My "baby" sister, Laura just gave birth to her first child, a precious baby boy, yesterday (more than a month early). He weighed in at 3 lbs 3 oz. There had been problems with the placenta and he was growing very slowly. They had already planned to induce her this coming Monday, but we never made it that far. Laura began having excruciating pain under her ribs and her husband rushed her to the hospital in the wee hours of Friday morning. Her blood pressure was sooo dangerously high, so they put her to sleep and quickly delivered baby Paul by emergency C-section. Laura was in pretty bad shape, showing a several of the symptoms of HELLP sydrome. Praise God that today, she and baby Paul are doing much better! Paul did not need to be sent to a NICU, but is just steps away in the Intesive Care section of the regular nursery. Laura has had a rough recovery, but is doing well. I know she is so heartbroken that she has yet to see Paul. Please pray that she is able to see and hold her new baby soon and that God would give her peace. But PRAISE Him for His protection over them both! I have a new nephew!
A beautiful woman of faith was healed of brain cancer last night. Although she was not healed here on earth as we had so yearned for, she is in fact completely whole and rejoicing in the presence of her Savior right now. Our hearts break for her husband, daughter, parents and other family in the immense pain of their loss. Please pray God's unending grace and peace that passes all understanding over them. You can view Darren's most recent post here.
Last night was my first mommy experience with a breathing emergency. It was so scary! I woke up to some faint sounds coming from the girls' room, and went to check on them. Hannah was rolling around on her bed and desperately struggling to take a breath. She was in a panic and trying to cry or talk, but couldn't get in enough air to do either. I rushed her into the bathroom and sat on the side of the tub with the hot shower running. Trying to get her to calm down required both myself and my husband. Finally, after about 1/2 hour, she was breathing normally (though croupy) again. Tom spent the night holding her upright on the couch since she couldn't lay down without problems. The doctor diagnosed her with croup today and put her on steroids to avoid another such episode tonight.
I am so thankful for my restless sleep last night. If I had been sleeping soundly, I really don't know what would have become of my sweet girl. It is so scary to think of what could have happened. I know that God was keeping me awake last night so that I would hear her and rescue her in time. He had His hand of protection upon her. I am so humbled and thankful!
Many of you who follow my blog also follow Darren's blog for Misty. If not, or if you haven't already heard, Misty just slipped into a coma yesterday and is now on life support. Please be praying fervently for her healing and for her husband, Darren and their little girl, Olivia. Here is the link to their site:
Octamom just posted a wonderfully written blog on reproductive decisions. She ended with the following questions, so I thought I’d dive in and try to answer.
“So what about you? So how about your family? Are you done? Are you just beginning? What questions, fears, dreams have shaped the number of people in your family? How do you know if there may be someone else lining up for membership in your family club? How do you know when the club is complete?”
Did you ever play that game as a child where you stand facing away from a friend, close your eyes and fall backwards…trusting them to catch you? I believe the name of the game was actually called “Trust”. I played it many times. I can remember wondering if they would really catch me, or just watch me fall. I was sure that my true friends would try to catch me…but what if they dropped me?! I always knew that there was really only one person I could totally trust to catch me – my Dad. It was such a cool game if you could really totally trust the person behind you to catch you!
After 11 years of wondering how I really feel about family planning, God has recently brought me to a place of totally trusting Him. I know that if I leave it completely in His hands, He will not let me down. Like that game of trust, I know that He will never leave me or drop me. He knows so much better than I do what is best for me and my family. I have always felt that by using “birth control”, I was trying to take my future out of God’s hands and “control” it myself.
In no way am I saying I believe it is wrong or a sin to prevent pregnancy. I believe that there are times when serious health issues require prevention of pregnancy, and God uses medical science and our doctors to direct us. What I am saying is that for me, it is a matter of trust and complete surrender to God. It is saying “God, You are sovereign. Your ways are higher than my ways. You see the beginning from the end. I trust Your plan.”
Some would say it is easy for me to think like that because I don’t get pregnant very easily. It has always taken years of trying. I don’t have to worry about having children a year apart or having 3 in diapers. But right now, God has me on the other side of the issue – yearning for another child and trusting that His timing is perfect. The same convictions still apply. He is the opener and closer of wombs. Although I desperately want more children and at times feel impatient (ok, lots of times), again, I still must leave it in His hands and surrender my hopes and dreams completely to Him.
