Monkeys, Apples, and Diapers, Oh My!

Posted by Lauren

Well, I think it’s about time I posted something.  So here’s what’s been going on in this Scott home (and hopefully this will give you an idea of why I haven’t posted much lately!!!).

Elijah is 2  1/2 months old now!  The sweet little boy is growing strong!    We had a “reunion” with our birthing class last weekend since all of the babies have been born now (Elijah being the youngest).  One of the other moms made onesies with each baby’s name on it!  So cute!  Gives me ideas…

Elijah is the youngest, so he's on the end!

With Papa

With Momma

We had a bit of excitement yesterday.  I did tons of laundry and the drier sounded horrible.  Nathaniel said we shouldn’t run another load through it until he had a chance to look at it and fix it.  But at the time that decision was made, a load of diapers was already going in the washer!  So, we improvised…

Living Room Clothes Line

I had another little oddity yesterday…I finally decided to do some baking, making Dutch Apple Bread since we had some apples to use up.  Well, here’s what I wrote on my Facebook status:

Well, the apple bread flopped. Or should I say slopped? It tested done, but that was only because instead of being “too wet” in the middle, it was nothing but wet! I need to check that oven temperature…Anyway, I scooped the batter off …of the kitchen table and back into the bread shell that I put back into the loaf pan–and back into the oven it all goes! We’ll see if it’s salvageable.

It was indeed salvageable, but it didn’t look so pretty.  We ate almost half of it last night anyway!  We didn’t slice it though–it would have fallen apart if we did!

Yum.

And here’s a picture of our little monkey today. 

Grace and Peace!

Let me tell you what He’s done…

Abigail finally posted her testimony of Christ’s work in her life on the Jesus Tales page. You can read it. You should also post yours!

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Pearls and Diamonds has gone to the Birds

Well…at least we’ve joined Twitter.  You can keep up with us by following @PearlandDiamond

And we hope to be getting back in gear soon with a series on Purity, one on God’s will and hopefully wind up Lauren’s series on Modesty.  Plus some. 

Thanks for your patience!

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Ooops…

We got a little ambitious in attempting to get the “Purity” series worked up and posted this month. We’ll post as we can and try to get it finished up and posted ASAP.

Things are crazy behind the scenes and Pearls and Diamonds!

Blessings,

Lauren and Abigail

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Announcing Elijah Chapman Scott!

Here he is:  the newest member of the family!  He was born August 1st at 1:35 AM and weighed 7 lbs 9 oz.  He’s a sweetie.   The Lord was gracious to show himself strong through a few intimidating complications and baby and Momma are doing great!

Elijah Chapman Scott

August 1, 2009

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An update of Baby Scott

We’d scheduled me (Abigail) for a visit to Nathaniel and Lauren this week, in hopes that the baby would come a little early so I could be here for the birth.  It looks like our hopes will be fulfilled, though not quite in the way we’d anticipated.  Below is an excerpt from an update e-mail Lauren sent out to family:

This week has been a bit crazy.  I developed a nasty rash on my belly button about two weeks ago.  Only about 4 or 5 days ago I noticed some red, itchy bumps developing on my inner thighs.  I thought it was related to shaving.  But they spread and are now red, itchy welts/blisters.  And the bumps have covered my legs, the tops of my hands, and my forearms.  They’re continuing to spread to my upper arms, belly, and feet.  We thought it was a pregnancy related thing called PUPP, but our doctor, who we saw both yesterday and today, was concerned and at our appointment today said she thinks it’s Gestational Pemphigoid which is a pregnancy-related autoimmune disease. I’ve  done some reading online and I think she’s right.   Basically the placenta causes the mother’s immune system to attack her own skin leaving itching, blistering burns.

Because there is potential risk to the baby, (and a lot of unknowns because this is such a rare condition), she suggested we induce as soon as possible.  The soonest she can get us into the hospital is Thursday at 7am.  So that’s the plan.  In the mean time I’m on some powerful medications to help with the itching (which is pure torture) and suppress my immune system.

This is a real bummer in that it doesn’t fit nicely into our plans for a completely natural birth (but who said life unfolds according to our plans anyway??).  We trust that the Lord will accomplish His good purpose in this, and that He’ll take care of me and the baby.  I’m just thankful that this thing didn’t flare up earlier.  We’re quite blessed to be so close to my due date.  Perhaps the worst news is that this disease will likely affect future pregnancies.

