Fall Decorating

 Leaves on sticks. Looks kinda crazy, but I like it and that part of the room needed something tall. 

 

We stayed home today, despite 3 major things we were to do today including church. It has been a long season of sickness for all of us. RA, backs, asthma, colds.  Super down about missing church again and I sat down to read my blog list and saw another mama in my shoes, read her thoughtful words here.

 My favorite family picture, a clearance Anthropologie C, and the little fall bouquet I bought my Grandma Lois the last fall she was with us.

 

The girls wanted to decorate for fall and it was a perfect day to do so. You can only watch so many movies.

I have too many pictures in frames and now I am putting out seasonal pictures in frames. The girls and all their cousins in pajamas and Christmas clothes along with our December wedding and anniversary pictures will probably replace these of last year taken by the amazing Mickie Winters when we decorate after Thanksgiving. I like this blog post about a Halloween Photo Garland and just might do that too.

This was what the 3 and 5 year old did. On the couch side table Mike and I share they chose a pitcher that Mike made in high school pottery class. It has a spider on it and we usually only use it around Halloween. The were ecstatic when they found it and we decided to keep the remotes in it until we redecorate for Christmas. Want to make 2 kids happy, let them decorate and fold their own laundry. Who knew?

Social Networks explained

Here is a funny little picture that someone made to explain social networks.

Overall I love the Internet, but often despise parts of it. It even varies what makes me crazy at times.

Facebook recently breeds discontentment, laziness, even jealousy. There. I said it.



It may often seem annoying or even obnoxious for someone to post monthly on twitter or facebook, "Taking a break from social media. Email or call".

But when my mind is so cluttered from the busyness of technology there is little else that can help me set my mind on God than unplugging from the noise.

I wrote this a few weeks ago after a night of sleeplessness and lurking facebook....
"I have sat here for the last hour and a half while my family sleeps trying to read, trying to pray, not even having my laptop in front of me, but knowing too much about too many, reading to much mundane and important things all at once sometimes makes my mind so cluttered I forget how to think clearly.

I check messages on my phone, email, and facebook and read them quickly then forget to respond. I have systems on how to not miss these messages that I have implemented at less cluttered times in my life, but those are so quickly out the window, when I spend too much time reading hundreds of status updates and hundreds of blogs.

When I can't even remember where I read something or which friend is sick, because there are too many people that I am only acquaintances with on facebook. This is one reason I post fewer pictures and personal stories out there than I use to. Also, statistically I may have some total creepers as facebook friends. I don't need them knowing too much about me and my family.

Sometimes I just want to unfriend everybody (no offense) and only use it for my family, forcing me to be more intentional with our friends and hanging out."

I saw someone say that the printing press was like Internet of the day. Consider how we look back on the printing press. All of the sudden, the bible and other important documents are everywhere. A wealth of knowledge and entertainment they never had before. I wonder: did it ever have negatives? Unfortunately I think the modern day printing press will. It will be tragic and/or amazing to see one day how the explosion of the Internet hurt and helped our world. How it formed psychosis in young minds.

Even someone that doesn't own a computer or even have a place to live can go to their school or library and get on Facebook to read up on what kind of coffee someone had or how someones surgery went. And then forget all about it because they read another 50 updates too. The idea that you can forget someone's hardship with depression or a great celebration because there is so much info going into your brain is sickening to me at times. I have heard more than once that people have found about family members' deaths through facebook instead of a conversation. I have actually heard that 5 or 6 times.

None of what I say here about the need to unplug is unique or new. I have learned this from friends and authors along the way, I am just noting it as a reminder in case you need a break. It is a prescription for me when the focus is hard or my brain is working a mile a minute.

I have currently been on break from Facebook for a week.

I thought in status updates for almost 48 hours.
THAT IS RIDICULOUS!

