I am absolutely undone!! This morning I was reminded of a passion that was ignited in my heart 6 years ago when I went to Cambodia and Thailand for two months on outreach with Youth With A Mission. Before we left, we received cultural training and learned a little bit about FGM (female genital mutilation) and Child sex trafficking and exploitation. The statistics show that 2 children are sold to the sex trade every minute! Six years ago, I asked the Lord if He would not allow me to forget these little ones and the absolute wickedness that fuels this billion-dollar per year industry. He hasn't. The verse that He gave me six years is Isaiah 58:6-9...
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE YOUR REAR GUARD!
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say 'Here I am'."
Oh that He would set these captives free! I write this to ask you to partner with me in prayer for these little girls and boys and for the ministries and organizations in place to help rescue and rehabilitate victims of sex-trafficking. The website I found this morning is www.love146.com. They are a non-profit organization committed to this cause.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
11 weeks in
Here we are, new parents of the most beautiful, precious, funny, yummy, perfect baby ever and it's hard to remember what it was like not knowing Stella. Do we sound like every other new parent? I still cannot believe that she is coming up on the three month mark already. March 5th feels in many ways like just a few days ago. Her birthday is and will always be one of the most incredible days of our lives.
Thursday morning I awoke to a few strong Braxton Hicks contractions, but wasn't startled because I had been having them on and off for a few days. I got up and began to get ready noticing that they continued about every 10 minutes. I had passing thoughts that today could be the day, but didn't want to get hopes up so I didn't dwell on them for too long. Just in case, though I thought it would be a good idea to take a shower and get ready for my day. In the shower is when I began getting stronger contractions than I had before. With these I had to lean against the wall for balance as I waited for them to pass. I quickly got ready and headed downstairs with my notebook, pillow, and herbal eye pillow to have Seth begin recording time and length of contractions. We were both a little giddy, but still didn't want to get our hopes up. We watched sports center together (that was the day that Terrel Owens was released from the Cowboys) and I began to get increasingly irritated with noisy commercials. The sham-wow guy came on and I all but yelled at Seth to turn off the TV as a new and increasingly strong contraction was beginning. A few minutes later we had a visitor. It was Rosie Whitelock coming over from her Bible study to let us know jokingly that today would be a convenient day for us to have Stella because she was going to be out of town for the weekend. Seth told her that I was having some contractions and she came in to check on me. Both of us were still pretty unsure if I was in real labor. We had heard so many stories of couples driving to Gunnison and then turning right back around due to false labor. We didn't want to have to do that. Rosie watched as I concentrated through a 30 second contraction, by now they were 5 minutes apart consistently, and she very calmly suggested that we call the doctor just to confirm that we shouldn't come in yet. Later, Rosie told us that she was trying very hard to stay calm because having had 4 kids of her own she knew what real labor looked like and I was definitely experiencing real labor. She wasn't too thrilled about the idea of delivering Stella on the way to the hospital. Dr. Niccoli conformed Rosie's very wise intuition and we began the scramble of grabbing overnight bags, cell phones, and the car seat. Rosie rode with me and Seth in the car and David followed. Barreling down 149 at an average of 80 mph, Rosie continued to record my contractions and distract both of us with funny stories. I laughed between contractions. As we reached Blue Mesa, the contractions shortened to 2 minutes apart. That is when Seth kicked it into high gear, passing semis and running red lights. I was lying back in the seat with my herbal "eye pillow" on my face when this was happening, which saved me from the white knuckled stress that Rosie was experiencing in the back seat as Seth made record time to the hospital.
We arrived at Gunnison Valley Hospital at 1pm and checked in with the nurses at the ER desk. They asked if they could help us and I just smiled and said "I'm here to have a baby." The OB nurses told me I was way too happy, so I must not be that far into labor yet. To their surprise, I was already dilated to a 5. After getting to the hospital and out of the car, the contractions slowed down a bit and allowed me to walk the halls in my awkward, pink hospital gown. I held tight to Seth as we walked and talked and stopped to breathe through intensifying contractions. My Bradley Method coach and incredibly faithful friend, Jess made it to the hospital after getting our messages at the top of Monarch mountain. She said she skied down that mountain fasted than she ever has in her life. The next few hours are a blur of back labor, Seth faithfully massaging and not massaging as I commanded, Psalm 23 running through my mind, David's random encouragements from the hall, Jess counting down as I breathed through ever building contractions, and Rosie making us laugh between the painful moments of silence. Right before Dr. Niccoli broke my water and it was time to push, my body felt as though it could hardly take any more muscle wrenching contractions. During the last 45 minutes, my entire body shook uncontrollably as I tried to breathe and allow it to do what it needed to do. All I wanted was for Stella to come safely out and into my arms. At 5:23pm, after 4 sets of pushes, the first 2 very unproductive and the last 2 unbelievably painful, a beautiful, purple, slippery little Stella was placed on my chest as she let out her first cry. Seth stood beside me unable to hold back tears as he looked at his little girl for the first time. When they took Stella to the table to clean her up, Seth and I gazed at each other for what seemed like an hour, exchanging a look of thankfulness and unconditional love and respect.
