Provision

I had the opportunity to teach the junior high AWANA lesson this past Sunday. We were studying Adam and Eve, and the kids took turns reading from Genesis 2 and 3 as I illustrated the scene on the white board and explained what was going on. One thing that struck me during the lesson was in Genesis 3:21 - "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Adam and Eve had just caused the entrance of sin into the world. God had to punish their disobedience. Yet in the midst of this, He made them garments of clothing. He took care of them. He provided. Not because they deserved it, but because He is God.

God provides for us in various ways, and I wonder how many times I just allow His provision to go by unnoticed...or to think in some way that I deserved it.

God has provided for us during this pregnancy in many ways:

1 - We actually are pregnant! He could have said "no" or "wait awhile", but He allowed this pregnancy at this time.

2 - We have been given many of the large baby items we need - for free! Through a move of Susan's neighbors and a visit from Tim's parents, we were given a stroller, baby carrier, several carseats, rocking chair, changing table, swing, high chair, bouncer, bassinet, baby clothes, sheets, stuffed animals, etc.

3 - I have been provided with everyday clothing! The pastor's wife at Mom and Dad Farley's church gave me her maternity clothes, and Heather loaned me hers. I have only had to purchase 2 pairs of capris and a few t-shirts!

4 - I have been provided with work clothes! Just as I am beginning to outgrow my scrubs, they are having a scrub sale at work. People are supposed to bring in their old scrubs and sell them for 5 dollars apiece. A friend of mine asked me to take some clothing in for her - but told me to go through it first and take out anything I could use. Now I am set for the rest of the pregnancy!

5 - We have had good health for Mom, Dad, and Baby. There has not been a discouraging doctor's visit yet!

God is good. All the time.

My prayer is that when life gets rough (as it is bound to)...when it's hard to see His provision...when it's difficult to praise Him...that we would still realize and be able to say, "God is good. All the time".

25 weeks

Look at Baby! My e-mail update states that "Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga." Not knowing what a rutabaga was, I did an image search on Google. Pretty!

24 weeks

Maybe I don't want to be pregnant for the rest of my life. Being able to eat just about anything I wanted to was fun while it lasted. I have new respect for those who live with heartburn (I feel you, Dad). It took about 4 days of having it to realize what it actually was. :) Now I'm learning what triggers it and how valuable it is to keep milk stocked in the fridge!!!

My belly button is disappearing, and it is becoming difficult (and painful) to bend over. What will the next 16 weeks bring? :)

The doctor's appointment Wednesday was fine. He measured my abdomen and said I am right on track. He has not mentioned anything about my weight gain, but I have been watching that myself and am happy to say that it is staying on track as well.

We had an all-church picnic yesterday. It was a lot of fun. Tim was in charge of games for the kids, and he had them playing Capture the Flag using water ballons rather than tagging each other out. I enjoyed watching from the shade. :) It was nice to just spend some time with everyone.

AWANA is going well - we had 12 junior highers last week, and everyone came again this week. They're a great group of kids, and we really enjoy working with them. The high school group is going well. We have a movie night planned at our house this Saturday for all of them. Woo!

We are looking forward to our trip to Ohio in just 3 weeks. Time is sure going quickly. We are excited to see everyone again! We miss you guys.

Finished Baby Quilts

The baby quilts I have been working on are finished. Bring on the baby! I don't claim to be an expert quilter, but it was fun.

The purple quilt is machine pieced. The quilting is done by hand - except the border, which is machine quilted - which happens to be very difficult! This was my first attempt at machine quilting, and I definitely need more practice.

The blue quilt is machine pieced, and all of the quilting is done by hand. This one has more quilting detail and took much longer to do. I actually began this as a gift for a nephew about 4 years ago. The quilt kept getting down-sized, until it became suitable only for a newborn. :)

If you click on the pictures, you will be able to see more detail - and mistakes. :)

23 weeks

We are getting to know a little bit more about Baby's personality. He or she is a typical little baby who loves to kick and do flips in the middle of the night - specifically between midnight and six am. He or she is also a trickster and likes to lay still whenever Daddy tries to say hi!

I have been trying to play the guitar more now that they say the baby is able to hear. A friend at work was telling me how her baby girl responds to the songs she sang when she was pregnant. I think it would be really neat if Tim and I are able to play music and see it have a calming effect on the baby once he or she is born. That's my little experiment.

We finished our registries at Babies R Us and Target. I'm enjoying just looking at baby stuff. We haven't really bought anything, but I love to just go browse...and I'm not usually a shopper...

I'm finishing up a girl baby quilt. I've had a boy one ready for awhile now, so Baby will have something handmade from me when he or she arrives. :) We are still trying to organize the house a little better to make space for this baby. :)

AWANA (our children's program) starts up at church tonight. We are switching from Wednesday nights to Sundays this year, so it will be interesting to see how many kids come to it. Tim and I are working with the junior highers again. High school youth group will continue to meet on Wednesday nights.

That's about it with us!