Just Wait

Just Wait

I love the song, "While I'm Waiting." And it always seems to come on the radio just when I need to hear it. Waiting in a long line at the drive-thru, waiting in traffic, waiting on a friend. Waiting.

The Lord tells us to wait and He will renew our strength.

But what is it we're waiting for?
Are you waiting for a new job to work out? Waiting on your paycheck to come in? Waiting on a family member to do what they said they would do? Waiting on the Dr's report? Waiting on a child? Waiting for a wedding? Waiting.

Waiting on things, on people, on events, can be so draining. We can grow so weary while we are waiting.

But God tells us to wait on Him.

We're familiar with:
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." --Isaiah 40:31

So why do we continue to wait on things and not on Him?

"Wait upon the Lord."

He will renew our strength.

Lord, Help me to be patient. Give me the strength to wait on You. Take my focus off of the things, the events, the times that I'm waiting for. Give me a God ward focus. Turn my eyes towards You. Amen.

Dakota Loves Fall

the hicks'

Hicks⋅tion⋅ar⋅y -[hik-shuh-ner-ee]:
-noun 1. a little corner of the web where the Hicks family records this [blessed] life. we record thoughts, feelings, and memories. especially about our awesome kids (B&A), families (read: nieces and nephews), friends, faith, and our furry child, Dakota.

rusty (aka 'dah')- my best friend. probably the funniest guy i know (besides b). we shared a classroom our first year of dating. he's the best teacher i know. he's a basketball coach that loves his team. a daddy that loves his littles. he's fun loving and full of life. he loves God and he leads his family well.

heidi (aka mama)- child of the king, wife of my beloved, mama to my little guy and sweet girl. a teacher by trade, a work from home photographer by grace. always in the middle of a project. i love getting to spend my days with my littles. i'm so blessed.

beckett (aka B)- born in november '11. loves trains, planes, trucks, animals of all kinds and dance parties. leaves everyone he meets with a smile on their face. frequent nap skipper. best at giving hugs, telling jokes, and making everyone he knows feel loved.

arley (aka A)- our newest addition, born in march '15. came out smiling. loves her people but especially her big brother. coos, smiles, plays, sleeps and eats like a champ. the sweetest little girl we've ever known.

dakota- our furry child clearance puppy. takes his job as big brother seriously. loves the attention from b (except for the chasingthedogwithatruck and the clobberingthedoginadogpile kind of attention). enjoys long walks and running wild.

I started the Hickstionary (way back in 2008- was blogging even cool then?) after loving my cousin's blog. I started it as a memory keeper. A scrapbook of sorts. Then it became a great way to keep family and friends updated on our life. Soon it transformed into my outlet. It fueled my creative component. It gave me a place to organize my thoughts. To talk to God. To connect with friends. To laugh and celebrate. To cry and praise God anyway.
The transformation into 'mommy blogger' was a hard one for me but the blog is back and I hope to keep my basic blogging style the same.

Sometimes it's deep. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes it talks about really really really important stuff (you know, like clothes and the such... ha). Sometimes you'll be shocked that I posted 'that.' Sometimes you'll agree with me. A lot of times you probably wont. But all the time I'm writing it for us. For R. For me. And our life together. 

Thanks for hanging in there with us, friends!

[Photos from 7/21/7]

Blogs I Love!

Blogs I Love To Read! (This is a work in progress.... will update with links eventually. And I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting... help me out!)

Real Life & Blog World Friends:

Finney Family (my cousin, Amy)

Clayberg Chronicles (Lisa from work)

sillycyclone (ISU/FCS Molly)

*Twice Blessed* (hometown girl)

.blessed. (Mary!!)

Raindrops & Rainbows (a blog friend)

smith family blog (Kari from work)

snappy casual (Kari's fun sister)

Team Sullivan (My real life 'neighbor' that I met first in the blog world)

feisty: like i ought to be (ISU Laura- she also student taught in my building)

Adam and Sadie's Trio (my childhood friend that now has triplets!)

AndersonBlessings (R's cousin)

The Dillinger Family (blog friend that I got to take photos of!) :)

Emily Kobliska Christians (coolest art teacher ever)

Our Cup Runneth Over (Amy's good friend!)

