This New Year is off to a great start so far for the Nagy Family.  If you read our New Year's Resolutions, then you are familiar with some of the things that have been going on in our life the past two weeks.  I wanted to write an update to encourage you in your New Year, New YOU Resolutions and remind you that if you've "dropped the ball" on doing what you've set out to do, then it is not too late... Just DO IT!

#1- Get Healthy.  I am proud to say that I have ran/walked everyday, except for 2 resting days.  I feel better, I have more energy and my confidence has already improved.  Although, my running is no where near where I want it it to be, which you can read about in my past blog, I am improving everyday.

#3- JOB.  Wade had an interview with the Durham City Fire Department last week.  He said that it went well and that he is hopeful about the position.  He also received a letter from Samaritan's Purse saying that he was a Potential Candidate for a Construction position that he applied for a few months back.  The position he applied for was the Construction Manger who would oversee the renovation and construction of the African Bible College in Liberia, Africa.  Yes.. you read correctly.  Wade and I ask for you to pray for us on this matter and agree that God's Perfect Will, will be done. We are open to the possibility of both jobs and know that wherever the Lord puts us, it is to serve and help others in need.

As for the rest of my resolutions...

Wade and I went to church this past Sunday in Wilmington and I brought home some valuable lessons that I believe the Lord was trying to teach me.  The preacher said that the Enemy will sometimes use "business" in our lives to distract us from what really matters.  Like the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38-42)...  Martha thought she was doing what Jesus would have her do by all of the preparations she was making for Him, but really what she needed to do was spend time with Him.

How many times have we thought to be doing the right thing, when really we need to "be STILL and know that he is God?"

The preacher spoke about creating "margins" in our life, so that we can live a more stress free life.  Creating time so that we can do the things that really matter in life.

Therefore... In order to focus on my resolutions that I am lacking in, such as digging deeper in His Word and reading more, I am going to create some bigger margins in my life.  I am going to FAST for 21 days from something I love to do, something that adds some fun to my day, but also something that takes up too much time and without it would allow me to have more "Margin"...

I am going to fast from Facebook for 21 days. 

With that being said, I will touch base with you in a few weeks and hopefully I will be able to tell you what I have been able to accomplish or even learn by doing so.  Please pray that God will speak to me during these "open margins" and continue to show us His Will for our family.

What are some of the things you can delete from your life to create some margins? I challenge you to ask God and see what he has for you...

After relentless hours of patience and trying everything to get the idea across to a two year old toddler... Emma Jane finally peed in the potty!!!

So for those that our in the "potty training" phase of parenting you may want some expert advise, tips or even some inspirational stories of how to become a successful potty trainer...  well you have come to the right blog, because I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA! 

That's right... no idea.  I have tried every tactic in the book, sat in the bathroom floor, overindulged her with endless amount of water, rewarded her with candy and stickers, bought her favorite Dora panties and even tried straight up discipline...  but it wasn't until she got lucky that it happened. 

She was sitting on the potty playing her computer game when... "UH OH, Daddy!" happened.  Yes, I said daddy.  Because that is the way it works... Mommy spends all the time preparing and daddy is the one that gets to experience the outcome... ha!  I ran into the bathroom during all of the commotion, but she had finished.  A little scared of what had just happened, I immediately praised her, clapped my hands and almost peed myself from all of the excitement!  Even though I missed the main event, at least I got to experience the after party and the excitement of getting her M&M's and Reese Cup!   Regardless... the joy of having her finally peepee in the potty for the first time was priceless. 

Now, let's just hope that we can do this everyday!

Wanted to share some pics from our beach trip this past weekend.  Lela is not in any of them... she was warm and snug in her crib at Mamaw and Papaw Nagy's house.  Emma Jane was very excited to go on a seashell hunt...

A new day, a new year... I woke up this morning feeling, well the same that I always do... except one factor.  I had made a commitment yesterday in my resolutions to get healthy and with that came some action.  Already dreading the idea, I dressed and got myself mentally prepared to venture outside for a morning run.

Just so you know... I haven't REALLY worked out since college.  With that being said, I was mentally prepared for this run, but as for physical... well, it was just ugly. 