Then I started being more intentional and I read more to myself and my kids. I actively listened and gave way more eye contact (bc I didn't have any technology in my hand or lap) as D explained every detail of her new favorite show the Octonauts. I got some projects done. I rested more. I prayed more. I worked out more. I was never perfect. I still spent time on my computer, but not nearly as much.

I guess I am just calling for a time out. You don't have to do it. I won't judge you if you don't.

But if you are up for it. Choose one of your social networks that breeds discontentment or jealousy or bitterness or just plan takes up time you could do on something else and take a break from it. A day, a week, a month. 4eva*.

For me it is this facebook break (I totally had my husband hack into my FB to post a link to it, because it would take more self control than I might have not to check updates, while I break). I had a good friend tell me she needs to delete hers altogether because it is a burden while another friend share that Pinterest gives her discontentment because it makes her want more (a very valid point! I am sure I'll need to break from that at some point).

If you are up for it leave me a comment on here or one of my social networks....Just don't expect me to know it right away. I am after all on a facebook break.




*(side note-I love writing like I use to in notes. My greatest note memories are Alison, Carrie and Rosie. Epic LYLAS, SSS etc. What do whippersnappers do now. Text? I guess. I do too. But I guess Oregon Trail = Angry Birds and the perfectly folded and coded handwritten note =texting)

Romans 8:26

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Amen and amen.

Just peeking in

Oh my. It has been a while hasn't it? Well you see I had a baby and all. However thanks to some dear friends Terri and Mickie who both recently joined the blogging community, I have been inspired to put blogging back in my life a bit again.

There have been times where I wonder what the point of blogging is, do people really need to know all this about me and do I really want people to know this much about me? What is the reason I have this online journal of sorts?

Mike and I had a really good talk about our life yesterday. We realized that I always say I want to have more structure in our life and he always wants to have more vision for our life. Then we realized that we basically mean the same thing. We both want to have a bit of a plan about how and why we do things.

He encouraged me that I am coming out of a really hard season: a taxing pregnancy (that was completely worth every second!) that also included some of the worst arthritis flair ups I've had, a long recovery from delivering Maggie, and the fact that we have two girls under two. But because we have been in some sort of survival mode since September, I am itching to put organization and structure in my life, our lives.

I am tempted to plan every detail of our life out on paper. Make charts of what needs to be done around our house, a checklist for what fun things to do this summer, and little lesson plans for Dorothy as she learns her colors, shapes, and numbers. That however is setting me up for failure. Sure I can make some lists, but every time I try to map our whole life on paper I just fail. So for the Cospers, we decided that casting simple visions of what our life could look like is the best way for us. Maybe not for everyone, but for us.

My vision casting is this...How can I live my life and glorify Christ in what I do. That means if I am a stay at home, which is my favorite job to date, then how can I do that and show Christ's love to my girls and those around me while we live our life? And as I blog about it how can I show Christ to those who read here?

So welcome again readers near and far. Faithful readers like Janie, Johanna, Alison, Emilee, Rose, and of course Ceece... oh and all you lurkers I may not know about. Leave me a note here or elsewhere and let me know if you are still reading. May I show you why Jesus Chirst is the most important thing in my life, whether I blog about changing diapers, sewing projects, or canning jam, I pray that I would not forget Romans 8: 1-4

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Just wanted to tell you that I am ever so grateful for my parents and Mike's parents. Not because of the endless gifts and service they give us, but because of who they are and the fact that they raised Mike and I to know and love Christ and that they stayed together enduring good and bad and showing that marriages can last even in this day in age. I say all this as my Father in law, John had surgery on his leg today. Praise the LORD, all seems to be fine. I am so blessed to have these four in my life.

On a much lighter note, you must check out this post our best friend Lachlan wrote about Mike: The Curious Case of Lachlan Coffey.

Tera tagged me...I was supposed to go to my 6th folder and get my 6th picture, but I just picked the 6th picture on my desktop. This is Miss D at the 930 this month. I would like this piece of art, from Lost Love in D's room.

