National Infertility Week

This is National Infertility Week so I thought I would share our story.  (men might not want to read this post)

Tim and I were married while going to college.  We both wanted to have children but were okay with waiting a while.  We decided that the best form of birth control for us would be me taking the pill.  Well after several months we decided that my body did not like this and chose to use other forms. 

After about three years of marriage and me graduating from college we decided we would really actively start trying to make this baby thing happen.  We realized because of some of my hormone issues this was not going to be an easy road.  I don't really remember how long we did each step but what I do remember is thinking that this might never happen.

I started at first just taking hormone pills.  Let's just say during this time I might have been a little hormonal, to say the least.  lol  Poor Tim.  I remember standing outside on our back porch just crying and Tim would ask me what is wrong and I couldn't tell him.  I think my exact words were "leave me alone, I don't know why I am crying" in the nicest way possible of course.  Being infertile and taking hormones is extremely hard on a marriage even one that is a strong one. 

After about a year of just taking oral medication I started taking shots also.  If I thought I was emotional with the oral medication this only got worse when taking the shots.  I can't really remember how long I took the shots for but they didn't seem to get the job done either.  I won't go through what all Tim had to do during this time because everyone knows that dads don't want to discuss it.  Anyway, lets just say that it wasn't easy for him either. 

At this point our doctor suggested AI which is artificial insemination.  Just encase you didn't know.  So now I am taking pills, a shot and then at just the right time they would perform an AI.  I think the first two times this didn't work.  I remember having people pray for me at the exact time the procedure was going to happen.  I have to give a shout out to my doctors at this point.  I remember the right time was on a Saturday one month and he came in when the clinic was closed to do the procedure.  Thanks Dr. Bailey

In December of 2000 we were going to celebrate our five year anniversary in Hawaii.  This was before we had children and therefore had a little money.  Since I wanted to be semi normal, really who is totally normal, during our trip we decided we would take the month off of any drugs or procedures and we would start back up in January.  This was the best decision ever.  I think it is what my body needed.  In January of 2001 I took the pills, the shot, received an AI and God decided to grant our desires to have a child. 

I distinctively remember during this time a devotion I had.  I was setting on the couch reading the story of Hannah.  Which by the way I love this story.  This story hits home with anybody that has infertility.  I remember praying to God and asking why, why won't you give us a child.  I remember promising if he would just give us a child that we would raise him in the church and at this point I felt like the Lord spoke directly to me.  He said it is going to happen.  After the years of pleading and begging God decided that he would give us the desires of our hearts.

Now that desire is a whopping 8 years old.  God in all of his wisdom knew exactly what we needed and the timing of when it needed to take place.

Noah

Three years later God decided to give us another gift without us evening trying.  God is good.

Andrew

Five years later God decided to give us another gift while we were trying to prevent it.  God is really good all the time.

Titus

Your way is holy! No god is great like God! You're the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do

I was reading Psalms 77 this morning.  1 I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens. 2 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal. When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right," I didn't believe a word they said. 3 I remember God - and shake my head. I bow my head - then wring my hands. 4 I'm awake all night - not a wink of sleep; I can't even say what's bothering me. 5 I go over the days one by one, I ponder the years gone by. 6 I strum my lute all through the night, wondering how to get my life together. 7 Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good? Will he never smile again? 8 Is his love worn threadbare? Has his salvation promise burned out? 9 Has God forgotten his manners? Has he angrily stalked off and left us? 10 "Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business just the moment I need him." 11 Once again I'll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; 12 I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. 13 O God! Your way is holy! No god is great like God! 14 You're the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do - 15 You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble, rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Getting to Know You

Well another blogger did a post about "getting to know you "  so I thought I would give it a try.  I am going to try to post 10 things that many people would not know about me.

1.  It took me two tries to pass the CPA exam.  Hey I passed and that is all that matters right.

2.  I played volleyball in a private school before I moved in the 10th grade.  And I was actually pretty good at it.  Hard to believe huh.

