Round 2

It's been a year and a half since my last post so it's reasonable to assume that not a single person will read this. But just in case, I thought I'd give a little update as we wait in Labor and Delivery Room 3 for the arrival of our second child. We got here at 9 pm last night and got settled in, and as of the last check about 30 minutes ago, Em was dilated to 6cm. Em's parents and sister are here and Abbott is at school. We are gonna get her early so she can be here to experience the excitement. She has been so excited about becoming a big sister and we've tried to talk to her about all this as much as possible. I think she understands that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy and that today it is coming out, but I don't know if she understands that it is permanent! We'll find out soon enough.

Many of you know that the last 2 years have been rocky for us. But we believe that God has allowed us to endure some of the things we have in order that we would draw closer to Him by having faith that our circumstances do not define us. I don't know that this is something many people can understand outside of a relationship with Christ and an understanding of the gospel. We belong to a church family that has Christ-centered community at its heart and we have experienced it first hand. Em has been on bed rest/house arrest since the beginning of July and we have had dinner provided for us literally almost every night since then. From transportation to baby-sitting, we have not had to worry about arrangements for Abbott one time. The amount of phone calls, texts, emails, and prayers in the past weeks, months, and particularly the last 24 hours, not to mention the amount of love, support, and prayer through two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy is hard to explain and absolutely overwhelming. And honestly, I don't know how we would have done it on our own. 

If our circumstances determine who we are, much less the reality of a loving God, then where do we put our hope when things go bad, as they so often do? We have been richly blessed in so many ways, even through strife. And here we are with our second daughter moments away from being born. Our hope and prayer is that through our sufferings and our rejoicing, our good times and bad, and our stumblings and strivings, we will love, serve, and do life with others by faith and in hope of things to come. If you read this, thanks for taking the time. We love you all and are thankful for all of you. We'll keep you updated when Hannah gets here.