{Five Minute Friday: Willing}

It's Friday.  So, I will write. It's been a while.  But, that's ok. Five minutes. No starting and stopping. No editing. Just writing. You want to join me?  I'd thought you'd never ask! Here's where you can find out how to join me (and lots of others). And, go.

Willing.  That’s the word.

Being willing, in my mind, has everything to do with surrender.  It’s submission. It’s letting go. It means being willing to lose my life for Him so that I can find it in Him. It means living with open hands and an open heart.

Willing.

Willing to be bold. Willing to be courageous. Willing to be obedient. Willing to love extravagantly. Willing to be generous. Willing to believe. Willing to trust. Willing to be His. All His.

The good news: If I am willing, then so is He.  He’s more than willing. He never asked anything more of me than for me to be willing. 

And, I am. I am willing to lay my heart and my life wide open in His hands so that He can  do with me what He will.

Stop.

{Random Updates & Merry Christmas!}

It's been a few weeks. I just spent the last 4 minutes staring at the blinking cursor on the screen wondering where to begin. My thoughts are jumbled, which seems to be my normal state of being for the moment. Today I'm writing from the Guest Library at the Staybridge Suites.

By Library, I mean this. . .

Guest Library

Another guest just walked into the Library and said to her daughter, "There is supposed to be a library, I don't see it." I couldn't bring myself to tell them! It's a nice change of scene, anyway.

We're inching closer to being into our new home. Woo-hoo! We went yesterday for a final walk-through.

We did get another big item checked off our to-do list when we purchased a mini-van last week. That's right. A mini-van. Brian has affectionately named her the Jones Family Spaceship. We are still learning where all the buttons and switches are. It has automatic doors on the sides that open with the push of a button. What we didn't know is that the van has to be in park and of course, the doors have to be unlocked! The first morning in carpool was interesting. Lots of beeping. A little embarrassment for our poor 5th grader. It went a little more smoothly in afternoon carpool. But, sometimes we still forget. The kids stand outside the door yelling, "Park! Park! Put it in park!" We're having fun with it so far. The kids love it. It has plenty of space for Baby Girl. We are thankful for God's provision. It is more than we could have imagined. But, isn't that the way God does things. Yes, yes it is.

Family Date night was big fun last week. We went to the Paint Spot and painted some pottery. It's therapeutic! At least that is true for the grown-ups. Madeleine, who is showing signs of being a perfectionist and over-achiever, was taking her time with every brush stroke. She wasn't happy with her volleyball bank. William, who's been named the "best artist in his class," wondered why his Lightening McQueen bank didn't look as nice as our baby owl ornament. After a few minutes, they both settled down and were pleased enough to continue. By the end of the night, there were huge splatters of paint on me, William and the wall behind us. William was shaking his bright red paint bottle with the lid open. Yikes!

Family Date Night

Finished Product

This week, Madeleine and William went to a class just for big brothers and sisters-to-be. They learned about changing diapers, swaddling the baby, and holding the baby. All the kids sat in a circle and talked about what babies do when they come home. It was big fun. It won't be long now. They are going to be fabulous. I love our little family.

We are 32 weeks, which is the beginning of the 8th month. Things have gotten a bit complicated because my glucose tolerance test came back high, which means gestational diabetes. For the rest of the pregnancy, I'll be treated as a diabetic complete with finger pricks and careful monitoring. It seems I won't have to take insulin, but will rather be able to control my blood sugar by adjusting diet and exercise. We'll do Biophysical Profiles each week to keep an eye on Baby Girl's growth (gestational diabetes can mean really big, difficult to deliver babies) and amniotic fluid levels. Next week, we have three doctor appointments. Three. It's no fun being labeled "high risk." Sigh.

The last report was excellent. Baby Girl looks wonderful. She weighs about 4.3 lbs. We were able to see a few of the ultrasound images in 3D. That was so fascinating. It appeared that she was trying to get her foot in her mouth. She was pulling her toes up to her mouth with her little hand. The tech commented that she was quite an acrobat. You don't have to tell me that, right!? She likes to use my bladder and my ribs as props! We'll have 2 more ultrasounds next week and a regular check-up.

Looks like we'll be spending Christmas morning in the Staybridge Suites, unless there is divine intervention. (Which is possible!) We finally decided we'd go and get a small Christmas tree. Presents are yet to be wrapped. I keep telling myself I still have time! Take a look at our little tree...precious, isn't it? :)

Our Little Tree

The kids are convinced it will be fun to have to Christmas here...they almost have me convinced. Almost.

Please pray for us. We are growing a bit tired and weary. We are thankful for reminders along the way that the details of our life and our circumstance do not escape the watchful eye of Him who holds the whole world in His hands. Sigh. (Of relief.)

Merry Christmas. Blessings to you as you celebrate the Hope of the World. Baby King Jesus.

{92 Days}

Brian and I have a couple of those cool pregnancy apps for our iphones. They’ve been fun. Today, however, I opened one up and read “92 more days to go!” Ummm...what’s that now?

I must confess. I freaked out.

Between moving (twice), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s there won’t be much time to blink before the beginning of February is staring us in the face! Never mind that I have been known to deliver anywhere between 37 and 38 weeks in previous pregnancies. That puts us in the middle of January! The MIDDLE OF JANUARY! There is still so much to do. That might be an understatment. We haven’t done anything!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Moving on.

We’re 27 weeks along. Our next appointment is November 22. After that, we will likely start going to the doctor every 2-3 weeks. We’ve taken one of our first prenatal classes. That was fun! Brian was paying close attention. I was overwhelmed and suddenly panicky as the nurse covered the labor and delivery process. Suddenly, I had vivid memories. I kept thinking, “Oh yeah, I hate that part!” or “Oh, right. That part HURT!” and even, “I don’t think I can do this again!” Shameful, I know. Brian, being the encourager that he is, gently reminded me that I’ve done this four times. He says it’ll be a breeze! He’s my biggest fan! Our birthing class will be in the beginning of January. That’s bound to provide plenty of opportunities for a good laugh and even more opportunities for sheer panic! Big fun!

We still haven’t settled on her first name. Only a couple names from the original list actually made it to the final list. Some of our favorite possibilities are new additions to the list! We have a short list for her middle name, also. Here is that list: Claire, Dawn (my middle name), Faith, or Christine (after my grandmother on my Dad’s side). That list was easy! Looks like we will take our list with us to the hospital and name her when we meet her. That is, if I can keep the planner in me at rest until then! Luckily, we have plenty of other plans to make!

Speaking of plans, there are a lot of other things happening around here at the moment. I’ll have to save those updates for a separate post. Thanks for reading!