3.  I started dating my husband in the 11th grade and I am 1.5 years older than him.  I guess I liked them young.  He was just so dang cute.

4.  I played basketball while in high school which I wasn't any good at, but I did make 9 points in one game.  Sheer luck.  My high school team one the state championship when I was in 10th grade.  The only reason I played was because my parents wouldn't let me be a cheerleader.

5.  I can't stand for my nose to be touched by anyone or anything. 

6.  Before I got married I said I would have six kids.  What was I thinking.

7.  I wear the same pair of earrings all the time.  I never take them out.

8.  I never, ever read a book twice except for the Bible.

9.  I would rather have imitation blueberry muffins than real blueberry's.  Tim thought of this one.

10.  Peppermint makes me sneeze.  Three sneezes to be exact.

Teaching Moments

This past week we had a few teaching moments:

I called my dad early on Monday morning and he informed me that he was fixing to head out on horseback to look for a 3 1/2 year boy with autism that had been missing since the night before near where they live.  The child's mother and I played ball together in high school.  We immediately started to pray for the boy, his family and all those who were searching.  Later that afternoon I got the call that they had found the little boy's body in the creek a little ways from the house.   My heart hurts so much for this family.  One of my first thoughts was how am I going to explain this to the boys.  We had all been praying for them.  How would they understand that God in his sovereignty allowed this to happen when I don't?  Anyway since the boys were praying for him at supper time I decided to let them know what had happened.  It was hard to explain that sometimes we just can't understand why God allows things to happen.  Noah's comment was something to the effect that he won't be scared when he gets to heaven.  We had mentioned while praying for him, that he wouldn't be scared in the woods by himself.  That evening when we were saying our prayers before bed this was Andrew's prayer "Please help the little boy to feel better when he gets to heaven and that he won't be scared of drowning anymore"  Andrew is so matter of fact.  It made me think that if we as sinful people could only get a glimpse of the greatness of heaven we would not be sad, maybe a little lonely, but we would never wish them back.

Later that day I found out that some of our friends little boys had broken his leg and would be in a cast up to his waist for six weeks.  Of course Andrew put him on his prayer list immediately.  Oh, I hope he keeps his passion for praying for the sick. 

 We got a small goody basket for him.  Andrew was sure that he would want a few men to play with and some cars.

I talked to Noah and asked him if he knew why we were going to do this.  We talked about having compassion for others and wanting to encourage others.  It is amazing at the opportunities we have everyday to teach our children.  It could even be from a little goodies basket.

What is God Up To.

I am such a planner.  I like everything in order and know how the day should play out.  Well God doesn't seem to want to work around my schedule and my plans.  He seems to have his own and He is wanting me to just follow. 

Last week was hard.  It started out with some uncomfortable discussions with people and then went down hill from there.  I really wanted God to see my point of view on some things and He just kept on saying your problems are so petty.  Really God they are huge just look what is going on.  No Bekah they are definitely petty (in his big God voice).  A little boy that we go to church with broke his leg and will be in cast for six weeks up to his waste.   Okay God my issues are a little petty.  A girl that Tim and I went to school with lost her 3.5 year old son in a accident.  (please pray for this family)  Okay God, you are right my issues are a lot petty. 

So while I was praying for direction in my petty situation God wouldn't give me a peace.  I knew what I wanted to do.  Throw up my hands and quit.  Really I have a very good excuse.  I am tired of having to work at being nice.  God wouldn't allow it.  My prayers went something like this.... God don't you think this would be best. ( I wanted to make Him think it was His idea...Oh how God must laugh at me)  How can I be who you want me to be in this conflict.  This situation will not be improving anytime in the near future.  I like things a certain way,  have I ever mentioned that I am a little OCD about things being correct.  What I don't understand is why it doesn't bother everyone else for something to be wrong.  lol  Anyway, I prayed and prayed for peace in backing off of some situations.  Yesterday God showed me that he knew some events were going to take place that I would be needed to stay where I was at.  You would think that God knows the future or something like that. lol

