A Miracle Baby

 

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. – Psalm 113:9 KJV

  Babies are very, very dear to my heart. My heart aches for women who are unable to have children, or who have lost children. I think of Hannah in the book of I Samuel and ask the Lord to give the ladies with empty arms a baby, as He did Hannah. He did it for her and He can do it for them. I wanted to share this story of an aching heart and empty arms that were filled.

We have some dear friends from our church who are missionaries to the country of Honduras. They are a wonderful couple in their early thirties. Last Sunday while they were home for a visit, they shared some of what the Lord has been doing for them and their ministry. They also shared some very exciting news about the wife.

Five years ago, she was  diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and endometriosis and told that she would never be able to have children. So they began to look into adoption.

  At the beginning of this year she felt impressed that the Lord was going to give her a miracle. She had been sitting in her rocking chair, praying and reading her Bible and got up to open the front door and the Lord spoke to her and told her that He was going to give her a miracle.  She felt that the miracle was a baby.

   Earlier this summer, a baby became available for them. They were so excited and shortly before the baby was born came back to the States to get the things they would need. Sadly, the baby was born and did not survive. Two weeks later, they learned of another baby that was available, but that adoption fell through as well.  She told me that they decided to take a break for a little while—the emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the last month was almost more than she could bear and her heart was breaking.

Two or so weeks after the second failed adoption, she got very ill. She thought she had a parasite and was going to take a pill for it, but something quickened her and she thought, “I’d better take a pregnancy test just to be safe.” She did and she was pregnant!

When she had the first ultrasound and they got to see the baby for the first time, she asked the doctor to show her all of the cysts and endometriosis that she had. He looked at her a little strangely and said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. The only thing there is a baby.”

Not only did the Lord give them a miracle baby, He completely healed and restored her womb.

They are expecting a healthy, perfect baby boy next spring. To God be the Glory!

Whirlwind

The two and a half weeks have been trying, exciting, fun…with a lot of crazy mixed in.

A week ago one of my childhood friends went to be with the Lord in a fatal car accident. Her younger sister was seriously injured  but is at home now and recovering. Please pray for the family. Ashlyn was 23—only a month younger than I.

This is a photo of me (in blue) and Ashlyn (in pink) and her brother and another flowergirl at Ashlyn’s aunt’s wedding. We were 3 or 4 years old I believe.

Life is a vapor.

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We had a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend spent with the in-laws which ended at the church playing volleyball and visiting with friends.

I was spoiled rotten this weekend having Jacob with me so much. Now that he is back at work today I don’t know what to do with myself—I feel like a lost puppy without him. Thankfully he gets off work soon ;)

  We began signing papers on our house this week!!!!! I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I can’t wait to share the whole story of how the Lord put everything into place for us and lead us to this house. Please continue to pray that everything will go quickly and smoothly.

Here is a sneak peek for you:

More to come later!