Update:

• I have a tentative c-section date of April 21st!
• That is 10 weeks away!
• Mike,Neil, and the Sojourn worship team have almost finished their next CD!
• Mike is the co-founder of the Open Sourcebook, an free online liturgical resource for churches. It just launched this month.
• Sojourn has some GREAT new web blogs and resources. Check out TravelBlog. (SO THANKFUL FOR BOBBY GILLES WHO MAINTAINS THIS)
  
• Dorothy had her half birthday this week, that means she is 1 1/2!
• D talks in sentences as of this week. Some of them make NO sense and the other half are clear as day "I don't want noodles mama." "Read stories mama?" "Thank Jesus for cheeseburgers" Mike and I just look at each other shocked. I prompted her to thank to say thank you and she said "Thank you Mike" then started laughing, because she used his first name. She continues to call Mike's parents "Nana and Papa" And has labeled my mother "Sue-sue" and my dad..."Gamp-pa Sue-sue". I am not sure how he feels about that.
  
• We are sill dealing with so much crappy health...We all had colds and for Mike and Dorothy it developed into bronchitis...Mike's back, my arthritis. We just continually have to do life our own way. I have had to step back from a lot of expectations that others have on me and that I have put on myself. It is hard, but it is so nice to remind myself I am putting God first and then my family. And that is all that matters right now.
  

Hello friends and family, near and far. It's been 14 days since I posted! Well 7 days in the middle of that 14 we had no power because of the hurricane winds that hit our region. During that time my 1st trimester nausea hit it's peak and Mike's back injury added some extra interesting juggling. But praise God we had friends and family host us. 2 nights with our dear friends, Daniel and Mandy; 3 nights with Mike's parents; and 2 nights with my parents. So I have put sewing and blogging on the back burner as I put the my time with God and caring for my Mike and Dorothy. So much easier said than done. Love to all.

I love the blog GirlTalk. For those of you who don't know it is written by Caroline Mahaney (CJ's wife) and her three daughters. I have searched their posts many times for encouragement. Here is a great post that I read recently about worry. You all who read me often that worry is a big ole' struggle for me.

Kristen wrote about this:
"...So much anxiety in these few short years! Then I thought of the writer who said: “There is nothing easy about good mothering. It can be back breaking, heart wrenching and anxiety producing. And that’s just the morning.”

However, that quote is not entirely accurate. Yes, good mothering is hard! But it hasn't produced anxiety in me. Rather, it has revealed the anxiety that was already there in my heart. Mothering has revealed my sin of unbelief in God, in who He is and what He's promised to do. So often I have sought relief from my fears in a doctor’s reassurance that “everything is going to be OK.” Too many times I’ve run to the pediatrician instead of running to God."

(Find the whole post here)

What a kick in the pants reminder: my anxiety is my sin of unbelief in God! I am going to chew on that for a while.

Welcome to my blog, again. Again.

Dorothy's nasty cold is over. We threw a baby shower for some of our dearest friends. If you want to see them play some music, here it is (if you watch the overview video you'll notice my very own husband [wearing a hat and plaid shirt] playing guitar!) . I also sewed a lot, cleaned a lot. Spent some quality time with friends, family, and my loves Mike and D.


Best of all, I am getting back into the swing of spending time with God. It has been quite a challenge. I really struggle with prayer time and reading the bible as just a thing I check off my list. Lately though, I have been able to move beyond that a bit and really just try to be, actually enjoying prayer and bible.
I think as a new mom a lot times we feel guilt when we don't check that "quiet" or "devotion" time off our list everyday. But as a couple of me friends had advised me my prayer time has moved from a sit down time to prayer throughout the day. When something pops into my head I try to pray for that. Before, I would think, "Oh, I need to pray for that later". When someone is on my heart, I can really turn my time thinking about them into a time of worry, and where does that get me or them? So my new approach has been to take that moment to pray for those needs, focusing on that scripture I always talk about:

Philippians 4:6-7

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (bold type emphasis mine)

So I guess I want to say, let's do this together. Next time we are tempted to worry about something let's net be anxious about it, let's present our request to God, and his peace which we can't fully understand will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.

