Obedience Brings Blessing!

“But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).” James 1:25 Amplified Bible

Obedience brings blessing! I had often heard a friend from church and her mom tell her son that obedience brings blessing. I have known from what I have heard from the pulpit at church and what I have read in the Bible that they were speaking the truth. I saw this truth in action yesterday in my own life. Since I am going back to work, I needed to get some new work clothes. I had a number in my mind of what was OK to spend. While I was at Marshall Field’s shopping with Sommer, the personal shopper, Leann, had picked out some very cute purses. The one that I LOVED was $260. With the clothes that I had picked out, I was over my budget. Although I loved the purse, I decided to obey God and only spend the amount that he had given me. Also, even though I loved the purse, I couldn’t see spending that amount on a purse. That just isn’t me (at least right now!)

We completed our shopping, and Sommer, A.J., and I walked around the mall a bit. Then we headed to lunch at Applebee’s. It was TASTY!! Then I went back to Sommer’s and hung out with her. We had the greatest conversation, and I just felt God’s presence with us all day.
I needed some caffeine, and Sommer didn’t have any in her house, so I headed up to the Target by her house. God is so good that all the things that I had still wanted, but didn’t buy at Marshall Field’s, I got at Target for under $15. I had a Target gift card, so I didn’t even spend another penny! We got the gift card as one of our rewards from the points we earned on our Wells Fargo debit and credit cards. I got six pairs of trouser socks, a new purse by Isaac Mizrahi, and a scarf. I was SO EXCITED that I rushed back to Sommer’s house to show her everything. After I got done showing her everything, she blessed me with two more things from her own closet that I had wanted to add to my wardrobe for going back to work. Sommer and I along with two friends basically play musical clothes. We are always swapping clothes with one another.

All I could do yesterday and am still doing today is thanking and praising God for blessing my obedience and for loving me! Instead of the day being stressful yesterday with shopping, it was FUN! I had all my clothes tried on, picked out, and paid for in just over an hour! I loved having Leann help me. I gave her my sizes and what I was looking for, and she had everything pulled out for me when I showed up at Field’s. All I had to do was trying everything on, pick out what I like, and stay in my budget! It was AWESOME!! The greatest thing is that I doesn’t cost anything to use the personal shoppers. They are paid on commission based on their sales. I will use a personal shopper whenever I can! What a time saver for this working mom!!

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's Off to Work I Go

For those of you who don't know, here is the latest news in the Gulland family. I (Steph) am returning back to full-time employment outside of the home beginning Monday, January 23rd. The time has come. I am ready, but most importantly David is ready to venture out without mommy around all the time.

I will be working in downtown Minneapolis at Wells Fargo as a customer service rep in their trust operations department. Ed and I won't be working in the same building, but we will have the same hours so we will be carpooling together. We are both excited because this will give us uninterrupted time of conversation which has been in short supply since Ed began school in April 2005.

Everyone's first question is always, "What about David?" Thanks for asking! God has really blessed us with a phenomenal opportunity. Our friend, Kristin, has offered to watch David for us. David is very excited about going to school at Miss Kristin's house. We even made a special trip to Wal-Mart for preschool workbooks. While we were there, David asked if he could get some smiley face pencils with smiley face earser tops, and I simply could not resist!

Kristin homeschools her four children whose ages' range from five to eleven. The eldest, Kelsie, has already baby-sat for us once. David simply adored her. He also had fun running around and playing with the youngest two, Kaitlyn and Kiley, a few Wednesdays back at church.

We are excited because this was an answer to prayer for both of our families. While we were looking for preschool opportunities, Ed had said that he would prefer to send David to someone's home that we knew. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone who was looking to take care of a child during the day. We had actually become accustomed to the idea of sending David to KinderCare. There is one in Osseo which is on our way to work. We checked out the program and the teachers. We were really impressed with their program and had even reserved a spot for David. Then on Wednesday, January 4th, I was talking with Kristin's sister, Kari, about my return to work. Kristin told me that she would be willing to watch him because she was looking to return to work temporarily, but she wasn't pleased with the options that were available to her. Ed and I talked and prayed about sending David to Kristin's house. Although KinderCare would have been nice and would have worked, we are convinced that David being at Kristin's is God's best for our family.

It's A Girl!

Did I shock some of you? Were some of you expecting me to announce that I was pregnant with a girl? Well, there is a girl on the way, but it isn't mine.

The baby girl on the way is Destiny Promise Kuchinka. She is Joe and Amy's first child (they are the smiley happy couple in the photo). Joe and Amy have been married for about a month or so longer than Ed and I. They have strongly desired to have children and have been trying for quite some time. Destiny is a result of standing on God's Word and believing in faith that He would watch over His Word and perform it. They knew that Psalm 37:4 says in the New King James Version, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

The picture of the happy couple was taken at a shower hosted at Club 3 Degrees on Tuesday, January 10, 2006. Destiny received many great gifts including lots of books and very styling clothes. She is going to be the best dressed baby in the world! There was great food, fun, and fellowship. We closed out the evening praying for Joe, Amy, and Destiny. We prayed for the remainder of Amy's pregnancy (she is due on February 18th). We prayed for the right medical staff to be available when Destiny makes her arrival. We prayed for a safe delivery for Amy and Destiny. We prayed for a smooth transition from a happy couple to a happy family of three! (I can't remember if we prayed for this, but I am pretty sure we did! If not, I have prayed that for Joe, Amy, and Destiny.) My eyes are tearing up just writing this post because it was such a powerful time!