Bluebonnets and Bittersweet Goodbyes

This morning I’m going to say goodbye to a very dear old neighbor and friend. She is moving several hours away to live with her daughter. For the first time in my entire life, Mrs. Davey will not be “on the Hill” (as we like to call the area where she and my parents live).
My parents have lived next door and across the street from Mrs. Davey and her late husband for nearly 27 years. She is like a grandmother to me and there are few memories from my childhood that do not include her. She was specially escorted in and seated with the grandmothers at my wedding. She is like family to us.
  She has been the ideal example of a Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 lady to my mother and I throughout the years. She taught by example how to be a good neighbor. When someone is sick, you cook and take a meal to them. When you are going to the store, you call your neighbor and ask if there is anything she needs while you are out.  When your garden produces more that you need (even if it doesn’t) you call your neighbor and share. When your neighbor is in the hospital or at the hospital with someone, you check with them to see if gardens need watering or stock needs feeding.
She taught me to crochet, and taught me much about sewing and crafting.
One of the things that sparked the friendship between Mrs. Davey and my mother was actually me ;). When I was a wee little thing—under a year old—Mom was about to mow the yard. She was on the riding lawn mower and had me in the her lap. Mrs. Davey saw all this and came over and offered to watch me while Mom mowed. That’s just what neighbors do.
Mrs. Davey is a flower gardener extraordinaire. Her potted plants thrive! Her yard is always full of fragrant blossoms and bushes. Love of flowers is something else that we have in common. There is a grassy hillside on her property beside the highway and when I was around 5 or 6 years old, Mrs. Davey decided to plant bluebonnets, our state flower, on the hill. Bluebonnets can be difficult to get started, the seeds are finicky and you have to be careful to mow where they are planted at the right time, etc. Mrs. Davey had one plant come up and bloom. That was her hope for a blue hillside the next year, unbeknown to five year old me. One afternoon while Mama and Mrs. Davey were drinking coffee, my brother and I were outside playing. Me, ever the flower enthusiast even at that young age, spied a blue flower in the pasture. I knew that Mrs. Davey loved flowers, so I had to share this one with her. It wasn’t as easy to pick as I thought it would be—bluebonnets have tough stems!
I finally plucked the flower and proudly carried it in the house to give to Mrs. Davey. I’m sure her face fell when she saw her hope for a blue hillside in my hands, but I don’t remember. I do remember that she thanked me for the flower and placed it in water, but also gave me a firm, but gentle reminder to ask before picking next time. She explained to me that some flowers—like bluebonnets—were hard to grow and get started. To this day, every time I see a bluebonnet I think of Mrs. Davey and her patience with little me.
Mrs. Davey and her husband Dock were married for 61 years when he passed away. She was a wonderful example of a wife and helpmeet. She kept him at home and cared for him until the very end. She never had anything but praise for him.
Today I’m going to go and say goodbye for a little while, hopefully not for the last time though. Even though I don’t see her very often, just know that she isn’t on the Hill makes me miss her more.   Mrs. Davey is in her eighties and her health is fading. She is moving in with her daughter and I know that now, after years of taking care of others, she will be pampered and taken care of very well. As sad as I am that she is going, I am so glad that she will be in such good hands.
I am so thankful for the Godly influence this lady has had on my life.

Surprises, Sourdough, and Sewing

   This week has been busy, fun and very full. The thought of quiet weekend at home—complete with sleeping in—sounds so appealing and lovely right now.
     Last Friday a  friend and I went to my parents to visit and pick mayhaws for jelly.
   On Saturday we helped move Jacob’s grandmother from our city to live with her daughter about an hour away. We were in the truck a lot and I was able to get a lot done on a doily I’m working on.
  Tuesday was my mother’s birthday and I managed to surprise her early that morning for her birthday. Since we had seen each other on Friday she did not expect to see me again so soon. She also knew that I’m covered up in sewing jobs right now. I headed out early when Jacob left for work.  About 10 minutes before I got to her house I called her to wish her happy birthday and we visited for a minute. Long story short, I was in her kitchen before she realized I was there. It was so much fun and we had a great day together.
Also this week I rediscovered my love of sourdough bread. On a whim last week I started some sourdough starter. The last time I tried that it was a disaster and I ended killing the starter. So I tried again. Monday was the first day I was able to make bread with the starter, and oh my goodness, I’m an addict now!

I made a loaf of bread and used the rest of the dough for pizza crusts. I don’t know if I can ever go back to anything but sourdough bread again. I’ll be sharing the recipe for the starter and my bread soon.
  And once again I am busy with a wedding. I believe this is my third wedding in six months. I have projects and commitments lined up until almost September.
I am also about to start on a dedication dress for this sweet angel Ellie:


I made this little dress for her and we were trying to get a picture of it for my business’ Facebook page, but  she didn’t feel like smiling and her hand tasted too good. Drop by her mommy’s (my good friend Kristin) blog to read the amazing story of how the Lord kept her and gave her to us. She is truly a miracle!

