Verse A Day

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Waffles!

Peter helped me to make waffles after church on Sunday.  His "cheese" looks more like a growl.
Lily took care of her "baby"
 Time to eat!
 Lily's little toes (and their smiles!) are TOO sweet and precious!
Love my babes!

Flowers!

Someone left these beautiful flowers on my door step last Thursday afternoon without a note.  I still don't know who they are from so if you read this, THANK YOU!  That same night, someone brought us dinner.  Such sweet reminder that the Lord sees, knows, and loves us.
"You hem me in behind and before, 
   and you lay your hand upon me."  
Psalm 139:5
 And these daffodils are coming up "late" all in our yard!  My dad planted the bulbs for us in Feb when they were here for Peter's surgery.  We didn't think they would come up this year... but they have and they are such a treat & feel symbolic of the work God has done in our lives!

Classy Friday Fun

The obsession with buses continues (for at least 3 people in our family).
Friday night was a big "rite of passage" for Lily... she took the bus with Peter and Mike (this may have been her second ride but the first one captured in pictures).  
I LOVE this first pic.  I made it big so hopefully you can see Mike holding Lily and his big GRIN, thinking how funny our entertainment is!  I showed it to Mike and he said that Peter had just handed the bus driver a PENNY for his fare!  Love that boy.
 They arrived at the mall!
 I love the hand holding.  Its our new method of keeping them together & with us.  
They are really into it and its adorable!
 We had dinner then rode on the "rides".
Fun times!!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Bundle of Joy

Our first sweet niece arrived on 4/13/11
Audrey Ruth
We love her already!!!

family weekend

It was Paw's birthday last weekend so we drove down to see him.  We bought him some balloons and took them to his office... suprise!  We love you a lot, Paw!
 We had a yummy birthday dinner that night with NeeNee and Robbie.
 His birthday gift request was that the kids could spend the night with him... OK!
After our great excitement over Peter's good report on Friday, it was hard to leave them.
Peter got to spend some time with his best dog friend.
 After we met to pick them up, we went to visit Mike's sweet grandparents.
 silly lily!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I just can't get anything done today!  I'm too giddy!  We had an awesome, relaxing Easter Brunch this morning... the speaker was funny and sweet, just talking about God's faithfulness thru dark times (appropiate!).  
And Peter's report... I'm just still so excited and in awe of God's answer & kindness.  
And my friend, Kari, is pregnant for the first time with TWINS!
And Jessica is gonna have a baby soon!  Oh, I just CAN'T WAIT to meet her and snuggle her!
The days are longer, its springtime!
Such exciting times.
I really wanted to upload pics from the weekend of Paw's Birthday (we love him!) but can't find my camera and I'm too giddy to concentrate on finding it.... 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

"Thank you, Lord!"

Those are the words I am breathing!  I lay on the couch Friday afternoon trying to take a quick nap, my heart raced with excitement and those were the words on my mind with every.single.breath., over and over.  I was unable to sleep Friday night either, just full of joy and giddiness!  Here is the battery of tests that Peter has had over the last 2.5 months....
(I am so proud of my little man and his bravery!)


EEG (x2)
MRI of his brain and L-spine
lots of "chemistry" and more routine labs
expanded newborn screening

organic acids 
urine creatinine disorders panel
SCN1A Gene Test
lumbar puncture to check for:
~CSF lactate 
~CSF amino acids 
~CSF neurotransmitters 
(Plus, add to that...  2 hospital admissions, 4 ER visits, one ambulance ride, one surgery with  pinning, one arm in a splint/cast for 4 weeks.)


ALL OF HIS TEST RESULTS HAVE BEEN NORMAL!  We so praise God for this and just rejoice with great delight!  It has been a HARD 2.5 months... our souls have felt in anguish.  After his most recent normal test, a great meeting with genetics and neurology, and just seeing how well he's been doing for a couple weeks, we are just delighted!  We thank God so much for His mercy and sweet answers to the prayers of MANY.  We are so thankful.  Thank you, Lord.  We can't thank You enough!


In the Tuesday morning Women's Bible study that I do, we have been going thru the Psalms.  Its been good, and a little too close to home for comfort, freeing, comforting, hard... yes, all of those.  Most recently we've studied Psalm 88 & 130.  I don't think I've EVER read Psalm 88 (and sorta glad I hadn't).  Our study title for it is "Dark".  It says things like "For my soul is full of troubles, my life draws near to Sheol (the grave).  I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength" (v3-5) and "I am shut in so that I cannot escape; Every day I call upon you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you." (v8-9) and "Is your steadfast love declared in the grave?... Are your wonders known in darkness" (v11-12).  Unlike other Psalms, it doesn't then end sweetly and tie things up in a positive way.... I can hardly bear to type it so here's a link. This was hard to read and study during a hard time.  But the thing we talked about is that this writer is still engaged with the Lord.  This writer is still acknowledging his relationship with the Lord, even in his extreme distress, rather than ignoring that.  We see that we aren't alone in our laments & distress but rather God chose to put these in His Word, to show us how honest we can be with Him.  


Psalm 130 is about waiting.  Waiting is hard because we are not in control.  We talked about how in waiting, a way to worship is to repent, not from a particular sin, but from self (my control) instead to trust Him.  Again, we talked about being engaged with the Lord during our waiting, like "watchmen wait for the morning".  As I "watch" and think about what the Lord has done during all of this (our waiting), one theme that my heart sees is how He has expanded my love for our family.  At the start of this in January, I felt sure that we might be "done", we might be a family of 4 and the Lord had made me content with that (which is a praise, I am not often content, and it has been a prayer of my heart... to live where we are now, not just dreaming of what will be).  But after the pregnancy and miscarriage, and after knowing that Peter is being worked up for genetic issues so that may mean we need to be "done", I feel like God has both increased my heart for my own children (the 3rd pregnancy we had!) and for adoption and just thinking of the possibilities that could be... seeing others stories of adoption unfold, reading Choosing to See (I still haven't read the ending, not sure if I will right now).  None of this is written in stone, I am just trying to reflect on what God has done in our lives thru this trial.  I am thankful, I feel like He has increased my JOY.  Thank you, Lord!  You have been good and merciful to us.  And I am thrilled that he has shown us promise of good health, we also thank Him that our eternities are secure through Jesus' blood on our behalf (and we beg Him for long life on earth!).  O Lord, we thank you.  Today we especially thank You for our Pete and our Lily, who we ADORE, ADORE, ADORE!!!  Thank you, Lord!  (Now I just need a bigger house for my future children!... hehe! ;)... honesty!)