Anyway I read a post today about praying to God.  This child wanted to pray a 1000 times for God to do something instead of praying for peace or resting in His sovereignty.  I might have been a little bit convicted at this point.  Just a little.... okay maybe a lot.    God knows my heart,  he knows my inmost desires.  Was it useless for me to continually tell God how I wanted things to be?  Oh he wants me to communicate with him but I bet He remembers what I have said without me having to repeat myself.  Now if I could only remember that God can work things out with out my help or my pleading.  He is just God like that.

My New Babysitter

I wanted to get the yard mowed during the day so I payed Andrew to play with Ti.  I am not above bribery.

We thought it was a little safer for him to set in the floor of the jeep instead of on the seat.

This actually kept everyone entertained for quiet a while.

Ti - 13 Months - 14 months

I know I am a little late with this but wanted to be able to keep up with it somewhere.

Ti went for his one year check up when he was about 13 months.  Just a little late.  He was in about the 50 percentile on everything.  He weighed a little over 22lbs. 

At 14 months you are still not walking but you are getting really close.  You sleep through the night most of the time.  You don't have a bottle any longer and will eat about anything.  You love peas and carrots the best.  You know the sign language for more and are constantly using it when ever you want more to eat. You love to throw your food off your tray.  You think it is quite funny.   We are trying to lay you down awake for your naps and at bed time. Sometimes you will go right to sleep other times not so much.  You are saying words like mama, dada, thank you, and cracker.  You are the sweetest thing ever.  You are learning new things all the time.  One of your favorite things right now is to go outside.  You also like to jump on the trampoline.  You are starting to cry when your daddy leaves you in the nursery at church but it only lasts a second.  You still only have four teeth.  You usually greet us each morning with a dirty diaper.  Your brother, Noah, usually gets you out of your bed each morning.   You love to play with both of your brothers and they are usually very patient with you with such things as turning off the TV or Video Game.  You are wearing 18 to 24 month clothing and size 4 diapers. 

We all love you so much and don't know what we ever did for entertainment without you.

Awana Games 2010

We went with our Awana club to the Sparksarama at Immanuel Baptist Church in Rogers.  The kids had a great time.

This was before the bean bag race.  Noah was giving the other boys on how exactly he needed to hold his head so that he could both run fast and keep the bean bag up there.

Noah is serious about any game that he plays.  He wants to win.

They did win this race.

Andrew got to play also even though he is not in Sparks yet.  He met the age requirement and they needed some extra players.

Ti enjoyed cheering for his brothers.

They made posters and cheered for the older team from our church when they weren't competing.

They ranked in third place which I thought was great since this was the first year they had ever competed.  I think the kids had a great time.  I hope my kids get to always be involved in Awana.  They learn so much and there is no other program that I have been involved in that focuses so much on presenting the Gospel and hiding God' word in their heart.  I HEART AWANA even if it is a lot of work.  It is well worth the effort when you see the children come to know Christ.

D-Now Part 3

I saved the most important post till last.  I am sure you are on the edge of your seat thinking what this could be about.

Worship and the Preaching

I was only in on one of the preaching times.  He spoke about being a Christian everyday all the time.  You can't be ashamed.  He did a great job and I think the kids probably got a lot out of it.

Here is the band.  They did an excellent job.  They were a much higher quality than I was expecting at the event.  Scottie had said that they were good and he was right.  I would have liked to gotten a CD but they didn't have any.

The kids loved this one song with the motions "O happy day". 

I guess the one thing that impressed me the most out of the whole weekend is to see teenage boys worshiping God with their hands raised high. 

At what age does the loud music start bothering you instead of it being cool. I think I am getting old..boohoohoo

One good thing about loud music....I loved that I could sing as loud as I wanted and no one could really hear me.