See you tomorrow faithful friends and readers!

Praise God:

Lord I thank you that we are in a country where I can freely worship you and thank you for all you give me.

*Fried Green Tomatoes and Garlic Parmesan Mayonnaise from Lynn's

*Hand me down clothes and toys from friends and family

*Dorothy's cold is just a cold (I pray it stays that way)

*Our Church is helping take care of people

*My husband loves me well, and that's not just he sent me flowers though I am thankful for those too

*In less than a month both sets of our parents will live just across the river again

Cultivate Beauty 2

We bought a lawn mower and I think I'll kinda miss our fuzzy dandelions.

I'm keeping the fuzzy dandelion in the back though, you know the one wearing pink polka dots.

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

In other news...I have many faithful readers but few who post. Ceece is of course my most faithful poster, but sometimes she's my only one. Sooo, guess what! If you start posting then I'll enter you in a drawing for something handmade! Starting today, anytime you post I'll enter your name into a hat that I will periodically draw from and award you with a prize! I think this first drawing will be a purse so you better get posting!!!
I'll announce the winner next Monday, May 12 (Hey that's Carrie and JQ's anniversary)


My rules are this:
1. This month comment, on cultivating beauty, ie. what are you doing creatively to worship God
2. Make sure to put your name so I know who you are!

Cultivate Beauty

This is one of my favorite parts of spring, our annual Cultivate Beauty Festival/Kill your TV at my church, Sojourn. The whole idea is to challenge everyone to make space for beauty in our lives by turning off our TVs and cultivating beauty around us. God is creator of all things and he has given us the ability to be creative ourselves. It is a way we can worship God by enjoying in his creation and being creative.

I personally have the goals/inspiration to watch MUCH less TV and spend MUCH MUCH less time on the Internet. I am planning on sewing, gardening, be more creative in playing with Dorothy, and reading more. I am also trying to learn how to use our camera beyond snapping pictures, but really taking care to take nice pictures. Hopefully you'll see evidence of my photography here.


So I challenge you to cultivate beauty, turn your TV or computer for example, just take a break from whatever keeps you bound up and not engaged in creativity.
Draw, write, sing, bake, garden, take pictures, go for a walk, go see a game, write a hand written letter, sew, paint... anything! Just cultivate beauty and thank God for all his beautiful creation.

God, I am thankful for:Mike and Dorothy: baby dedication September 07
I heart them so much.

• Remembering our baby dedication last fall. It was a sweet day with family and friends.
  
• Spring weather
  
• Sewing and crafting
• Reconnecting with friends and family
  
• My church
  
• Getting to know people better over this "web" (this means you Ceece :)
• One of Dorothy's three emerging teeth popped through yesterday!

Praise God for all these things.

During my quiet time today I read this. In Linda Dillow's book "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul" she quotes A. P. Gibb's from his book "Worship":

"In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God himself".

Let's all meditate on that.

We laugh a lot these days...

We are laughing a lot. D has realized that she likes to make us laugh. See above for some examples. These were all taken within about 2 minutes.

She cracks us up. She is singing and yelling in stores. She has been saying a form of "hi" for about 4 weeks. Sometimes it's a sigh like "high" and sometimes it's "haaayy", it's usually over and over again. Just in the last two days she is starting to form "da-da"!

Yesterday was the first day where we realized she can get somewhere by rolling several times, before it was a little bit of an accident if she got where she wanted to be. Her favorite things to play with are seat straps and shoes. Give her a toy and she'll probably throw it on the ground. Today she saw her pink boot, squealed and then tried to get into her mouth, too bad it was still on her foot. Another favorite thing: Mike and I will hear a banging sound through the monitor and go check on her...she will be kicking (actually slamming her feet down) the side of her crib to make the animals on her mobile shake! She cracks us up.

