Rooted in Trefoil to Rooted in Sand

Today's Verse "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love ... Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."                                                                 1 John 4:7-8, 11 Let's just be completely realistic here, we have all struggled to love ourselves in some form or fashion. Truth is, how can we unending love others if we cannot love ourselves? Where would we learn how to do this? Some would say, our parents or other family members, and while this is true I honestly seek out God for this. I follow God, who sent his...

Sharing from my email inbox....enjoy! Maundy Thursday is the name given to the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, known as the Last Supper. Two important events are the focus of Maundy Thursday. First, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and thereby instituted the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion ( Luke 22:19-20 ). Second, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of humility and service, thereby setting an example that we should love and serve one another in humility ( John 13:3-17 ). The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “command.” The “Maundy” in “Maundy Thursday” refers to the command Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should love and serve one another. Luke 22:19-20 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. They he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." After supper he to...

Can you say three day weekend??? Of course you can! Tomorrow is Good Friday, and Tyler has off and I've taken a vacation day. Not sure what tomorrow will have in store for us, but it'll be productive. So the other day, we had our friend Jordan and his dad come over to check out this water stain on our living room ceiling. Apparently the previous owners had a leak and tried covering it up themselves. Tsk tsk tsk. They also failed to disclose that on their inspection report. Well lucky for us, it is not an active leak and will just need the right color of paint to cover it up. What a relief! Homeownership and it's joys! Small group tonight! So looking forward to seeing such wonderful people and digging into the first chapter of Forgotten God. So far it really opens up about the Holy Spirit, and how to access it within. ___________________________________________________________________________ Today's Verse The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mer...

This past weekend was filled with home improvements. Tyler finished the first coat of the upstairs hallway and it looks great. Rugged Tan by Behr was a great color choice on my part. Guess people will just have to visit to get the full effect. (wink, wink) So we decided we're going to re-do the nursery room. Yes, we're calling it the nursery room because whenever God blesses us, regardless of age of that child, that will be their first room. (We are waiting for God to direct us towards treatment or adoption. So if you can, please continue to pray for us as we weigh our options and look for God's guidance.) We are open to all paths towards building our family. Anyway! We are covering up the Ruby Red we initially put up and the remaining tan. Seems sad to say goodbye to my Ruby room, but when I stopped and looked I realized it would be extremely dark for a nursery and adding dark colored furniture just wasn't my style. So we're going with a nice Gray and...

I follow Holt and AWAA's blogs regarding adoption, and there's normally a few sweet stories of God bringing a family together. I get really touched when I read these, b/c of three things... 1. Adoption is amazing! 2. God is wonderful and to constantly read that not only are the families praying but social workers are praying, and the caretakers are praying for matches....just wow! To have complete strangers pray for you is wonderful. Whoever receives a one such child in my name receives me.        Matthew 18:5 3. There's a happy ending.  I am so close to adoption and to be able to one day satisfy the calling that God has put upon me will be such a great joy. It takes a special type of person to so lovingly open their heart to a child that needs a home. It may be easy to conceive your own, but for those who struggle, or are simply called to have their family in a different way...adoption is the answer. God has a plan for us, and I am so open...

(Mari) Well, there is nothing like spending the weekend with good people and celebrating your birthday....then getting sick of course! Yup, I closed out my 3 day weekend with a cold. My nose is completely congested. Oh well, it's a joy to be heavily medicated. This week, we've got a few things coming up. . . Small group game night on Thurs, and then I start volunteering at church with the two year olds during the 11am service. I continue to strive to live for God and spread His word. Yesterday's message at church was to not judge. Truth is, this is something we all need to work on; myself included. In Matthew 7:3 he says, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?". Truth!!!! Lets focus on looking inward, instead of outward. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or ...

(Mari) I am twenty-nine years old today. My last year of my 20's. I'm getting a little bit older, and a little more wiser (hopefully). Twenty-nine brings lots of new things to our table, the main thing being starting a family. However we go about it, I know God will guide us. In the meantime, it brings revamping our new home and making it ours. Getting ready to get outside and do touch-ups, planting, mowing the lawn (Tyler's job), having bonfires, and enjoying the sunshine. I am so glad I took today off. I needed the extra sleep, and time to really reflect on the changes in my life thus far. I look around this quiet home and realize that I've been unbelievably blessed. God doesn't bless us the way we think we should be blessed. He delivers the blessings we need most. The ones we don't think we need until we have them in our lives. The blessings that, we quietly sneer at that didn't come to us when we initially needed them. It's such a beautiful th...

The Sistine Chapel! It has always been on my bucket list. I want to let my own eyes see the majesty and beauty of some of the best art work by Renaissance painters. Botticelli, Perugino, Pinturricchio, Ghirlandaio, Roselli, and of course, Michelangelo!!! Only the best! The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo The Last Judgement by Michelangelo I almost feel like I would have to lay on the floor to be able to enjoy it all. I can't imagine the neck cramp if I have to stand the entire time. I have to agree with Johann Wolfgang Geothe, who said, "Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.". Yup. I'm patiently waiting to appreciate. 