But the Lord is in control!  We know that He is good and does good.  And hopefully we will have a baby by this weekend!

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Nearing the Finish Line

If you’ve been reading Lauren’s posts and enjoying her perspective these days, perhaps you’d enjoy another perspective:  the view of her belly.   Lauren and Nathaniel were blessed with a free photo sitting in the mall the other day which resulted in some lovely images.

With July 4th past, the countdown shows Baby Scott due to make his appearance in less than a month!

Also upcoming in August: the long-awaited Purity articles you’ve asked for!  Actually, as we stewed over the topic, we found so much to cover that we plan to take the whole month of August just to focus on Purity–and it’s implications and rewards!  We hope to include a poll, some articles, our personal experiences and another “His Perspective” survey!  We hope to have lots of feedback because we’re still growing and learning, too!  We’re considering including a “carnival” (is that what it’s called when we link to other good purity articles?) and perhaps a question and answer post and we want your help and thoughts!  Please send us links to your favorite articles, suggest your favorite books (with your comments), flood us with scripture passages, thoughts, poems, convictions, testimonies, etc.  Purity seems to be forgotten in our world of lust and license and we want to hear as well as share encouraging stories!  Send your purity thoughts our way:  pearlsanddiamondsblog [at] gmail [dot] com

Blessings,

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The Results Are In

With the help of a random number generator, we picked a winner for the Pearls and Diamonds bookmark giveaway.

The winner is Miss S!

Dash us off an e-mail with your address, Miss S. and we’ll send that bookmark your way!

Blessings,

Happy Birthday to Us!

A year ago today we published our opening post–The Birth of Blog–and launched the Pearls and Diamonds site. Since that time we’ve bounced up and down on our ability to get posts up, but we’ve always been blessed by the feedback and by the outlet for thinking and learning.

In honor of the event, we’re giving away a handcrafted Pearls and Diamonds bookmark–featuring a crown decorated with pearls and diamonds (as per our goal of being jewels in the crown of the King of Kings). Enter by leaving a comment and letting us know what your favorite article/post  has been. For an extra entry, announce the giveaway on your blog or social networking site and let us know. We’ll bring the giveaway to a close July 1st and pick a random winner.

It’s cuter than it looks in the picture. (Thanks to Josiah, Abigail’s brother, for making it!)

Blessings,

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El Gozo de la Veinte y Dos

Twenty-two years ago, something happened!

Guess who was born at five o’clock in the morning!

It was the first time Abigail ever cried.

Staying Joyful at Home

Being at home is one thing.  Being joyful at home is another thing entirely.  Jasmine at Joyfully Home has made it her mission, not only to be joyful at home herself, but to encourage others striving for the same goal.  She just wrapped up an excellent series on the topic that we’d encourage you to check out.  Even though her series is geared toward single young ladies, there’s application for the married homemakers as well!

From the top down ways to stay joyful at home:

Way Number One: Build a strong relationship with your mother.

Way Number Two: Find your sufficiency in the King of Kings.

Way Number Three:  Stay busy and useful in the sphere where the Lord has placed you.

Way Number Four: Learn to be a supportive daughter.

Way Number Five: Learn to accept reproof and filter criticism.

Way Number Six: Don’t be afraid to answer legitimate questions; but don’t let speculation cause you to fear.

Way Number Seven: Get to know your siblings.

Way Number Eight: Find the blessing in difficult circumstances.

Way Number Nine: Be a seed-planter.

Way Number Ten: Contribute to a joyful atmosphere.

