ahhh peace

in this crazy world where we live is tooo easy to get distracted and lose peace ~ but then i have to stop and listen to the quiet inner voice of the Holy Spirit and am reminded of what really matters

the story of Peter walking on the water is such a great metaphor for me ~ its in Matthew 14:22-33. Matthew 14:29-30 says "And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out saying Lord, save me!"

I think a great deal happened for Peter between those two sentences but to me the main thing is that he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at what was going on around him and then began to sink. it reminds me to always (as much as possible) keep the eyes of my heart focused on my Lord and not my life.

I'm glad the Holy Spirit is patient with me and loves me! I'm learning .. . .i hope you are too!

Forgetful

Why was i awake at 2:45 in the morning last night? Well Rachel woke me up originally but then i couldn't make my brain hush so i could go back to sleep.

What was my brain saying??

Well in truth ~ it was uttering a bunch of lies about my Daddy God and His provision for my family and i was listening to them all! Lord, please forgive me for my forgetfulness! I was pondering bills that needed payiny and a Wildtree party that i wanted more from.

And guess what??? By 2 pm today Daddy had taken care of all those issues!!! He ALWAYS gives EXACTLY what we need in the EXACT MOMENT WE NEED IT!!!!

Thank You Father for Your continued provision and patience with me!!! I am truly grateful for being Your child!!!

Here he is!!!!

My friend had a BABY today!!!!

Yep folks! That's right and I was one of her doulas!!! I met Kate at church through another friend and she is awesome!! Her due date was Dec 30th, and we througb her a shower yesterday at my house ~ it was great fun and i made the cake!!! I love offering myself through cooking and baking!!!

Anyway, Lisa (the other doula) called me this morning saying that Kate was on her way to the hospital just as Jeremy was on his way out the door to work. We had no plan for someone to watch Rachel so I scrambled for a little while til I called Bethy's Aunt Glada and she said to bring her over ~ Aunt Glada to the rescue!!!! THANK YOU AUNT GLADA!!!!!!

SO i drop off Rachel in the loving and able arms of Aunt Glada and fly to the hospital. Kate is dialated to a 5-6 and Baby Jeremiah is doing well. This was around 10:35ish in the morning. Kate decided the epidural was in order because she was having bad back labor. Lisa got there in time for the epidural shortly after i got there.

Contractions, contractions, contractions, crying in pain, crying in pain, crying in pain *I knew the feeling* then epidural and aaahhhhh Oh thank You Jesus for the wonders of modern medicine!!!!

Kate is progressing well and dialated to a 9, the doctor breaks her water and finds thick merconium ~ could be problems but so far its okay ~ we keep going then Jeremiah's heart rate drops a lot ~ trouble! It goes back up quickly but the nurse says that the doctor might want to do a c-section and Kate starts crying ~ do I know where she is or what?? I talked Kate through to stay calm as much as I could ~ the doctor comes in and checks Kate ~ 10 cm but Jeremiah's heart rate is still doing wierd things ~ dr decides to let Kate push through a few contractions I think it was four maybe five but then Jeremiah's heart rate drops again and dr says we gotta go so Lisa gets ready to go with Kate to the OR ~ they leave Eva and me in the room to wait and pray and cry for Kate

sooo waiting, waiting, waiting then text from Lisa saying come to the room with a smiley face ~ walking down the hall we hear crying from Kate's room ~ we walk in and there he was!!! Little Jeremiah David all beautiful and screaming ~ he was born at 2:55pm was 7 lbs 10 oz and 21 in long ~ When Kate comes back in the room she tells me that when she heard him crying it was all worth it ~ i knew it would be like that!!! Also come to find out from the Dr Little Jeremiah had the cord wrapped around his neck three times and wrapped around his arm!! He was doing acrobatics in mommy's tummy!!!

So there you go ~ another birth story with some hard parts but an amazing ending!!! isn't our God a great God or what????

My favorite part of the day

For the past few months, about every night, after Rachel has fallen asleep i go in a look at her sleeping. I really love doing this!! Its a moment that i treasure each time i do it. Not because "the only time i enjoy her is when she is sleeping" as many cynical parents say. I try to enjoy her throughout the day because I know these times are fleeing and she will be grown before i know it. I love this time because it reminds me that her life is precious and i have been given the privilege by God to raise her into who He created her to become. When i go see her at night, its sacred to me. I breathe her in and relish the time I'm in there with her.

Dear Daddy God,

Thank You so much for my beloved little girl! She is one of the greatest treasures You have given me. Remind me to see her as that gift each day of her life please. When its hard to raise her, remind me, Lord. When I am short on patience and have an extra amount of selfishness, Lord, remind me of who You want Rachel to become and my role in helping her become that. Lord, help me to be the mother to Rachel that she needs me to be. Let me always remember to love You first and give myself wholly to You, Jeremy and Rachel. I love serving You, Jesus!

I'm walking!!

On December 4th ~ Rachel took her first steps!!!! She has been walking a little since!! Its very exciting!!!

I'm cute, huh??