind...

I have no idea why I haven't blogged, there is so much going on around me and things that Max has started to do that I should have documented but for some reason I just have stopped feeling that urge to write. I am just not myself lately, I have been doing lots of thinking and deep prayer about what God wants me to do in my life and for the rest of my life. I feel sometimes that I went to school for 5 years and I graduated but still have no idea what I have a passion for. (Of course I have a passion for my awesome baby boy and family but that isn't what I am talking about) I am talking about hobbies, interests, a job that I won't hate after a week. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with Max while he is little but he won't be little for ever and when that day comes I would love to have somewhat of an idea. Of course I've tossed ideas around and at one point or another thought that this idea is THE ONE. In reality I have no idea. This is where God comes in, this is when I pray and seek his will and not my own. For if it was MY life that I had "planned" I would not have a beautiful 5 month old baby yet...that would come in about um 6 years according to MY life plan but it is NOT about me or my plan it is all about His. God has shown himself so much this past year, my faith has been strengthened so much but also tested, I am so blessed with an amazing family, husband, and baby. I know that even though I have no idea where my life is going to take me it will all work out!

The truth is I have tried to write an entry for the past month but didn't know what to write about, I've had the time just not the right words to say. Hopefully this post won't go without being read and maybe just maybe it will speak to someone else.

AND I believe this with my whole heart: Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don't want to believe that. Your life is what you're making of it. To change your life, you need to change your priorities.

Leave y'all with some sweet pictures of my adorable little guy!

hands in mouth at ALL times.

just pretend he is making funny faces too...

reunited and it feels so good...

WOW it is has been a long time since I last wrote something on the blog and updated you all on my life as a mom. It has been a wild ride that is for sure!

We have turned into world travelers since the last time I blogged. We've been to Florida a number of times, Ohio, and Kentucky this weekend is the first in a LONG time I have been home instead of on the road. Which is good because we are celebrating my birthday which was Wednesday, the 27th! I turned 23 and it was a wonderful birthdaY! My husband made it amazing along with my friends and family from all over!

beautiful bday roses from Jeremy

& these! :)

Time to catch up:

Max is almost 4 months old, it is pretty hard to believe that he is growing so fast! I already miss the whole cuddling stage-he is past that now, unless he is really tired or doesn't feel good. He hates taking naps and is the worst at fighting his sleep...it has gotten much better though now that we are introducing food to the mix. He has start eating rice cereal for the past couple weeks and loves it! The next thing we will introduce is oatmeal, and then bananas! I cannot believe my little baby is growing up so fast!

He is trying to sit up by himself and gets frustrated when he cant, he has started to hold his own bottle and has quite the grip. This is not good for me because he is loving the fact that he can pull on my hair super hard, guess it is a good time for me to become hard headed... He is finally out of his colicky stage HALLELUJAH, praise the Lord! It is like having a whole new child around, he rarely cries unless he is hungry or sleepy...or bored and in that case we put him in his walker, which he is starting to scoot around in now and flip on the Backyardigans or Calliou, really any cartoon.

In other news we have moved out to Mt. Juliet and are no longer in that tiny cramped one bedroom apartment BUT I do miss the memories we had it there! Lots of fun times. Now we have our own rooms though and the fun part about that is having to get Max in the habit of sleeping in his crib which has been quite the experience. He is now starting to get the hang of it but for the first week or so it was harsh, having to get up every hour or so took me back to the first few weeks of him being here. Sleep deprivation set in once again but it has gotten much better! He has started to sleep from about 9-5:30 in his own crib! yay!

Jeremy is now working part-time at Sprint which is an answer to prayer that he has a job! And I am working a few days a week as a nanny watching two other children along with Max which is another answer to prayer because I am able to "stay at home" and have a job!

Well, Max is waking up from his nap so I am goin to leave yall with some pictures!

big boy in his bumbo

One of the children I nanny feeding Max

At the pool!

A new hobby: blowing bubbles

most precious

eating rice cereal for the first time

Max's room1

Max loves the water!

He LOVED the water!

1st trip to the beach!

oh he LOVED putting on his bathing suit...not.

LOVED the ocean too! water baby!

There is that fist again in his mouth...his new favorite thing to do!

my little family <3

Aunt Megan & Baby 2 pound Zoe :) holding Max! 

happy boy!