I put a bunch of photos on flickr, I set it as private just for a little control. Look me up under sarahcosper and be one of my contacts. It's free and easy to join and you don't have to post any pictures of your own if you don't want too, though I'd love to look at them if you did.

Edit: LOOK ME UP UNDER SARAHCOSPER ON FLICKR NOT FINDINGCONTENMENT. THANKS CEECE FOR THE HEADS UP.

Journey to Contentment

So, I don't think I ever really explained why I named my little blog here "Finding Contentment". I kind of explain in my profile to the right. When I was preparing to teach that class at church a couple weeks ago I felt like I should address my so called journey to contentment. So here is what I shared in the class:

As I approached motherhood, I was encouraged to search my heart and deal with sin issues that would hinder me raising my children. I always knew I was a worrier, as far back as I can remember I worried. I like so many others had believed that worrying was normal, everybody worries right? In a conversation with my mom I asked her what I was like when I was little she said lots of sweet things, and one thing stuck out. She told me I was kind of whiny. I don't know about you but there a few things harder to hear than you are whiny. Nobody like whiners and nobody wants to be labeled as one. I also realized that the Proverbs discuss wives who whine. What do I mean? Nagging. I began a journey with two dear friends into this concept of worry, whining, and nagging. As I studied with them I began to realize my language was all wrong. I wasn't just a worrisome person. I was discontent. My discontentment was lack of satisfaction in my situation around me. Here are some examples of my racing mind and discontentment. I worried when Mike was out of town that someone might break in. I worried that my aches and pains before I was diagnosed with RA were MS, Lupus, or Cancer. I worried if I was pregnant, that I might miscarry. I worried that if I had kids that they would get lost or hurt. My mind rarely focused on the goodness and grace from God above. My mind raced constantly about what might happen.

Our worries reveal our lack of faith. When we think about something more than we do about our Lord and Savior, we are not trusting God to be God. Our worries become idols
I was making an idol out of what might happen in my life. My worry was causing me to sin.

Webster's Dictionary defines Contented as :
Feeling or showing satisfaction with one's situation

My definition of Contentment is :
Satisfaction with one's situation, because of their trust in Christ

Flash forward to pregnancy. It was a time that I could have given in to my temptations and worried and I did some but I had victory and growth. I was learning to be content in Christ alone. Our dear friends, Rob and Chandi Plummer encouraged us to pray daily for our babies contentment, that she would be content before she was born and throughout her life. You see I wasn't getting over my worry to check it off my list before I had a baby. I was fighting my tendency to worry so that they themselves wouldn't grow to be discontent.

Due to my RA and my hip being a problem area. I was scheduled for a c-section. Mike being an amazing student and supportive husband watched a documentary and knew how the c-section should go. He talked me through it and told me it was pretty quick, just about 10 minutes. Prior to leaving for the hospital I printed up from the bible:

Philippians 4:4-8

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As soon as they began the surgery I began reciting verses 6 and 7. My C-section was an unusual one. Due to the size of our Dorothy and the size of her head they could not get her out. Mike and the anesthesiologist were all I could see. They were both in a panic. I think it's normal for a husband to be anxious but pretty unusual for the anesthesiologist to seem worried.

I kept reciting verses 6-7 as if to assure them that all was going to be OK. The peace of God was protecting me at that moment. I knew that my doctor was yelling, I knew that there was chaos all around me but God was protecting me. I was free from worry because I had finally learned to put ALL my trust in God. After about 25 minutes they had Dorothy out safe and sound. I got to see her and when I did I saw the most beautiful baby. The pediatric neurologist was quickly on hand to tell Mike and I they were going to check her head. I was like OK. I wonder if they thought I didn't care, or didn't understand but that wasn't it. God was working in my mind covering me with his peace, reminding that he was in control. Praise God for how he grew me and protected me and praise God that Dorothy is perfectly healthy.