Keepers of the Faith Camping trip

We had such a good time last weekend at our Keepers of the Faith camping trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Every year we stay at campground on the beautiful Blanco River.

One of the things that I love the most about the camping trips we take is the relaxed atmosphere. The girls have a chance to really play and build friendships and we grown ladies have a chance to visit, which is great because in our monthly meetings we are all very busy with classes.

Some of my girls headed to the river for a  swim.

The water was cold but the littles were determined to get in.

The big girls decided to build a dam using the big rocks that were plenteous in the river. I think there was more than one big rock dropped on feet.

And in the midst of all the fun I managed to do a mini-shoot with Faith.

Isn’t she adorable? I realize I am just a “tad” partial to her ;)

Home Again…well, almost…

The holidays are over and we are back to our new city home. It was so hard to leave this time and come back. We had a wonderful five days with our family and it was so good to sleep in our own bed for a couple of nights. I have felt like quite  the nomad the last several weeks.

Here is just a quick peak into our Christmas. We are having friends come and stay with us for New Year’s and I have lots of preparing to do. My best and oldest childhood friend married one of Jacob’s best friends 6 weeks after we married. Does it get any better than that? Holly and I had always hoped we would marry men that liked each other so we could spend time together and the Lord worked it out to where we married best friends. :)

Our first married Christmas  was wonderful. This was actually our third Christmas to spend together and each year it gets better.  We had our little Christmas, just the two of us, Christmas Eve morning. As usual, Jacob spoiled me completely rotten. He surprised me with a wide angle and a telephoto lens for my camera as well as lots of other things.

We spent Christmas Eve night with my parents and siblings and were there to watch the girls open their gifts the next morning. This year was a little different than most—usually the little people are up first and wake everyone up.This year however, we big people were up first and woke the girls up to open gifts.

Jacob loves to tell people about Christmas morning at my parents’ house. Unlike most families, we don’t take turns, opening our gifts one person  at a time. The night before we sort out all the gifts according to who they belong to. Christmas morning, when everyone is awake and in the livingroom, Daddy says “Go!” and the wrapping paper starts to fly. Jacob refers to it as chaos and having been an only child, had no idea what he was getting into with a Christmas for seven kids.

Of course, after close to 20 years of opening gifts this way, we have perfected our method and no gifts are lost :)

I made all the little girls fancy dresses for Christmas. Faith loved hers so much she didn’t want to take it off. Even at barely a year, she already loves “foofy” clothes and shoes. The other girls floated around in their dresses and had a fashion show for Daddy. I put invisible zippers in their dresses instead of buttons so they felt very grown up. My little sisters are so much fun to sew for.   

 

 

 

Our family grew by one this year. Meet Lulu:

One of my gifts from my in-laws was this lovely  dress form (already modeling a dress in the works for my Etsy shop)

An Award!!!!!!!!

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I realized my little blog had been awarded the Liebster Blog award by Lisa @ Olive Plants all Around my Table.  She always leaves sweet, encouraging comments and I enjoy popping in for encouragement at her blog.

So, here is how the Liebster award works:  "liebster"  is a German word meaning friend, love, or dearest. It is awarded to blogs with 200 followers or fewer.  In order to accept the award, the honored blogger must write a post to thank the giver, with a link back to their blog...and then pass on the encouragement to five more bloggers.  

Here are my picks :) stop by, leave a comment and let them know where heard about them.

Brianna @ Fountain of Love

Andrea @ She Looks Well into the Ways of Her Household.

