new waters

As it turns out, I qualify for WIC because of our tiny human that's taken up residence in my abdomen.   I wasn't really sure what to expect of the program, but our income was just low enough that we "got in."   The process was relatively easy-  bring a few paystubs, our IDs, and proof that said tiny human existed. ...  First time really being identified as a "family of three" -  even though most places wouldn't count an unborn child as a person (for discounts and such), WIC did. It was encouraging to have someone other than the church acknowledge our little one as "counting."

It is humbling being "part" of this government-sponsored program, but humbling in a good way - we're in-between jobs right now, and I know we need to be very, very frugal with the finances God has given us as we wait on His timing. I truly believe He allowed us to make "just enough" to qualify - really, we're only a thousand-or-so dollars away from the cutoff - for WIC and still be able to pay for some of our loans. It's allowed us to be able to bless other people financially as well with the few dollars that could have been spent on milk or eggs.

Then this morning we took another step of trusting God's provision, if you could call it that-  the woman who set us up with WIC told us about a free food pantry (not income-based, just free for residents of our county) just down the road from us. . . So we ventured downtown and parked at a meter - 25cents for a half an hour - culture shock for this city girl :p - then went inside to sign in and sit in the waiting room. We only waited for about 40 minutes as people were "called back" to get their groceries and such. The atmosphere was so much fun - people either knew each other or acted like they did. There was a Korean War veteran, an Army vet, a couple with a yearling, a gaggle of old ladies, and a Sophia(from the Golden Girls)-act-a-like, as well as many, many mustaches.  (I told David I felt left out that I didn't have one!). We amused ourselves by watching (among all these people) a tiny chihuahua and its owner across the street at a bike shop. When we got called back, all the volunteers were very friendly and "got us through" quickly.  Fun fact of the day - we got at least a pound and a half of venison!  ... I remember one of David's coworkers telling us that the farmers and hunters in the area donate their deer meat) It was a really neat experience, and we can go back each week if we need to!    God really is good, and He's provided so much!



Additionally, we got to go to a baby shower - for our very own tiny person!  Our church family here threw us a shower - announced it on the 13th, and held it the 20th. It was so much fun - a bring-a-dish-to-pass meal (that's more fun to say than "potluck") that they call a "Clean Culinary" because each family is to bring their own place settings. They had a baby food guessing game - I did pretty well, and the pastor's daughter - 14 years old - made such great faces when tasting the food .... much like babies do! :D  The other game they did was a drinking contest - apple juice in baby bottles. I couldn't get the cap off my bottle, the college-kid David just started chugging (ha!), and the 96-year-old sweetheart Thelma kept taking the whole top off to swig "when no one was looking."   I just sipped it occasionally and encouraged Thelma :D  ... then I had to go wash my mouth out with some of my sweet tea from all that baby food and juice haha.

Then David came and sat by me and we opened presents since our little one can't reach through my tummy and open them on his/her own yet.  Baby was given so much neat / useful stuff!  Some of it was from the registry, and some of it was "from" the registry found elsewhere, and some of it was just neat stuff that we didn't register for! :)  Baby is already so blessed, and not even born!  They gave us several cute outfits, hats, mittens, blankets (one homemade swaddler, and a stroller blanket, too!), an umbrella stroller for when baby's bigger, lots of books - a set of Planes board books that Papa already read - a whale bathtub we had on the registry, some diapers, wipes, and wash / lotion, ...

All we really need is our stroller/carseat combo - this one - to take baby home. . . since we have a Pack 'N Play already, but we'd like a crib, mattress, and changing dresser, as well. ...   We're well on the way to purchasing our travel system with gift cards from baby's fans :)
We're so grateful that so many people have been praying for us and gifting us with things for this little one. God truly is good, and we want to remember that to tell our little squishy every day.

A "little" delay

So I've been playing catch-up with my temperature afghan...
February 16th we got a positive pregnancy test, had to wait almost a month for dating ultrasound, and found out on Saint Patrick's Day that our wee leprechaun is due on the 21st of October, give or take a few weeks.
I've had minimal morning sickness and very little weight gain (yay!) :)  pretty sure I've been able to feel baby since a little before 12 weeks.
We're going to try our hardest to wait until October to find out whether baby is a he or a she. :)
So that being said, I've been feeling a lot better and have more energy now (not as much as before, but getting there.... Hopefully, ha ha...) so I've been cranking out the days on my afghan, and it's so much fun seeing all the colors popping out.
Mad props to Weather Underground for having a weather history section for crazy pregnant ladies like myself who need to catch up on incredibly ambitious crochet projects :)

(repost from May 4th, 2008) - blessing #5 - babies

This past weekend I got to meet two new babies - my friend Tracie's baby Lucas (a month old), and the newest addition to Berean Baptist, John Gage - called "Gage" as, i guess, most of his dad's line of men are named John ____ and go by their middle name. Rather cool concept, if you ask me. 


   At -(one of my roomates)- Danielle's baby shower, Lucas was a darling most of the time I held him. We had fun... I put him on his stomach across my lap and he just chilled until his socks fell off.   It was great to see Danielle and Leonard again, and watch how excited they were to get ready for their baby and how loving they were towards each other.  It was also great to see Tracie and Lucas and how becoming a mommy has changed my friend for the better - someone as small as Lucas was, making such a difference in so many lives. 
   
And at church today I met Gage - the oldest looking newborn I've ever met. He had the aged, wise old man look to his face, which was intriguing to see on one so young. Not your ordinary chubby-cheeked baby-faced baby, but a young man in a baby's body.  Incredibly handsome, to say the least, and incredibly tiny.  And fashionable, in his little white knit cap. 


Both of these little men were fortunate enough to be born into families where God is honored and people have made the choice to serve the Master rather than the World... how many others have been born this year alone into families that are struggling to make ends meet or struggling with sin and its effects?  Pray for the babies you never meet - and the ones you do.  I've seen God work in so many lives, and I know for a fact not all of these lives started in homes where God reigned. 
I've also seen children that have been blessed with parents who "chose" (if you will) to follow Christ, only to run away from their Creator as soon as they leave home. 



I wish it weren't that way.  I need far more than both of my hands to keep a count of the people I know who've been entrusted with godly, loving parents only to turn their back on everything true and real.  



Choices, decisions, and heartbreak.  



"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. - Pr. 22:6

"If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselvesthis day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers servedbeyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  - Joshua 24:15


Something somewhere - most likely the nasty thing we know as sin - gets in the way of the "way he should go" and forces the people who were once babies to make a choice... a choice much like the ones made by the Israelites in Joshua's time.  God's side - the God who basically conquered the inhabitants of the land for the Israelites, or the world's side?

a choice that - when made - can set fire to the innocence of the babies we adore. 

One day, Lucas and Gage will have to choose. As must you and I.  Joshua commands his people to make their choices ASAP.  There is an urgency there, because innocence once lost is never again found in its entirety.  

Pray for these two new little men, and for the babies you meet or are planning on meeting - pray that God will allow them to make a choice for Him, and that their parents will lead them into the battle for truth.  

Pray for your own choices; pray that the choice you make every day will be to serve the God of Israel.  All other gods will fall before the true God, as will all who chose false gods... 

pray for innocence to return to our land.  Make choices that bring innocence back... see what He can do when you do. 


I hope this post was encouraging... and understandable.  It's just something I've had on my mind and I needed to share it.  


from my olde Xanga