Behind the Scenes on My Vanishing Act

Hello Sisters! I realize I’ve been missing in action for several weeks now…at least in the online world.  Many small factors have played into my absence, and you deserve an explanation.  My Mom and Papa were in a minor motorcycle accident about three weeks ago and Papa broke his collar bone.  It seems to be healing well (though still swollen, green and painful), but he’s been on temporary disability which leaves him home—for at least a month.  Always, anything unexpected brings both unexpected blessings and stretching.  You see, I’m a person of projects.  My projects always seem, to me, to be of great importance—whether blogging or taking pictures or journaling or designing literature.  But sometimes something “interferes” with my projects and I must learn the secret of priorities—the priorities the Lord has created for me.  Blogging is something that has blessed me and been an enjoyable outlet, as have writing, music and many of the other “projects” in which I’ve engaged—but it is not a God-ordained priority.  The Lord has set up priorities that start with my relationship with Him and continue to serving my family, then to outreach to those in my immediate life.  With my father off work, I’ve been super busy.  At first, my heart stubbornly resented the intrusion into my “projects” and “goals” at first, but the Lord is patiently reminding me what’s most important.  Honestly, I’ve come to enjoy the break from my project-driven mentality.  I know that I’m doing God’s will, serving the Lord, when I simply obey and serve my father.  It’s pretty freeing.

The blessings have been surprising as well!  I’m an idealistic realist, which means that I don’t believe ideal exists but I’m holding out for it anyway.  J Over the past several months, frustration had built up in my heart:  frustration with status quo, with the mundane—with things I struggle with perceiving as unnecessary wastes of time.  Why do people have to eat, anyway?  A couple of weeks ago, I came to Papa in tears with a pile of questions taller than I am.  Having him home gave us some time to work through some of my confusion and frustration and bring me back into focus—reminding me that God is the One who works miracles and that many mundane things are for my own good—to prove my character.  And my hopeless tendency to forever reevaluate what I’m doing has been God’s very tool for honing and strengthening me.  He forever reminds me that He still works through things that aren’t ideal and that I simply must depend on Him to work in His perfect way.  I wasn’t redeemed to serve God—as an end in itself.  He has angels who constantly do His will.  I was redeemed to be restored to an intimate relationship with Him—as Adam and Eve once walked with Him in the garden.  All the working and learning in the world are empty eating from the Tree of Knowledge without a relationship with God—the author of wisdom.  And no matter where I am or what I am doing, I can walk with God.

This time of year my life always turns upside down with crazy busyness (you know, weddings, graduations, “projects”, people) and I struggle to balance everything.  The Lord has given me a simple reminder to prioritize and rest in Him, knowing that only one thing is truly important:  being with Jesus.

So, ladies, whether or not I make it back online any time soon, my cry remains the same:  Love Jesus!  Be with Jesus.  Serve Jesus.

Blessings in Christ,

A Son in His Image…

Just thought ya’ll might like to know…

Lauren and Nathaniel are having a baby boy!  A boy to carry on the family name!  Hurrah!

In other news, we are moving a bit slowly–crazy things happen sometimes.  Forgive us!

Blessings,

We Have a Winner…

Poor Lydia was displaced for a slightly more random drawing from Random.org.  And the winner of “Emotional Purity:  An Affair of the Heart” is Carley!  Fancy that!  Happy birthday to you, Miss Carley!  Looks like you won’t have to go buy your own copy, after all!  Now, as soon as you’re finished, we expect a full report on how well you liked it…:D  Just kidding, though we’d love to hear back from you.   Thanks, ladies for entering!  We wish we could give everyone a copy–it’s an excellent book!

Blessings,

Did you miss us?

We decided to let the last couple of posts sit and simmer…wanted to be sure everyone got a chance to read the men’s excellent feedback on “Respect.”  If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend taking the time to look over their thoughts and give them some consideration!

And the giveaway is about to wrap up.  Today is your last chance to enter to win “Emotional Purity:  An Affair of the Heart” by Heather Paulsen.  It certainly has brought a few lovely ladies out of the woodwork.  We’ll announce a winner tomorrow (Lord willing) and get back into the swing of posting.

We’d still love to have more additions to the “Jesus Tales” page–testimonies of the Lord’s grace in the lives of ladies!  We’ll try to get ours up soon!

Also, we’re still both grinding away at several writing projects, but we’d love to know:  is there anything in particular you’d like to see us write about?  Anything  you’d like to see added here?   Any issues you have or discussions you’d like to raise?  We value feedback–both the positive and the constructive criticism!  Anything that will encourage us to grow and learn even as we seek to share what we’re learning!

It’s been rather a refreshing break for us!    Lots of home projects are constantly calling our names!

“Lauren…Abigail…”

See?  Like that.  So it’s off to the next thing with the Lord’s reminder to do everything in His name.

Blessings,