I am glad I got to be apart of this weekend.  Hopefully we will see the fruits of this conference for months and years to come. 

 

D-Now - Part 2

Here is the band hanging out for a while between services.  They were great.

Different women in the church made all the meals.  They put a lot of effort into making great meals.  They were much appreciated by the adults and kids a like. 

I LOVE the above and below pictures.

They played some games Saturday night.  All the kids had a lot of fun.

Wyatt won this game.  It was hilarious.  You put a step counter on your head.  You shake your head up and down for a minute and see who has the highest number on their stepper.  Like I said it was hilarious.

The adults got involved in the toilet paper game.

D-Now - Mission Project

During D-Now all the kids did different mission projects.  One of the projects was painting the old youth room area that we have turned into adult Sunday School classes.  They (about 20 kids) all worked really hard and we got a lot accomplished.

We need to give a BIG thank you to Tim and Kyle  for going over all the walls in the Sunday School Rooms.  The kids tried really hard but they needed a little help from the adults.

Don't they look happy to be painting.

D-Now = Stinky Boys

The boys that stayed in our home were all very well behaved.   They were great about doing their Bible study time. The only problem was when you got to close to the room where they were staying you started gagging because of the smell that was coming out the door.  Seriously I think I actually gagged once walking by to the office.   I guess this is what I have to look forward to when my boys get bigger.

The last night after requiring all shoes to be left  in the garage, a few showers, the window left open, febreeze the smell did get a little better.  Getting some of them to take a shower was like pulling teeth.  I had to threaten to hog tie a couple.  This can be one mean mommy if I have to be.  I was not going to take stinky boys to church with me.   No Way, No How   I was thinking by ninth grade you would want to smell better.  Obviously Not.

When they left on Sunday morning the boys were great about cleaning up the room and pulling all the sheets and blankets off the bed and taking them to the laundry room.  These boys would be welcome to come stay anytime.

D-Now

Every year for the last 4 or 5 years are church has put on a D-Now weekend for the youth.  We have had the priviledge of being a host home for about 4 years now, I think.  We get rid of our own kids for the weekend and take in about ten teenagers at our house.   I will confess I get a little stressed out before everyone gets here.  I want the house to be clean.  I am not for sure why since I am sure the kids don't notice if everything has been dusted and the floors are clean.  I even cleaned out my refrigerator this week.  I was so proud of myself.  Let just say we had to say goodbye to some stuff that had expired in 2008.  Obviously I don't look in the very back of the refrigerator very often. I could have been a little stressed knowing that my kids were going to be gone for two nights also.  I like everyone to be in their own beds at night.  I am weird like that.  Tim sinced my insanity and took off a half a day on Friday to help me get everything I needed to accomplished. 

As I write this we have a few on the trampoline and a few playing football.

 Hurray no fights yet.  I hear that ninth graders can try to punch each others teeth out and then be the best of friends the next day.  We have all boys this year and they are being nice, polite, active boys.   I gave them a few rules when they got here.  Keep food and drinks on the hard wood and don't get ice without washing your hands.  Any body that knows me would know that would be one of my rules lol  I made breakfast this morning of scrambled eggs, chocolate gravy, white gravy, biscquits and sausage.  I wasn't for sure how much to fix since my boys are so young but I guess I fixed enough because we had leftovers.  Last night we got back to the house around 10 and they did a couple of Bible studies and of course ate.  I had made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (our new favorite), rice crispy treats, and chips & dip.  Of course they enjoyed all this. Obviously food is a big part of a ninth grade boys life.   I can only imagine what my grocery bill will be when my kids are teenagers.  At 1AM this morning I had Tim go check on them and they were in the bedroom with the lights out watching Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.  lol They got up before us at 7AM.  These kids are going to be so tired by the end of the weekend.  We are fixing to head to the church for mission projects after lunch.