Photography Blogs:

Amy Finney Photography

a cherry on top photography

McClanahan Studio

Fun/Artsy/DIY/Crafty People:

Under The Sycamore

Pioneer Woman (Does she belong in the photography, food, or what category?!?)

Finding My Feet

Lisa Leonard Online

Enjoying The Small Things

People That Inspire Me:

lpm blog

Bring The Rain

Kelly's Korner

Sister Party?

Who's in?!?

Ephesians 4:15

Destiny

Have you joined the CONVERSATION yet??? If not, get over there and join now!

Here's my post from today:

Do you know what your purpose in life is? Do you ever find yourself having a hard time making decisions? Do you know how you fit into God's big picture?

I'm not sure.
I do!
and I'm working everyday to figure that out.

And Day 4 of Esther study this week was a great tool for me use in this quest.


"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

There's some big questions packed into that short verse.

Who knows?

A time such as this?

To put the verse into context. Esther is between a rock and her husband (the king). The king has issued a decree that all Jews will be killed (Esther is a Jew). Her uncle tells her to go talk to the king about it. But she hasn't been summoned by the king in 30 days (there's trouble in paradise) and if she goes without summons, she could be killed.

Esther has a tough decision to make.

Do you ever feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you have to make a decision about it? And quick.

Have those big decisions ever come your way, right when your in the middle of your own crisis?

When life throws us a giant weight and we are in the middle of our own crisis, we are tempted to say, "not me, not now."

But that is God's perfect timing. If is right on schedule. His schedule.

Beth talks about it being hard being thrown a giant sized weight. She says,

"Know the feeling (of being thrown a weight)? So do I. Every giant-sized weight drops into our laps right on schedule. None of our purposes will be fulfilled easily. All of them will require the most difficult decisions we think we can make. Decisions that we may feel will practically kill us. Then God does something miraculous and we become something we are not. That's when "who knows?" becomes "I know!" At some of the hardest times in my life, I have been able to make the more difficult choice out of pure blind-eyed, bent-kneed acceptance that it was somehow part of a greater plan. I was beaten by a conviction that throbbed relentlessly against my strong self-centeredness. As much as my flesh wanted relief, I knew that when all was said and done, I'd sit on that side of glory having much rather fulfilled my calling than served myself all the way to meaninglessness. I had to accept that I was not called to an easy life I was called to a purposeful life."

I've been in the middle of making some tough decisions lately, so I can relate. Mary tweeted this to me awhile back. I saved it because I knew it applied to me and have been working on it for awhile.
Mairs812 To @heididh33 RT @DougBench Your brain doesn't have to believe in your goals at the start. 4:44 AM Sep 16th from web

Mairs812 Nothing of any significance was ever accomplished by a realistic person!4:45 AM Sep 16th from web

While the decision I make will affect my husband, my coworkers, my students, and myself, the choice is not to be about me. It's about Him. It's about His Kingdom.
Beloved, in the times of greatest struggle when you make the Godward decision over convenience, earthly comfort, or carnal pleasure, you too have come to a critical moment in the fulfillment of your destiny. A defining moment. A war is being waged over your head in the unseen realm, and a great cloud of witnesses is cheering you on. You have no idea what is at stake.

Lord, Be near to me as I make these tough decisions. Help me to know that it's not about me. It's not about my comfort. It's about You, Lord. It's all about You. It always has been, and it always will be. Amen.


(I'll be back with more about Who Knows. Soon.)

Cheese

After church (and Dakota pictures), we went to eat lunch with Rusty's fam. Rusty & Cooper of course had to play football almost the entire time. Colson went outside to check out what they were doing and I followed him with the camera.

Had to call a time out in the football game for a photo op. We even got Cooper to pause.



I got down on my knees to take Colson's picture. He thought it looked like a good idea to copy (notice he also has his hand up like he was holding a camera, he was saying, "where's your smiles??").


"On my BELLY?!?!?"





Isn't he (and Coop!) a cutey! Thanks for the fun day!

Jack Trice

I love this place.

Starbucks Rival

Craving a Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice?



Heat:
Mug of Apple Juice
Dash of Cinnamon
Spoonful of Caramel

Optional:
Enjoy in front of the fireplace



Yum.