I share this all with you so that you might be encouraged in your own journey with contentment or if there is another issue in your life that is preventing you from be the parent, spouse, or person Christ has called you to be. Know that the power of God and his word will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So sorry it's been so long!!!

So sorry it's been so long!!! Oh and I was doing so well! Life got busy. Last Saturday we celebrated Dorothy's six months. Tomorrow, My friend Mandy and I are filling in for our friend Karen by teaching the women's book study of Feminine Appeal. The chapter we are teaching on is titled "The Blessings of Loving My Children". It has been such a crazy time preparing. I love teaching but would rather it be with little kids. If you read this before Wed. night say a prayer for us!

I signed up for sitereader a few weeks ago. It tracks who visits, where they visit from (as in what site are they linked from), and where they live. It has been so interesting to see who is visiting this little site. I know some of who is here ie. Miami is my in laws(Dorothy says hi Nana and Papa!), Naperville is certaintly my dear aunt Jane, Wisconsin is probably my friend from high school, Andy. Anyway. It's good to see people are visiting, but please say hi if you can.

Here are some pictures of Dorothy. The first one is her in the hospital the second is at six months. Same baby, same quilt, same sweet but clashing nightgown, only difference is the six month time span!












God Bless you this week friends and family!

Psalm 51

Sojournmusic.com recently posted my favorite sermon of Mike's (thanks Bobby). He spoke a while back on Psalm 51. Mike explores this passage and what it teaches on repentance, saying your sorry, and confession. I learned the importance of asking for forgiveness (beyond just saying I'm sorry) when I wrong someone.

You can also go and listen to the song Psalm 51. It is fitting that we listen to the album that was dedicated to our dear friend Aaron Marrs. Aaron, a faithful friend to many was lost at sea three years ago this week. I thank God for our time with him.

"Focus on the good"

If you are a mom I really want you to go here and read this entry. It is by a lovely lady that I go to church with, Courtney Bell. OK go, read it and then come back.

Are you back? Good. I really needed that the other day. You see when I am shopping, at church, or at any public place, D stares at people. She loves watching them. I had gotten in the habit of calling her nosey in front of perfect strangers. I didn't realize I was doing this until I read Courtney's entry. So I was challenged to "Focus on the Good". I want to say, "You love people so much, don't you?"

This also reminds me a few weeks ago someone asked Mike if Dorothy was a good baby. He said yes, he spoke of how content and joyful she is. They then said, Oh so she sleeps through the night"? He looked at me. We were both like, what? Does sleeping throughout the night equate a "good baby". D doesn't sleep throughout the night. For the most part she can sleep about 8 or 9 hours and then go back to sleep for another 3. Sometimes she wakes up every 3 or 4 hours. It has worn on me. I was bit sleep deprived there for a while but, I still thing she is a "good baby". So here I go I am focusing on the good. It reminds me of another Courtney (Paris) and how she blogs little notes to her kids, I have always loved that.

Dear D,
You are five months. I love how you:

• wrinkle your nose when you see your daddy
• look back and forth at daddy and I when we pray
• sing when you hear music
• cry at the vacuum sweeper
  
• love people so much you can't take your eyes off of them
• grab your blanket and rub your face in it then get sleepy
  
• cross your eyes when you take you pacifier out and look at it
  
• have joy and contenment throughout your days
  
• listen to Nana, grandma, and daddy on the phone
• hate to lay on your stomach
  
• puke a little when you sit up by yourself
• laugh with joy when I come in the room
• listen to books and look at the pictures
• dance and sing during worship on Sundays

I love you!

A year in pictures...

A look back on 2007
...reconnected with the girls in January...we actually got together three times this year!



Quite a bit of crafting and sewing... this was a Valentine gift for my mom.














Beautiful Gracie came in March



Ginger in the spring

An spring afternoon at the park.



August 2nd we got our beautiful Dorothy Jean















D and her friends in the fall



A new home



A growing girl at three months in November



Eight wonderful years this December


...and a very sweet Christmas...