Giving Thanks For All My Blessings

“... I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20-21

This Thanksgiving, our hearts are overwhelmed with blessings.  Three years ago, I thought that the struggles and hardships of our new life would drown out and suffocate any blessing we had to be thankful for.  

Praise God I was wrong!  

Praise God for His grace!  

Praise God for my multitude of blessings!

You see, when God gave us Jude, He gave us a very precious gift.  Because we have walked down this path, we have been given the vision to see how beautiful the small joys in life can be.  This gift of insight has also allowed us to focus on our blessings instead of dwelling in our shortcomings and disappointments.

Another precious gift we have been given through our walk with Jude is the ability to live in the moment.

“To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--that is indeed a gift from God.  People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy.”

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

 I wasted so much time three years ago worrying over the future: the unseen, unknown, uncontrollable future.  I was missing beautiful moments in the present.  So I made a choice (yes, attitude is a choice) to live in the here and now.  Today is so good!  Why spoil it with worries over that uncontrollable future?  

And when that future day comes, God’s grace is there and his joy pours into that day as well as the days before.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Jude is a huge blessing to Lane and me as well as our families and even to the people who know him.  We are so proud of Jude and so thankful for our precious son!

However, there is one area of my life that I have had to struggle with:  the prospect of future children.  It has always been a desire of my heart to fill my home with children.

After learning that Jude’s genetic diagnosis was inherited from me, I painfully tried to accept the fact that Jude may be our only child.  I prayed and prayed on direction and guidance on this delicate matter.  

Yet my fear of having another stressful pregnancy followed by an intense year of hardships and a lifetime of adversity kept me from stepping out in faith.  At one depressing point, about a year ago, I had even let this circumstance become bigger than God.  Thankfully, my focus was returned to the Lord; and my joy was returned as well.  

The Lord has rewarded our faithfulness with another gift...

It should be here some time in July!

Lane and I were not sure if we should tell people yet with our history and our high risk situation...  the fact that I am even expecting is still sinking in!  We are praying for and claiming a healthy pregnancy and baby.   We decided that the more people praying for this baby and our family, the better!  So please remember us in your quiet time!

**I LOVE LOVE LOVE all your comments-- they make me feel so loved and encouraged!!




Happy Thanksgiving,
Lane, Angel, Jude, and Baby