Grateful Acres

...aren't these boys precious? This was taken Easter morning- the day we CELEBRATE that God gave up his child for us. I feel it's time to post again. Thursday of this week we have another detailed ultrasound with a specialist. We will be going back to the same office where the Doctors confirmed our daughter's deformities, and told us to go home and wait for her to die. These are the Doctors that we spoke boldly to, of our God- the creator of life, giver of children, our purpose, our hope. When I left that office 6 weeks ago, it was my prayer that when I returned, it would either be to prove a miracle, or to rejoice in the gift of another child, growing healthy. I didn't expect to make it this far with little Evelyn, given what they told us before. I don't think they expected to see us back in 6 weeks, either. I intend to continue proclaiming my God to these Doctors, and Thursday I will get another chance to, even in the midst of pain. Pray that the words out of

Many of my posts lately have been quite serious, heavy material. Today, I'd like to write about a few little bright spots! Friday night Josh and I went out to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! What a privilege to have a man that is fully committed to standing by my side for life! We went to my favorite restaurant (Chang's Mongolian Grill!!), and then sat next to eachother in comfy arm chairs at Barnes and Noble, and read. I'm so excited to grow old with this man :) Today we piled into Josh's 1963 Dodge Dart, and had a picnic at the river! As we were driving I thought of the families that must've done the same thing in that car over the years... so cool. The boys love riding in it (Henry relaxed so much that he fell asleep on the way there!), and they had oh, so much fun stomping in puddles, and playing with rocks and sticks at the park. Good, good memories were created today. The pictures above are not necessarily in order: One of the Dart this summer (I forg

** The Dutch Bro's pictures have nothing to do with this post... Josh and I just decided to treat them the other day, and they looked so cute! -they also had both downed their Cocoa before our Coffee had cooled enough to sip! Moving on: ...out of the mouth of babes... I've previously mentioned Jonathan's sweet attempts at avoiding bedtime by tugging on my heart strings. Well, he tried his hand at it again tonight- rather successfully! He started with, "I could play wis your hair Mommy?" ..."and listen ta music?" During which he softly whispered over and over, "I like Mommy, I like Mommy..." and at my reluctant mention of the pending bedtime, he whips out a new one: " I could read the Jesus book, Mommy?" Yup. We can read the Jesus book :) I remember my "Bible in pictures for little eyes" book from when I was little- mine is now leaning toward 'retro', and has lots of tape on it- but the same words-for-kids, and the s

Thank you for walking alongside us, and for deeply crying out to God on our behalf. Tonight Josh and I held eachother with shaking arms, unable to breathe in our pain, with hot tears and groanings, deeper than we ever have. God is walking closely with us, teaching us, holding us. Thank you for being part of that. I can still feel little Evelyn Rose, she is still alive and moving- a continued miracle. As I sat down to pass on a little of this to some of you, here in the wee hours of the morning... in my husband's big sweatshirt, still wiping tears and snot on his sleeves (hope he doesn't mind... I'll just wash this sweatshirt before I give it back to him :) ), I had a photo file open on my desktop. I saw sweet little faces. Sweet, perfect little faces. What a joy and a privilege to raise two wild, wonderful boys. They are turning into such buddies, learning to appreciate eachother and play together instead of fighting, pushing, crying. They are innocent, energetic, curiou

I don't raise my hands in church. I grew up super conservative, it's not my personality, and I haven't really budged about it. Today during music/prayer we were asked to raise our hands if we needed God's touch: healing, a miracle... (Oh! me!) The music was still playing during all this, I had Henry on one hip which left one free hand. Up it went. I need healing, God's touch, a miracle! And I want it so badly! Most people only left their hands up for a moment or two, and then carried on with the music, but in my heart I felt like leaving it up ALL DAY, EVERYWHERE I GO, until God shows me somehow that He sees my hand raised! (like in school, when the teacher says, "yes, Johnny?") My hand raised wasn't at hip level- kinda low so no one would notice, but enough to be cooperating. My hand was high over my head, with my face tipped down, hiding under the shadow of my arm, hiding my tears. My husband wrapped his strong hand around my arm in silent agreemen

...I'm not planning on posting every day. I just don't have the time. BUT- my husband has whisked away our sweet little boys, and left me with quiet time alone with God and Evelyn- with coffee. :) Dear sweet Evelyn Rose- Today you went with me to the zoo. I know you didn't see any of it, but the sun felt good on my skin, and both your brothers (and friends!) seemed to have a great time! I re-connected with a friend today that I met almost 10 years ago! She's one of those women full of goodness, gentleness- full to the brim! You'll get to meet her someday, too, for sure. Last night our small group prayed over you and sang for you. Could you hear my voice? I sang with all I could, knowing you would feel the vibrations, hoping they would be comforting to you. Everyone's prayers felt good to my spirit. One woman thanked God for the sweet aroma you have given us already. It's so perfect that your middle name is Rose, because you really do give off a sweet fragr