I started off pretty good.  The cool, brisk air, clearing my thoughts, the quietness of being away from the kids... soon turned into coughing, knees aching and the feeling that my lungs were going to pop out of my chest.  Not to mention the wobbly legs that kept tripping where the road meets the grass.  Yes... I know, UGLY!

I finally made it home.  I have to say I was very happy to have my husband and oldest daughter cheering me on when I walked in the door. 

So why am I writing this blog as I sit here exhausted and still coughing?

Because...  If you are waking up this morning regretting your last night resolutions or feeling like you can't do them....  I am here to tell you that you CAN.  It may be hard, it may just be down right ugly, but you CAN do it.

I did...

As this year ends and the New Year begins...  I spent most of my morning pondering what 2011 will bring and what kind of goals or expectations I should set for myself and my family.  In past years, I have always made a few resolutions as the NYC Ball dropped at midnight, but by the time the 2nd month arrived in the new year, most of my resolutions were past times. 

So this year, since I have found my new hobby, BLOGGING, I have decided to write my resolutions down, print them off and ask my readers to help keep me accountable... so here goes. 

11 resolutions for the year 2011.

1.  Get Healthy... I know right?  This is the #1 New Years Resolution, but in the words of my dear friend Krissy Wood...

Tis' the season...  The Nagy family had a wonderful Christmas... I think one of the best so far.  Emma Jane, getting to the age of really being able to use her imagination, loved the idea of Santa.  Besides Santa coming to visit and bringing lots of special toys, our holiday was filled with lots of chocolate, casseroles, family time, comical moments with bows on our heads, visits from Santa, a Christmas Miracle and lots of busy travel. 

Besides all of the hustle and bustle of the weekend, the most important thing that happened was the birth of Jesus.  We tried really hard as a family to tell the story of the Coming of Christ and that that was the TRUE meaning of Christmas.  We explained to our girls, that all of the presents were to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  They loved the idea of singing Happy Birthday to him.  Honestly...  This not only played a huge part in teaching the girls a valuable lesson, but it reminded Wade and I how important Christmas is.  It's so easy to get caught up in the "holiday" that you can easily forget what it's about... Our Savior.

Enjoy these captured moments...

So this was so good, I just had to write about this right away... Christmas Eve night

Christmas... full of traditions.  Christmas trees, presents, cookies, parties, Santa Claus, and so on... but the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus and because of HIM...tis the season to GIVE.  Which leads me to what just happened at 10:13pm...

Wade and I were in the living room, Wade putting together a last minute gift for the girls, myself making Emma Jane a T-shirt to wear tomorrow.  (I also need to inform you that we do not have blinds over our windows...so you can see in, but not out.)

All of a sudden, we hear a loud knock at the door.  Wade immediantly looks up, gets up and goes for the front door.  The next thing I know, is Wade is yelling for me to get there and look...

Outside, on our front porch in the middle of pitch black darkness, lies perfectly wrapped Christmas presents!  8 to be exact.  With the front door wide open and our mouths even wider, we ran out on the front porch.  I stood there in astonishment of what had just happened, while Wade played "Rambo" and ran in the woods to track down the mysterious Santa Claus.  He came back without a clue of who did this.  I think I stood on the front porch, tears in my eyes and frozen bare toes for a good 10 minutes before I even lifted the 1st package.

We brought the gifts in, arranged them in front of the fireplace and are sooooooo excited to open them in the morning with the girls!  So whoever you are... I am sure you read this blog, so here you go...

Dear "Santa,"

I hope you had fun being sneaky on our front porch and peaking in our windows, knowing that we were absolutely clueless that you were out there.  Wade is still trying to figure out how he saw "the white hand" knock through the window, but could not manage to figure out how you planned your "get away" so sufficiently.  The surprise that you gave our family will never be forgotten and we are grateful, but most of all...

You have shown us Jesus' love through your giving spirit and your thoughtfulness.  You didn't just make our Christmas brighter because of the presents, you reminded us how lucky, blessed and loved we are and how one day WE WILL PAY IT FORWARD! 

I believe you have started a "Nagy Christmas Tradition"... Wade is planning his incognito names as we speak...