(Mari) My 5yr anniversary with my work is coming up. Hard to believe its almost been 5 years! Weird. A lot has happened in those five years, engaged, moved to different apartments, made new friends, traveled, got married, and bought a house. God has truly blessed me with experiences and wonderful friends to share things with. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the lord your God.                               - Deuteronomy 28:2 

So I'm going to make a habit not to blog - unless its really necessary - on Sundays. As I dig deeper into my faith and relationship with God, I want to devote my Sundays to church and reflecting on the messages spoken that day. Plus, it's a great day to not be in front of a computer, since I'm in front of one 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. In the meantime, today's post will reflect a little on this past weekend and what's coming up for the Schmidts. Fri eve, we hosted a wine & cheese party with our friend, Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is family, lets just be real here, and it is always a joy when we get to share time with her. Sat, we picked up paint for the upstairs hallway and then a small shopping spree at Sephora occurred. :) Sunday, we went to church and I truly had a moment of being overwhelmed by my love for God and his son, Jesus. I didn't ball, but held back some stifled tears. It was a good message and made me reflect that I will most likely be ahead of...

  This is from my journal and I wanted to share it with all of you.   2/22/2016 To: My Child Hello, my love. It is I, your mother. I've been meaning for some time to share my thoughts and feelings with you, as I await your arrival. I do not know how you will come to me, but I love you none the less. Whether you arrive to your father and I by someone else's womb or my own, we are waiting for you to make your appearance. You will be the greatest blessing God has bestowed upon us and we can hardly wait!!! There are a few things you should know about your father and I...... We will always try our best to give you the life you deserve. We will constantly strive to provide you with the tools to lead a healthy life. Our guidance system will not only include open lines of communication, but a view of God. He can bless your life, if you just open your arms to him. I can promise that there will be times we may fail you. In fact, we will proba...

Yesterday evening, I attended my very first small group. It was completely reassuring to meet couples who are experiencing the same things I am. Ups and downs of marriage, families, balancing work, etc. I had this amazing high as we went through the readings and discussed it. Just listening to those around express their ideas was wonderful. My hope is Tyler will join us all moving forward. In the meantime, my biggest take away was towards the end of the evening when the women would prayer for the person next to them. For someone who could pray so eloquently for someone they just met and say such touching wonderful things, was amazing! I felt so blessed and really felt higher than life. You know it's the Holy Spirit working  in ya, when you feel like that. ;-) I look forward to the next small group! Thanks Brittany and Jeremy! James 5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great ...

“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5(NLT) The above scripture resonates with me in two ways, I (Mari) am adopted and by the grace of God he adopted me. Immediately after my birth, I was placed in a Catholic orphanage for girls. Upon my placement, I was baptized and thusly named Maria Amrutham.  Now, to some people because I don't follow Catholicism my baptism is invalid. It does irritate me to hear that, but that is my first tie to God so it means a lot to me. Having been connected with Unitarian Universalism; which pu lls from all religions , it made my j ourney confusing and complicat ed. It wasn't until I got engaged that God really spoke to me and called me to his family. I ended up having dreams of being at a fork in the road, with a hand on my shoulder pushing me in a lighted direction. It took me three separate occasions to realiz...

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble? or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? - Romans 8: 35 As a believer of God, and knowing that Jesus Christ died for my sins, I know his love is never ending. Christ loves us in many ways. His love guides us, pushes us, tests us, and revives us. What has Christ done for you lately? Have you let him into your heart? If you want to accept Christ as your Savior and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this: "Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always." 

It is finally hitting me, head on. Our struggle with infertility is real .  I didn't really want to think that it was real. It was just there. A part of our lives but not a realistic part. The whole idea that, my body just was being stubborn and it'll magically happen was where my mind was at. Now, it's just a slap in the face. I don't talk about it with my friends, because normally I'll hear "It'll happen" or "Stop stressing about it". I love my friends, and I know they mean well. At times I tell myself the same things. I've spent tons of time watching YouTube videos on other people's journey. A lot of hope is out there for us. We just need to grab it.  It's difficult to imagine taking a break from starting a family. It's something that we need to do. Focus on our house, and building our marriage. . . but it's always going to be there in my mind. I want to share a prayer, that I have prayed on numerous times. If...

I figured this blog will serve as an online diary of our lives and recap important moments of our lives. . . so here we go. Welcome! You have arrived here by the grace of God and have already started reading our first post. Whether you were searching for this or found it by chance; you have arrived. I(Mari) hope the topics posted here, are enjoyable by you. Please feel free to share our blog. Who knows, it may just get you motivated to start your own. A little background: My husband, Tyler, and I have been together for five years and married for 1year (going on two). We have settled ourselves and our dogs into a home, and are working on it to make it our own. We're first time homeowners and so far, have enjoyed the tasks that come with owning a home. Our dogs keep us busy and so does our new found place of worship. We were recommended by our friends to attend First Christian Church and so far we've enjoyed it. We not only love the contemporary take on the message of G...