Leena Joy

Leena Joy Amey

born December 10, 2010

I love the name Leena. I knew it was her name about halfway through my pregnancy. I saw someone in a movie named Leena and since then i couldn't find another name that i wanted for my baby. My friend commented this to me after hearing Leena's name after she was born: "all God's very best to you as you enter this precious season with a new baby....may Leena (illumination) Joy bring you great joy as you remember the light of the world during every Christmas season that she is with you!" I didn't even think about how the name Leena which means 'light' and joy fit together so well, especially at the time of year (christmas) when she was born. we pray that Leena Joy will bring our family, everyone she knows in her life, and her Savior great joy as she shares with them about the one true light of the world, Jesus!

Her middle name is Joy for many other reasons as well. I like the name Joy because it is the same middle name i have, Lindsey Joy. i hope she can be proud someday to be named after her mommy. i was named after my aunt Lynn, my mom's sister, Lynn Joy. she is someone i really look up to and i love sharing a name with her.the season of life B.A. and i were in during this pregnancy was at times not joyful and seemed hopeless for various reasons. this baby was a glimmer of hope for a joyful future that we eagerly looked forward to. we her middle name to remind us of the past so that we could look back and see the pit we were in and how God lifted us out of it, provided for us, and brought us more joy than we could ever imagine: in our marriage, in our family, in our kids, in our walk with God!

God, thank you for blessing us with this precious little girl! we are your servants and we will care for her and love her with all of our hearts. use us to guide her. God, may her heart truly know you, follow you, pursue you, and love you deeply! thank you for such a blessing....

God you are greater, God you are stronger, God you are higher than any other, God you are healer, awesome in power, our God!

with, mighty, delight, quiet, rejoice

"The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

I don't know about you but for me this is where i find my identity in God.

God, the God who created the universe is with me. All the time. Every day. Every place. He is there. That gives me peace.

He is mighty. God is strong and mighty. He is a protector and will fight for me.

God delights in me. How can that be? But it is true, God finds joy in me. Just like i delight in my kids.

He quiets me with His love. How can His love not quiet me? it is so consuming and deep that if it doesn't make me still i am not really seeing the capacity at which He loves me.

He will rejoice over me with singing. i sing over my kids because of the delight that i find in them. maybe that's what this means. i think it just shows the immense love that He has for his children.

i have to read this verse over and over again because i still don't get it. God please show me Your love. never stop loving me! please fill me so i can pour out Your love to other people. thank you for Your promises.

anxious

lately i've felt too weak to write on here.
i've felt like i don't have anything good to say.
for the past 6 months i've been experiencing something i have never felt before....anxiety.
i have always been easy going and always saying things like "God has a plan" and quoting Phil 4:4-8
but lately i have been scared and full of fear like never before.
it's actually really selfish and focused on me
i know i shouldn't be feeling these things and i know what God is like but i think i forget sometimes
i need to be reminded of God's truths in my life and i need to trust Jesus completely with my fears and anxiety
this has never been hard for me until lately

please pray that i would just trust Jesus completely with everything....and place everything in His hands....

my christmas letter 09

Family and Friends-

Merry Christmas!!! We hope you have had a great year and if we haven’t gotten to see you much we want to see you soon! We miss you!

Our babies are still the biggest blessing we’ve ever received. Hayleigh will be 4 in February and Alivia turned 1 in July. They are so beautiful and growing way too fast. Hayleigh goes to preschool 2 days a week and spends a lot of time singing, playing make believe, writing, drawing, reading, dancing, and playing outside. She learns things so quickly and is constantly trying to discover new things. She has conversations with God daily about everything and anything. He has answered her prayers quickly and directly, such as when she prayed the night before we got a huge snow storm when she asked for “not a little snow, but for it to cover the whole ground!” It has been awesome to see her heart grow to know and love Jesus! Alivia is a red head and she acts like a red head! She is very strong willed and is totally aware of things around her even though she acts innocent. She is very bright like her big sister and knows about 50 words now that she uses regularly and adds more words every day. My favorite time of the day with her is before bed when we rock in the rocking chair and she sweetly cuddles with me! They spend a lot of time with grandma who gracious takes care of them while I work. Both girls are true blessings!

We have been through many hard times, big and small, this year as I’m sure some of you have as well. God has been teaching us many things through these times. We feel blessed to experience trials though, because we know that God uses these times to grow our dependence on Him. The book of James from the Bible really taught us how to view trials we face. I’m not saying rough times aren’t hard, I’m just saying that we have learned to rejoice in our trials because of the good we see God making of the mess. God always provided and will provide in our times of need! Always!

We moved about a year and a half ago into our neighborhood in the city here on the West Side of Grand Rapids. And we love it! We love our neighbors and the friendships we are starting to build. We know God placed us here and we’re quite excited about that. We also felt very convicted this past year to open up “our” house to those in need. We believe that nothing we have is our own but that everything we have has been given to us so that we can use it to bless others. So, we have had 3 people living with us off and on for the past 6 months. It has been an awesome experience for our family to hear God calling us to bring people into our home and then to actually do it! We have been learning that we need to start ‘walking’ forward to take action in what God is calling us to do in everything. Opening our home to people, whether to live or just hang out here, has been so rewarding for us.

We are constantly seeing how weak and prideful we can be. We see how broken we are and the choices we make are. We definitely can’t make it without help. We are so thankful to have a God that takes us in our weakness and show us that we are still accepted and loved despite how messy our lives can be. We have a Holy God that forgives us and loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to the Earth to live a holy and righteous life that we couldn’t live. Jesus’ death and suffering makes it possible for us to know God. Jesus pleads on behalf of us and God listens. God accepts us as we are because Jesus paid the price for our sins. This is why the Amey family celebrates Christmas. The gifts, songs, tree, lights, and snow is all fun but we truly celebrate because on this day we remember Jesus’ birth. The birth of our Savior, our Friend, our Love. We are so grateful! “A Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11


Know that you are loved! The Amey Family - B.A., Lindsey, Hayleigh, & Alivia


“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 29:12-14