Saraina's hernia - repaired!

292. Saraina's surgery to repair her umbilical hernia... completed as of yesterday, June 26th! Thankful William's work load was such (and his priority to be home with our other children during a time like this!) that everything went fairly smoothly. Lord, thank You for granting our family a sweet time of petitioning You to heal her without medical intervention, thank You for reminding me that You are the healer, for Saraina's surgery being scheduled first thing in the morning, for good hospital care, for our health insurance, for Saraina's response to the entire experience, for the alone time I was able to have with my sweet biggest girl, for strength to complete all You had in store for me though I was weary, for a husband who is the greatest husband I could ever imagine and the unbelievable Daddy he is to our kiddos! My cup is truly overflowing...

Pastoral Care

291. Our pastors are such gifts! In fact, Lord, You are awesome in how You provide Your people with shepherds to help us guard our souls and treasure the Gospel. Thank You, Lord, for Tab and Josh and how they ALWAYS make time for whoever is in need. I recently needed some pastoral help and ended up speaking with both of them at separate times and ended both conversations even more thankful for these men and their wives! Bless them and their families, O Great God! Oops! I left out our new pastor, Jamie. Lord, I have already been on the receiving end of our newest pastor's gifts as I can now listen to the message in the hallway thanks to the new speaker! Oh what a gift that is to so many moms and dads who walk the halls with sick or sleeping children. Thank You, Lord God.

Our Week

290. Had a chiropractor appointment which included a 25-minute massage! I'm still in shock at how quickly I'm feeling better since starting back up at the chiro! Lord, I am so, so grateful You have made a way for me to go again. You are merciful to me!

289. Made it to my midwife appointment without problem and b/c Papa-Bear is home I was able to go solo.

288. Daddy was off today! Always a gift having my Hubby around all day. He's my favorite person to be with...

287. New fence completed! Already enjoying the extra benefits! And how sweet the blessing is knowing that we were able to pay cash and not incur any debt. (We paid off all our debt just over a year ago. Well, not 100%. We do have a mortgage but hope to pay that off long before it's due!)

90 Months of Marriage

286. Celebrating 90 months of marriage! Yesterday, May 17 we hit our 90 Month Anniversary. Yes, we celebrate (or simply recognize) our marriage monthly in some way. Often it's a little "happy anniversary" verbally and other times it's a more deliberate recounting of God's kindness to us in allowing us to be joined together as hubby and wifey.

To my Prince William,

If time would permit, I'd write the top 90 reasons I love being married to you. Yet, there seems to be so much going on these days I can barely make time to plan our dinner menu. But can I tell you (again) how wonderful you are to me and how I thank our Great God for the incredibly overwhelming blessing of having you for my husband. You are my favorite person to be with and experience life with. I know God's kindness more from being married to you.

Loving you more each day,

~wfy

Back Pain

285. My back went out on Monday night (or was it Sunday night? I can't remember!) and as a result I could not get up in the middle of the night for the kiddos. Seriously, things went really bad when I sneezed because the pain in my back literally knocked the breath out of me. I had to wait for William to get out of the shower for him to help me up! I called out when I heard Bethany come in but she didn't hear me. It's crazy! When William helped me get up and get in a better position on the bed, we just laughed, which caused more pain!

But I am writing about this on my Gratitude blog because the Lord, in His kindness, used my pain to give me a greater glimpse of His unparalleled care for me. The pain I felt literally caused me to audibly call on Him, even in moments I wouldn't necessarily choose to do that. And that is good. Pain is humbling. And it's also relative. I think about the pain my Lord suffered on account of MY sin as He bore the wrath I could never stand to bear. He endured therefore I can endure through Him.

There is nothing that can ever separate me from His unstoppable, unshakeable love!

SO, Lord, I thank You for allowing me to endure this pain that I can see You all the more! Yes, I am ready to for this new day and all You have in store for me to see/experience/do/be for my good, and more importantly, for Your Great Glory!

Thinking Back on Our Week

284. May I not forget the blessing of having others lift me/our family up in prayer. Lord, that truly is a kindness, perhaps the greatest kindness someone can do for me/us. Bless those that have interceded on our behalf. Thank You for each one of them, known and unknown.

283. Thank You for allowing us the stre

ngth necessary to plant phase one of our veggies in our garden. And though they don't look well I am praising You for the opportunity to try. Indeed You can do all things, great God! May the rain we continue to receive help our garden to flourish and provide food for our family and others!

282. Though it's been a little tougher securing coupons since we had to cancel (again) our newspaper delivery service, You continue to show me that I don't need tons of coupons to save money. Thank You for the coupons I do have (and for those that are so generous to pass them along to me - wink, wink) and for reminding me that a budget is good. It is good to have boundaries. It is good to remind myself that I don't NEED everything on my list which helps me make calls to be a wise steward. Continue to help me grow in being like the Proverbs 31 woman who "looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."

281. Though I've said it before, Lord, it so blesses my soul to hear my children pray. Oh my great God! You are so wonderful! Thank You for granting us three little ones that ASK us if they can pray!

280. Made it through another busy week of Papa-bear having back to back night meetings. Thank You for William's job and the provision that it provides our family.

279. My breast ultrasound went well. No cyst found in the location of my pain. Most likely the pain is a result of a bruised muscle or even broken rib from my cough.

278. Baby #5 is looking good in the womb! Ultrasound to measure the fibroids didn't find them much large than my previous pregnancy with Paloma. We hope to find out the sex of Baby #5 though we've opted to not find out with all the others. This round, though, I'd like to only have the clothes I need out! Also, the other biggie for me was to make sure we're only expecting ONE new arrival in October as we would have to get a straight-up full-size van if that were not the case. Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled with twins but am also thrilled to receive this news as well. Thank You, Lord God, for knowing exactly what we need and mercifully granting us way more than we deserve. We are so excited for this new Baby to enter the world and be used for Your Kingdom!

And here's a picture of Baby #5 with his/her hand in their mouth. The Baby is just shy of 15 weeks in this picture:

Joshua Worships

277. Joshua went to church with Daddy yesterday which meant he had to leave early so Daddy could practice with the Music Team before the meeting began. I came later with the other three, all with runny noses and/or a cough, thinking I'd keep them with me in the meeting and Joshua would go to his class. Did things ever change from what I was anticipating.

Joshua decided to stay with me and the other three for worship while Daddy was playing. It was one of the most memorable times of worship for me because Joshua, all on his own, stood up from his seat, moved over to where I was standing, and began clapping along with me. I was stunned and so very thankful to see him choose to worship at church for the very first time.

All the kiddos love to worship in the comfort of our own home, not worrying about anyone watching them, but they would never participate in worship at church even if I tried to prepare them by going over some of the songs (if I knew them in advance b/c William was playing that week).

Thank You, Lord, for Joshua deciding to worship with me and our church family yesterday! Oh, I asked Joshua at bedtime why he decided to stand up and clap and he said, "I just looked around and did what the other people were doing." Yep. Isn't that how it starts? Doing what he sees others doing. Thank You also, Lord, for a church family that is not ashamed of worshipping You.