May your Christmas and your New Year be blessed and your kindness be returned to you in every way possible.

In Jesus Name,

I heard, said and even preached at times the often used phrase..."Count your Blessings" more than once in my life, but I have to say that this last week has truly shown me the true meaning behind this commonly used statement. 
I debated on whether to even write about what has been going on the past few weeks, trying to avoid getting "too personal" on a public blog, but after some quality time and good conversation with a dear friend today, I decided to move forward with writing...

The last two weeks have been very interesting.  Let me take that back... the last YEAR has been very interesting.  Just to give you a quick recap of all that has happened...  Wade and I started to get very involved in church and our walk with the Lord, something we had neglected for quite some time.  We were learning so much, taking a Dave Ramsey class to become "debt free," had 1 beautiful daughter and another on the way, plans to build our dream home and move, an income that met all of our needs and then some... life couldn't be better. 

September 2009... Lela, 8 weeks prior to delivery, had a cyst on her brain and was miraculously healed by the good Lord.  Just a few weeks later, Wade lost his job.  He went from a substantial income, to unemployment benefits that wouldn't even pay our bills, 4 weeks away from my due date.  Lela arrived, Wade decided to open up his own Construction Company and forfeit his unemployment... scary, but I supported.  Months have varied throughout his career path... months of wondering how we were going to pay the bills, months of feeling like everything was going to be just fine...  God was and is Faithful, which we knew, but over the last 2 weeks it has become even more clear how faithful He really is. 

Wade has been looking for full-time employment since he was laid off, in addition to doing his construction job.  God has spoken to us that He is moving us and is going to give us a job... where and when are still the missing details!  With this in mind, I guess we have tried our best to avoid "government assistance" for all this time.  Wade and I came to a crossroads... we knew that God was going to provide, but even He may use other means to do so... So we put all our pride aside and marched ourselves down to DSS and sought out the help we so desperately needed.  I didn't know that it was going to be the learning experience of my life...

I walked in feeling "I don't belong here"... not because I am better, but because we HAD it so much better than some of the people that were there.  But here is the thing... 6 hours of waiting to be helped can create some bonding time between you and the other people waiting.  Not once, did anyone judge me for my nice jeans and comfortable tennis shoes, but how often have I judged?  How often have I stood behind the person in the grocery line and complained that they were buying "Digiorno", while I had "Great Value" in my cart all to find out that they were on Food Stamps. I am guilty of this... and ashamed.  My eyes were opened sitting in one small little town in America.  There was so many people that would have loved to be in "our shoes."  So many people without, hungry and hurting, but to make it worse... there are so many people thats' only comfort is found in government sources and they don't rely on the Lord for means of provision, hope and support.  I think this is what hurt the most...  I realized that I have a giving heart, but I need to give beyond the material possessions...  God wants us to have things, but only so that we can give to others and give the glory to Him...  otherwise it is just useless stuff.  Christians must have compassion for the hurting... just as Christ does for us. 

Over the last 2 weeks we have been humbled by the people that we spoke with and met and the experience we had.  We have had some medical scares over the last two weeks with our girls, (which I will post later) but again, we are so blessed!  We gathered our tax information for 2010 and realized that by the "Number" we ended up with, that God has definitely, supernaturally multiplied our income in order to pay our bills... otherwise I can guarantee that some bills would have been unpaid.  We have had some really tough times, but I know that our hardships are another person's dreams...

That is why today I am choosing to COUNT MY MANY BLESSINGS and know that my Lord has got my life in HIS hands... Wade and I have realized that we need to wake up... it's a big world out there and there are a lot of people that we can show God's love to.  It's not just about us...

Our one and only family computer has been out of service for about 3 weeks... NOW it is up and running and we have lots of catching up to do in the world of blogging. First, let me say some things about what I have learned from the last 3 weeks of having to rely on my Blackberry as my only means of the "world wide web..."

Share your Shutterfly Christmas Card on any Blog/ Website and you will recieve a $25 dollar credit off your next Shutterfly purchase... now that's what I call a good deal! I plan to use mine to capture all the family memories of 2010 in a digital photo album... Hope you enjoy the Nagy Christmas Greeting!