The entire experience really can be summed up in one word, which just happens to be Stella's middle name: Grace. An incredibly enjoyable pregnancy, a quick and smooth labor, a healthy beautiful baby girl, and the beginning of an adventure that has and will only bring that much closer to the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Thursday morning I awoke to a few strong Braxton Hicks contractions, but wasn't startled because I had been having them on and off for a few days. I got up and began to get ready noticing that they continued about every 10 minutes. I had passing thoughts that today could be the day, but didn't want to get hopes up so I didn't dwell on them for too long. Just in case, though I thought it would be a good idea to take a shower and get ready for my day. In the shower is when I began getting stronger contractions than I had before. With these I had to lean against the wall for balance as I waited for them to pass. I quickly got ready and headed downstairs with my notebook, pillow, and herbal eye pillow to have Seth begin recording time and length of contractions. We were both a little giddy, but still didn't want to get our hopes up. We watched sports center together (that was the day that Terrel Owens was released from the Cowboys) and I began to get increasingly irritated with noisy commercials. The sham-wow guy came on and I all but yelled at Seth to turn off the TV as a new and increasingly strong contraction was beginning. A few minutes later we had a visitor. It was Rosie Whitelock coming over from her Bible study to let us know jokingly that today would be a convenient day for us to have Stella because she was going to be out of town for the weekend. Seth told her that I was having some contractions and she came in to check on me. Both of us were still pretty unsure if I was in real labor. We had heard so many stories of couples driving to Gunnison and then turning right back around due to false labor. We didn't want to have to do that. Rosie watched as I concentrated through a 30 second contraction, by now they were 5 minutes apart consistently, and she very calmly suggested that we call the doctor just to confirm that we shouldn't come in yet. Later, Rosie told us that she was trying very hard to stay calm because having had 4 kids of her own she knew what real labor looked like and I was definitely experiencing real labor. She wasn't too thrilled about the idea of delivering Stella on the way to the hospital. Dr. Niccoli conformed Rosie's very wise intuition and we began the scramble of grabbing overnight bags, cell phones, and the car seat. Rosie rode with me and Seth in the car and David followed. Barreling down 149 at an average of 80 mph, Rosie continued to record my contractions and distract both of us with funny stories. I laughed between contractions. As we reached Blue Mesa, the contractions shortened to 2 minutes apart. That is when Seth kicked it into high gear, passing semis and running red lights. I was lying back in the seat with my herbal "eye pillow" on my face when this was happening, which saved me from the white knuckled stress that Rosie was experiencing in the back seat as Seth made record time to the hospital.
We arrived at Gunnison Valley Hospital at 1pm and checked in with the nurses at the ER desk. They asked if they could help us and I just smiled and said "I'm here to have a baby." The OB nurses told me I was way too happy, so I must not be that far into labor yet. To their surprise, I was already dilated to a 5. After getting to the hospital and out of the car, the contractions slowed down a bit and allowed me to walk the halls in my awkward, pink hospital gown. I held tight to Seth as we walked and talked and stopped to breathe through intensifying contractions. My Bradley Method coach and incredibly faithful friend, Jess made it to the hospital after getting our messages at the top of Monarch mountain. She said she skied down that mountain fasted than she ever has in her life. The next few hours are a blur of back labor, Seth faithfully massaging and not massaging as I commanded, Psalm 23 running through my mind, David's random encouragements from the hall, Jess counting down as I breathed through ever building contractions, and Rosie making us laugh between the painful moments of silence. Right before Dr. Niccoli broke my water and it was time to push, my body felt as though it could hardly take any more muscle wrenching contractions. During the last 45 minutes, my entire body shook uncontrollably as I tried to breathe and allow it to do what it needed to do. All I wanted was for Stella to come safely out and into my arms. At 5:23pm, after 4 sets of pushes, the first 2 very unproductive and the last 2 unbelievably painful, a beautiful, purple, slippery little Stella was placed on my chest as she let out her first cry. Seth stood beside me unable to hold back tears as he looked at his little girl for the first time. When they took Stella to the table to clean her up, Seth and I gazed at each other for what seemed like an hour, exchanging a look of thankfulness and unconditional love and respect.
The entire experience really can be summed up in one word, which just happens to be Stella's middle name: Grace. An incredibly enjoyable pregnancy, a quick and smooth labor, a healthy beautiful baby girl, and the beginning of an adventure that has and will only bring that much closer to the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
anticipation...
WOW! It really has been a long time since we've updated this blog! I'm so sorry about that. As I was browsing through old pictures and deleting some to make room for new ones, it occurred to me how much really can happen in just two short years! When we packed the suburban in December of 2006 and started our journey, neither of us could have ever dreamed what God had in store for our new life here in Lake City. We have seen Him provide for us spiritually, emotionally, financially, and physically over and over again. And now, He is allowing us to experience the joy and privilege of bringing a new little life into the world. Right now, we are counting down three and a half more weeks until the arrival of Baby Stella :) In the midst of baby showers, nursery preparations, to-do lists, travel plans for family, date-nights, baby registries, youth events, and planning meetings, the overwhelming thought is that of incredible joy- that we will get to meet this baby soon!!
I have pondered so many spiritual parallels since first becoming pregnant.( I actually never thought pregnancy was all that weird until I had the chance to experience it!!) I am amazed that BILLIONS of women have done this and continue to do this all over the world. But, I know that every time a couple or an individual experiences the miracle of life it is a profoundly life-changing experience (well, for the majority it is.) What a testimony to our CREATOR!! Even though so much of Eve's curse in Genesis 3 has to do with the pain of bringing a child into the world, our God who is SOOO full of grace allows this experience to be one of the most satisfying a human being could ever imagine.
I'm sure that our next several blog entries will be about the ups and downs and revelations God reveals to us through having a child. I don't know what to expect of this next adventure... but I do know that He who breathed life into us to begin with, has more in store than we could ever dream :)
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