I LOVE the way that Octamom put it. I hope she doesn’t mind my quoting her: “So in the end, the answer is this: we are standing on holy ground. To be invited by an infinitely creative Creator to participate in such an amazing way to make people is holy. To see those people enter our lives is miraculous.” She goes on to say of her 8 children, “To look in each of the faces around our dinner table, to know that we thought we were probably done with the baby thing after 1, then after 2, then after 3...sometimes my heart is in my throat as I think, "What if I had called it quits? You wouldn't be here! I would have missed the amazing miracle of you..."...wow. That's heavy.”
So I’ve answered the question from my heart. All that being said, I cannot leave my answer as it is and not warn anyone who doesn’t already know the disturbing and horrifying facts about “The Pill” that I have just recently learned over the past few years. It breaks my heart to know that I took those pills for nearly 3 years altogether without ever knowing exactly how they work. Most doctors will not volunteer this information, but after hours upon hours of research, I have found enough evidence that I will never use “the Pill” again. Although I have found many sources, the video below is the simplest explanation I've found. Pastor and author Randy Alcorn has also done extensive research on the subject and has posted his findings here, as well as in his book titled Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortion? which includes endorsments from many doctors. Please watch!
...for my sister, Laura, who is pregnant with her first baby. Below is a copy of the post she sent out yesterday.
Hello dear friends,
I have a request. As you all know, I am 33 weeks pregnant with a little boy, Paul Matthew. I went in for an ultrasound today and found that our little one is only measuring about 2 and a half pounds. My placenta is not working properly and the doctors are concerned that he is not getting the proper nutrients. They want to monitor me twice a week and if things do not change I will have to deliver early. I know the Lord has it all under control and that little Paul is in His hands, but the more prayer there is, the better. It is so interesting for me to think about his name. When we first found out that we were having a boy, his name was already determined. Paul after the Apostle Paul and Matthew after my husband. I am really big into the meaning of names. Well, Matthew means "Gift of God," and Paul means "Small, or humble." I feel that God is just confirming his name that he truly is a small gift from Him. So if you could please keep this small gift in your prayers that would mean a whole lot. Thank you so much. Laura
So today my dear friend, Stephanie, invited my girls and I on a field trip to the horse farm where she works. Oh, how excited they were! Here are some pictures of their day of fun. Unfortunately, I realized later that we never got a picture of the girls with Stephanie :(
Maia even got to "fix" a tractor and "drive" another. Wink, wink. Stephanie got some other cute pictures. I'll have to post them another day.
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new Earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love."
-Sir Francis Drake, explorer and naval pioneer during the Elizabethan era
I found this quote by Sir Francis Drake yesterday while looking for something gripping to add to the weekly church newsletter. It gripped me! How often are our dreams about living the good life, the American "dream", and not about our lost loved ones and neighbors giving their lives to Christ, embracing the cross, and finding victory in Him? How often do we sail through safe "waters" so that we don't "rock the boat" with the Truth? How often are we so distracted by all of our stuff that fills us up so that we aren't even thirsty for Him any longer?
My prayer is that I would become more "disturbed" by the Lord! That I would venture out onto those wild seas, in faith knowing that He is the one controlling them. That I would not remain in the comfortable safety of the lukewarm and apathetic, but dare to boldly venture out into the storm, my hand in His. That I would forget those things that moths and rust destroy, and lose myself in what is eternal.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
I grew up in a loving Christian home and graduated from a very small Christian school. At 15, I fell in love with the man who eventually became my wonderful husband. We graduated together in 1995. On December 24, 1995, Tom asked me to be his wife. We married on July 5, 1997! On December 21, 2000 after years of patiently (and sometimes impatiently) waiting, our daughter Maia was born. She is such a beautiful gift from God to us! After more years of waiting on the Lord, Hannah Joy finally joined us on May 25, 2005. Her name fits her well, as she brings so much joy to our lives! We also have another child we've yet to meet, who slipped away quietly while I was just 11 weeks pregnant. We are a home school family. God has blessed us with these children, gifts from above, for such a short time. We believe that we must make the most of the little time we have with them to train them up in the LORD. How can we effectively do that if we send them off to school all day? Although it is not always easy living mostly on one income (I work 10 hours a week as administrative assistant at our church), the benefits far outway the cost. I can't imagine life any other way! We've been richly blessed!
