Answered Prayer, a Surprise Shower & 30 weeks...

Probably the most excited thing I have to report is an answer to prayer. At my 24 week ultrasound, we'd been told I'd probably have to have a c-section because of the position of the placenta. (gross word, I know) We started praying that God would move it! All it had to move was 1 centimeter. I mean, faith like a mustard seed can move a mountain, right? Well, at 28 weeks, it was so far out of the way, the doctor didn't even bother to tell us how much it had moved. It had become a non-issue. Praise God!!

Below is a picture of me taken today! It doesn't get more current than this. (at least for June 7) I'll be 30 weeks on Tuesday. I've started going for check-ups every other week, and we started our birthing class this last week. Very interesting! Life really is a miracle. Did you know that there are valves in a baby's heart that close and others that open when it takes it's first breath? Tell me how in the world that could have "evolved".




About a month ago, Derek and I took a trip to Texarkana and stopped in Tyler along the way. I spent the evening with my old co-workers from Mother Frances Hospital. Actually, co-workers is a really lame word for these ladies. They are dear friends and greatly missed by yours truly. I knew I was going to eat dinner with them, but when I walked in they had actually set up a surprise baby shower for me... cake, presents, green chili stew and all! We had a great night together. Below are some pictures from my first baby shower!



me & Joy



Deby's got some cake skills... how cute are the marshmallow booties!



lt to rt: Tami, Lauren, Joy, me, Jennifer, Deby, & Steph



Tami, me & Stephanie

Five Months...

I think I'm officially looking pregnant now. Which is nice since I haven't fit into any of my usual pants for weeks! I've felt like I should clarify - I'm not just gaining weight! Although, I have developed a sweet tooth that I have almost no control over! Maybe I'll get so burned out on sweets while I'm pregnant that later they'll just disgust me! Probably not, though.

Here are a few pictures of me at 5 months... no big deal for people who see me everyday, but I thought out of town family might enjoy them!










These are a couple of girls from our church taken at Sheryl's baby shower (the one on the left). Sheryl is due in June, I'm in August, and Kristen (on the right) is due in July.

Baby Hall

Up until yesterday, I thought if you'd seen one sonogram picture, you'd seen them all. But there's something completely different about looking at your own baby! I'm 12 weeks pregnant now, but there's still not much outward evidence of that. All my clothes still fit (which is a good thing) and I haven't really gained any weight (yet!)... I can tell something's not normal, and I'll spare the details here. But seeing that baby on the screen yesterday with arms and legs and a nose and a heart just fluttering away... WOW! It is amazing how much has been going on these past 12 weeks!

It's moving around in there, scratching it's face, and kicking it's legs. Derek was pretty excited about how much it was moving around. See, Derek is a fidgeter. (If that's even a word.) He took all the movement as evidence that this child was definitely his!

I'm still a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. We just feel blessed! So here's a few of the pictures. It's now the size of a lime, and the baby e-mail I get tells me it will soon start opening and closing its fingers.



Full body... legs and all. You can even see the umbilical cord!



It's legs are curled up and you're looking down at the top of it's head.


A profile shot... I know it's precious!

China

Where to begin... I love China. I also love Africa, though. Maybe it's just the chance to get out of my little world in the U.S.A. I'm fascinated by other cultures and languages. I love seeing how people live on the other side of the world. I could probably write pages on my experience in China, but few would read it. So, I'll just share lots of pictures. Enjoy!

This was one of our last lunches in China. We spent time praying for the wives who are living and serving in China. It was a beautiful time and meant a lot to these women.

The best thing we did in China was spend time encouraging and loving on a family our church supports. They've been there 7 years, and we were the first group of people to come and visit them. 

Casey & Mandi

Boston & Hudson

Millie, Emma, and Matt (our Outreach pastor)

dinner at Casey and Mandi's apartment

Yes, that's right. I'm eating rice with chopsticks... I know, you're impressed. 

(Just don't pay any attention to how messy the table is around my bowl.)

Jelyn, Menu, and Jamie... Menu (said with the accent on the u) was a woman we met at Saturday morning soccer. She lives in China because of her husband's job. She is originally from India, but had actually lived in Austin for a little while. (How crazy is that! small world... )

This woman is a nun at Wenshu Monastery, a Buddhist temple in China. A small group of us spent time walking through the temple and praying for the One True God to reveal Himself to these worshippers of Buddha.

Food offered to idols. We were told that eating these apples offered to Buddha would bring luck. These are a couple of girls of one of the families we spent time with. You can tell they are not too excited about this "privilege".

outside the temple... this man had fought with Americans in one of the wars. Some of what he said I lost in translation.

A sampling of the food we ate. The food was spicy and delicious. All family style. 

Us with "The Cube". This was where Michael Phelps set all his records.

"The Bird's Nest"

We spent one afternoon with a separate ministry our church supports. I'll leave out names. Matt had just given them a pretty good sized check that they weren't expecting! I could say a lot about this afternoon, but this is not the place. I will say that the time spent talking with these Chinese believers was one of the highlights of our trip. They have counted the cost and are passionate followers of Jesus Christ.

I think this says it all...

the Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

one more inside the Forbidden City

It's all just stuff

Have you ever felt like God shows you something in your life and no matter what you do He won't let you forget about it? I have felt that way for about the past two months in regards to giving and the poor and needy. There is a haunting in my heart that I need to be doing more for the poor and desolate of this world. The problem is I live in America where it is so easy for me to forget about those in need, or I can just change the channel when "those" commercials come on. But God, in His grace, is refusing to let me forget it. Yesterday I was listening to a sermon by Dr. David Platt, I would highly recommend it, you can find it on iTunes. In it he talked about the amount of Scripture God devotes to talking about the poor. Here are just a sampling of ones he highlighted and some others I have found:

Duet. 15:7-14 "You shall not shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him...Therefore I command you, "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land."

1 Sam. 2:8 "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap."

Prov. 14:21 "Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor."

Ps. 112:9 "He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor."

Prov. 21:13 "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be answered."

Is. 61:1 "...to bring good news to the poor."

Ez. 16:49  what was the great sin of Sodom? "she had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy."

Luke 4:16 Jesus came to earth, "to proclaim good news to the poor."

Luke 16:19-31 the rich man is sent to Hell because he refused to care for the poor (he was sent to hell because he didn't trust in Christ, which is evidenced by the fact that he didn't care for the poor)

Matt. 25:31-46 the parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus knows those who are his by their reaction to and giving to the poor. Those who turn a blind eye and do not give are not followers of Christ and are sent to eternal punishment.

I could go on and on with verses of Scripture about God's call to us for the poor. I think the passage that haunts me the most is Matt. 25. I look at my life and wonder what God would think of all my stuff. I am secure in the fact of my salvation. I know I don't earn his favor and forgiveness by doing things, but the evidence of that salvation must be apparent. I am praying more and more for God to take my love of things away. That he would continue to awaken in me a deep longing to give to the poor and needy. Because all my stuff is not worth comparing to Christ.