Chugga Lug Lug

Everyone chugga lug lugged over to Grandma's house for Maddox's 3rd birthday party last weekend. He LOVED it. When it was time to go in for cake, he said, "Everybody in! Everybody sing!" What a great birthday party, buddy! Thanks for the great time!

My Husband, Nominee for Nobel Peace Prize

One of the committtee members for the Nobel Peace Prize (or maybe just one of my coworkers) sent this email to me today, asking me to forward it on to my husband. And because R doesn't get nearly as much blog time as he deserves, I'm sharing it with all of you. :)

Please forward this on to Mr. Hicks.

Dear Mr. Hicks,
I'm sorry that you didn't get this letter before the announcement
was made. But it was beyond my power to keep the name from leaking.
I want you to know that I supported you 100% but was unable to convince
my fellow and lady committee men and women that you should be the
recipient of this years Nobel Peace Prize award. I told them how
important it was to be in an occupation where you help children
(teaching). A man that has high standards not only for his students and
athletes but for himself and family! A man that believes in God and
country. A man that believes in what is right and stands up for it even
if it isn't popular.
It really came down to experience. You had too much and were way
over qualified for the award. They were looking for someone that had
nearly none. I'm sorry to say I think they found the right person in
that regards! If you would have won, the standard would have been set
so high for future nominees that it would have been nearly impossible
to find one.
I know this must be a big letdown but maybe this will take some of
the sting out of not winning this year and that is, JUST REMEMBER THE
NUT DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE ACORN TREE!

Committee man
(I thought I should take his name off.... just in case he offended you!) ;)

You can meet the real nominees here:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/10/meet_the_people_who_were_passe.asp

Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Dear Maddox,

What a great year you have had!! The terrific twos were anything but terrible for you! You are the sweetest two (now three!) year old boy I know. Uncle Rusty and I (and Dakota) had so much fun with you this year.

Some of our favorite memories with you this year are: -You work hard in the yard with Uncle Rusty. You are a good weed puller!
-You love to greet Dakota as soon as you come to our house but you are quick to tell him, "NO NO KOTA" if he gets too excited.
-Many times, you would ask your mom if you could come visit us. Sometimes when you get in the car with her you say, "H's house?!? Please, Mom.... H'S HOUSE!" -Your mommy did let you come stay with us. We especially love having you come stay for long visits during the summer! We hope you'll always want to come stay with us in the summer.
-You came to school with me this year and everyone absolutely loved you! You are quite the people person! (We'll have to work on stranger danger)

Here are pictures of more of my favorite memories from your second year. Happy Birthday and I am excited to see what changes and fun memories your third year bring! Could we just make this year go a little slower though? LOVE YOU!

Love, Uncle R & Aunt H





(Update: still not getting the iMovie to upload... here is the link to it on youtube.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQwQy9rvNuo

Friday Night Lights

We braved temps in the 40s and constant drizzle for a Friday night football game. Holly, Andrew, & Maddox came up to the Madrid game to watch Avoca play. We went over to meet them. Because we knew Ang and the rest of the P crew would be there, I wanted to finish the curtains for the boys room before we left. And finish them I did. Without even breaking my sewing machine. Allowing Hawk fabric in my house is definitely love!
Fun night with all the kiddos, now for a weekend of celebrating Maddox's birthday!

Cream Cheese Frosting (oh yeah... & Pumpkin Cake)

In my attempt to use up all of my pumpkin supply this year... I tried a pumpkin cake tonight. The frosting is amazing. And the cake is a pretty darn good excuse to make the frosting!


PUMPKIN CAKE

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour cake pan.
Mix together (and set aside):
2 C. flour
3 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon

In large bowl, combine:
2 C. white sugar
1 1/4 C. vegetable oil

Blend in:
1 t. vanilla extract
2 C. canned pumpkin

Beat in one at a time:
4 eggs

Gradually beat in flour mixture

Stir in (optional):
1 C. chopped walnuts

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.


CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Beat together until creamed:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened

Gradually beat in:
2 C. powdered sugar
Add:
2 t. vanilla

Add milk to thin. Pour over cooled cake.

I sprinkled cinnamon on top (for our fancy smancy guests!) :)