Elissa @ Crunchy Con Natural Health and Cosmetics

Stacie @ Thoughts from Stacie

Aimee @Cadeau Knitwear

 

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Rebecca

Mid-December Thoughts

Joy and contentment...those are my most pronounced emotions right now. I'm sitting in our living room admiring our Christmas tree and basking in it's glow, and thanking the Lord for His love and sacrifice for me.
  It's raining pretty hard outside and the sound is so soothing. My Jacob is fast asleep and I'm enjoying a cup of tea and thinking about our first month away from our home. It has flown by much quicker than I anticipated and I am so much happier than I thought I would be while we were here.
  I wasn't too sure about how well I would do, being so far away from our family and church and friends. The last time we were here on business, it was only for a week, but I was miserable. In fact, I wanted to cry when I learned that they were sending us here again. I didn't want to have to travel for our first Christmas. The holidays can already be so hectic without adding travel on top of them. Although we won't have the laid-back first Christmas we both envisioned I think it will be our best we've ever had.
 This month also held my first birthday to spend away from my family and--for most of the day--alone. For a girl who had never been alone and was used to being surrounded by lots of siblings and family, I wasn't sure how well I would do. I admit, earlier during the weekend I had a little crying spell--I was really missing everyone. But, I had a wonderful day filled with love and birthday wishes from so many people and my day was topped off by a sweet date with my husband. I guess I'm really grown up now.

 My mom and sisters spent last weekend with me while Jacob was on a hunting trip with his dad. They brought me a birthday cake and Hannah and Lydia sang "Happy Birthday" to me. Even though they were a few days late, they still wanted to celebrate. We had such a good time while they were here.
 I am so thankful that of all the places we could have been sent for Jacob's job, we were sent to a city where we have friends. It has been such a blessing to be able to spend time with my friend Elizah and her three sweet children. We have enjoyed being with them so much--whether out for fun double dates with her and her husband Brian or just relaxing at their home and talking about the Lord. I would be so lonely here were it not for them.
 I am so thankful for my dear friends at home who regularly check on me or just let me know they are thinking about me and missing me. That helps me feel closer to home and not cut off and forsaken ;)  My mailbox has held several lovely surprises of late. One of my buddies from church sent me some delicious coffee and earlier this week there was a package of some lovely vintage patterns from my sweet friend Missy. :)
  The place I feared would feel like and exile has proven to be a resting place. A place to stop and ponder, regroup and prepare for the next stretch of the journey.  One thing that I think has helped me while I'm here is that I decided to try and enjoy being here and make the best of it. Yes, I get homesick at least 5 times a week, but I try very hard not to dwell on it. If I look at our time here as and adventure and not burden, it makes things much easier. I want to be content wherever I am. When you begin to do to that, it helps you to see the blessing in what you may feel like is a curse.

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 16 & 17

This week has been rather busy and it's been hard to stay on top of blogging so today is catch-up day again.

 I was so blessed to be able to spend most of the day yesterday with some good friends of ours that live here in our new city.
 I met Elizah 5 years ago. At that time she and her husband Brian only had one child and were expecting another. Now they have three--two girls and a boy. We don't get to see each other much, so when we learned that we would be living so close we were so excited.
 In recent years I've also become acquainted with some of Elizah's sisters.
  Yesterday we visited and Elizah worked on some matching jumpers for her girls. I am working on another big pineapple doily, so I took that to work on while we visited. Her youngest sister Devorah (de-vor-ah) was there too.
  Elizah and Brian raise and sell certified organic chickens. They are going to a farmer's market this weekend so the second part of the day Elizah and I went to Sam's to get supplies for baked goods for Elizah to sell.
 I had such a good time and I am so thankful that we have friends here. It helps make the move easier.
  Another thing I am excited about is that very close to where Elizah lives is a little store where I can get essential oils. I've been seeing some recipes for homemade cleaning products and now I can try them since I'll be able to get the ingredients locally. I'll let you know how they turn out. Unfortunately, some of my experiments have been less than stellar.
  Our new apartment is beginning to feel more like home. My car is almost emptied and I have some of our pictures and decorations from home out. My coffee maker and KitchenAid mixer are in the kitchen now--that goes a long way in making the place feel like home :)
 It has turned chilly and Jacob and I can't wait to try out the fireplace in our livingroom! It's been years since I've had a fireplace. It will be so fun to decorate for Christmas.