Sometimes I like to call them "Week-beginnings"

What a weekend! Although sometimes I like to think of it as a Week's Beginning becuase they are so great! This weekend, I spent Saturday morning at New Hope Church for a Women's Event titled "Say Yes to God" with Lysa TerKeurst. Then Sunday, Pastor John preached an incredible message that shouted so loud and clear to both Eric and I as if we were the only two people in the entire auditorium. THEN we had an awesome time at lunch with sweet friends from our CARE group who prayed with us, prayed for Lucy. What a week-beginning, indeed!

What I took home from "Say Yes to God"...
"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I AM Joyful in our current circumstances, joyful that I have been given so far, 33 glorious weeks (today!!) to spend with my tiny dancer. I am prayerful that we have more time with her, and that God is going to perform a miracle in our precious baby girl. I am thankful for God who chose us to be parents to Lucy, to share her with us until she goes to be with to Him.

What I learned from Pastor John's message...

"He is allowing me to go through these trials because He loves me."

Pastor John drove this one home with a baseball analogy. Anyone who knows me knows that I know nothing about baseball, but I love it. I love the sport,and the the feeling you get when you are at a game and the intensity of the players and die-hard fans... I love it. But I know nothing actually about the sport. Pastor John told a story of his son, and his struggles with baseball this year and how he as a father, pushes him through it, and how he is his biggest cheerleader and he is with him every step of the way.

I wept as I imagined my Father, with me every step of the way in this, with Lucy's doctor appointments, and the defeat I feel every time we receive bad news, or they scan over her very sick heart and tell us her heart is weaker, her fluid collection has increased. HE is with me every night that I cannot sleep worried about those kicks I feel will be the last kicks. He is with me every week and I cry with Joy that we have entered another blessed week. Every moment through these trials, He is with me. Always Constant, our biggest cheerleader, there to catch us all when we fall. He allows these things to happen because of His LOVE for us.

What I took away from lunch with our dear friends...

God puts us in places and situations and sometimes we will never know why, and then there are other times that you find out years down the road.

A few years ago, Eric and I were attending Second Baptist Church at a satellite campus in a movie theater. I loved this church. I appreciated the wisdom from the pastor each week, I loved the worship, I was making new friends there, I enjoyed the bible study so much, I volunteered in the nursery and spend so many Sunday mornings surrounded by these beautiful babies and I looked forward to church every week. But Eric didnt. He felt like something was missing, he felt like we needed to be somewhere else, he felt disconnected, and he decided we needed to make a move. I was devastated. But I thought to myself, if he is to lead this family, and lead our family WITH God, HE needs to be where he feels connected. So we left. Our neighbors told Eric about New Hope. Eric jokes about this-- about how he didnt know how to tell me we were going to try an new church so he figured he would just let us all get ready for church, drive off that morning and then he'd drive right past our church, jump on the highway and park at New Hope, thinking I wouldnt notice :) So we did it. We loved it, He loved it. Our neighbors, who are now great friends, had been working on us for a while, inviting us to CARE group gatherings, and then we joined the group. We met amazing people, everyone bringing their special something that makes this group so diverse, so unique. Our group has gone through some changes these past couple years. Families moving, new babies, new careers, new friends...and this is how God has worked in us; through the change. He changed us from different paths to get us where we needed to be when all of these things would be going on in our lives. He placed us in this amazing church, with this amazing group of friends, these God-loving people who would be there for everyone to support each other through all the change. It's so wonderful how a lunch out with friends and a simple prayer can have such an impact; so wonderful to see God's work.


~I pray that I continue to grow in my faith, and I pray that I continue to live in daily joy and gratitude with all circumstances. In His name, I pray. Amen.