doesn't that face break your heart?! it sure does mine. this post is for lydia to read when she gets older.
lydia,
your small belly is giving you fits. each time you eat, i can hear the gas rolling around in your stomach. we have talked with your doctor and have been giving you mylicon drops to help, but it doesn't do much good. your aunt mandy showed us a new way to hold you, which helps a little. you see, your cousin, caleigh, was a tough baby because she was extrememly colic. therefore, mandy has a few tricks up her sleeve ...thankfully!!
after looking on the internet and talking with different nurses, i have decided to give up dairy foods and spicy foods in hopes that this will settle your belly a little better. apparently, dairy and spices tend to upset babies stomachs. it could take up to two weeks to get all of that food out of my system. i am praying that this will help you. it makes me sad when you hurt and i can't do anything to help. i know that this is just the beginning of those feelings for me.
we are praying for you everyday!
love,
mom
WARNING! please pay attention to the title of this post. when i think about what i am about to write, i get weepy every time.
first, i must apologize. when i wrote the delivery story, i left an important fact out. the entire time we were at the hospital, it felt like a dream, so it's no wonder why i totally forgot to add this in.
yesterday at work, i was going back through my bookmarks on my youversion app. you can highlight verses in the Bible on that app. love it! i came across Ephesians 3:14-16. it says, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being."
this is the verse that kirk read over me and lydia each night before she arrived. each night before he and i went to sleep, he would get on his knees beside my hospital bed and read this verse. (enter weepiness).
we believe that the Bible is the very words of God, so we must seek to trust the words of scripture, for in doing so, we are seeking to trust God himself. we trusted that God had named our family and that he would strengthen lydia and myself with power through his Spirit.
i cannot believe that i left that out. it is so important! thankful to be married to a man who "washes me with the word."
mary and martha. two great women who loved Jesus. in Luke 10 they just had different ways of showing their love. martha opened her home. if she hadn't opened her home, mary wouldn't have had the opportunity to worship at the feet of Jesus. the problem that martha had the day that Jesus came to her house was that she allowed house work and other things to distract her from the One who deserved her full attention.
kirk spoke from John 12 (story of mary and martha) this past week with GCC and then my devotional today was about it as well. maybe the Holy Spirit is trying to show me something.
beth moore in her devotional book of Jesus the One and Only states that, "ministry is often the biggest distraction to the pursuit of true intimacy with God." wow! that is me! too often do i justify not spending intimate time with Jesus with the fact that i am a church planter's wife. i mean, my husband is a pastor. we are constantly doing ministry. instead of justifying not being intimate with my Savior, the fact that we do "ministry" all the time, should push me to spend more time alone with Him. if i am close with Him (worshipping at His feet like mary), it will be easier to encourage others to do the same. a quote from kirk's message sunday was, "when we extravagantly worship King Jesus, it encourages others to do the same."
my prayer this week is that i will be more like mary. that i will still prepare like martha, but when the time comes to spend time with Jesus, that He would be my main focus. "keep the pre in preparation." that is another quote from beth moore.
3 months. when people say "don't blink," they aren't kidding. since we arrived home from the hospital, i feel like the time has flown. our lives picked back up where they left off, we just added a munchkin into the mix.
what has been happening this last month? a lot! kirk has begun the deacon process at GCC. that means that he is coaching eight people thru this season. i have begun my full schedule back at the salon. i am working three days a week, while other people get to love on lydia. kirk stays home with her on tuesday evenings. hannah gets to cuddle her on thursdays. my mom (nonnie) and kirk's mom (granny) switch off every other saturday. we are blessed to have people that love her and are itching to keep her for a little bit.
what advances has lydia made this month? she is smiling, cooing, and her dad is proud to say she passes gas like a man. however, the passing gas equals a tummy ache. which is so sad. the tummy aches bring out my emotions and kirk's patience. he is so patient...with both of us. i love that man!
here is a photo collage of some of the pictures taken this last month. enjoy!
a fellow blogger that i follow has started a photo blog post on the first of every month. it sounded like a lot of fun, so i joined in this month. hopefully, i can continue in the months to come. hope you enjoy our "first day" this month!
