37 Weeks! (Warning: Long Post)

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant. Wow. The time has really gone fast. I could have the baby anytime now, although, I don’t really anticipate going into labor earlier than 39-40 weeks.

Still, it could happen…

Am I ready?

Well, it depends on how you define ‘ready’.

If you define ‘ready’ to mean having all the baby clothes and supplies, gear, etc that one would normally have ready before the impending birth of a baby, then, no, I would not say that I am ready. As of today, as far as clothes are concerned, I have one onesie and a few pairs of socks.

If you define ‘ready’ to mean having the basic equipment and supplies needed to have the baby, and some of the things needed for taking care of the baby, then, yes, I would say that I am ready. I have a wrap, cloth diapers, a few blankets, and a nursing pillow. What else do I really need?

Oh, yeah. Clothes.

Well, this is the way I see it. None of my kids have ever gone naked. I have always had what I needed. I will with this one, too. Whether that is through finding what I need myself or through the Lord getting things to me, I know that I will have what I need for this baby. I was thinking about this the other day, and as we are approaching the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I was thinking about how God’s Son came into the world.

Joseph and Mary were not rich. They were away from their family and friends at the time of the birth, and in a town that had no place for a lady in labor. I don’t get the idea that they had intended to have the baby in the stable. It sounds like they tried the inns and that is why it is recorded that there was no room for them.

My guess is that if the inns were full, the stable probably was too. And it was probably not all that private or quiet, either. I would think that there would be people in and out tending to their animals, or servants/slaves tending to the animals. Do you really think they were tip-toeing around? Maybe, maybe not.

Plus, can you imagine having a horse, donkey or camel watching you while you are in labor? Not that they would really get it, but I can just see a camel with a mouth full of hay, munching and swallowing,(and probably belching), and watching the proceedings in the stall or corner Mary and Joseph were finally able to secure.

Oh, and have you been out to a stable lately? It doesn’t smell all that pristine and sterile. Just the kind of place you’d expect to find the King of Kings being born…

They might have brought clothes with them, but it doesn’t sound like they had much to me. The bare minimum that they would need is probably all they had. Swaddling clothes are not a big part of the Western culture as far as baby care is concerned, but at that time they were used. After reading here and here, I don’t get the idea that they were very elaborate or would that it would take a lot to be able to quickly convert something into swaddling clothes.

I was looking at baby furniture catalogs the other day. I don’t know what options Mary would have had had she been in more ideal circumstances. But surely, even in that time, she would have preferred to have something a little more high class to be able to lay her Baby in.

(BTW, I wonder if this was anything close to the picture she had had as she had thought about the birth of the Baby during her pregnancy? She got pregnant by a miracle, was told that she was carrying the Messiah. I would be thinking that there was going to be some kind of awesome occurrence at the birth of such a One. There was, but I wonder what Mary was thinking as she prepared to give birth in a stable, and as she laid the Babe in the manger.)

So, back to the new baby expected at our house…

I am confident that the same way that God provided for His Son, that He will provide for our new little one, even if we just use swaddling clothes… :) I am praying for the things that I will need, but am in eager anticipation of what kind of stunt God is up to here. The birth of this baby will be nothing compared to the birth of the Son of God, but this baby is a miracle. The fact that I am typing this post is a miracle, and the fact that I was even able to become pregnant is a miracle as well.

I know that I can continue to trust Him. Where is the line where we stop trusting God and start worrying? What circumstance is the one that is finally too big for God? So far, I haven’t found it.

Do I worry?

Yes, I do. To my shame. But when I turn my brain back on, I quickly see how stupid it is to be worried about any of the circumstances in my life. God has had a totally consistent track record, not only in my life, but down through the ages. He has kept His word in every area. It is just my silly human fears that would cause me to question the Almighty in a given situation.

Okay, now I am preaching. For the sake of the reader that might have something to do and got trapped reading my post, I now release you. I’m done, for now…

Home Birthers Have All The Fun!

I just had to post this. Some will not see the humor, but I think it is hilarious!

The other day my midwife was planning to stop by my house and do a prenatal since she was going to be passing through. Well, things didn’t go as planned, and she ended up leaving way late. That meant that she would be passing through at about 11 pm.

As she had some things to give me and equipment to leave at my house, and since she needed to do a check up, I agreed to meet her in the parking lot of a convenience store on her path through.

Yes, you read that right. I met my midwife for a prenatal appointment at 11 pm and did my prenatal check up in the back of my Suburban.

Who else gets to do crazy stuff like this?

Next time someone says to me in reference to home birth, “Oh, you’re brave!” or “I could never do that!” I am going to grin inwardly and think,

“You don’t know the half of it!”

*Yawn*

I got out of bed about 2 minutes before 9 am.

Pitiful.

I was going to get up sooner, but fell back asleep. I really didn’t want to stay in bed the whole morning. Oh well, maybe I won’t need a nap later…

Hmm. As I was typing that, I yawned. I see a nap in my future…

And The Webs Came Tumbling Down...

Okay, I don’t think that is how the song goes…

But, I did get the yucky webs wiped off my walls today. Ah, THAT was a good feeling! We had a hatching of spiderlets down here that invaded everything. I thought I better get all the webs down before someone mistook my house for the haunted house event! :)

Now if I could get my windows washed…

Sweet Success!!!

Ah, at last, a clean living room!

Yes, I was victorious yesterday. With the help of a friend who dropped in, I got my living room under control. We also folded my mountain of clean laundry. It is very nice to have that out of the way. :)

Home Again!

We had a wonderful time at the conference in Houston. It was just as good as last year, only better!

There were more people in attendance than last year. I am not sure what the ratio of increase was, but it seemed pretty significant. It definitely seemed like they have outgrown the facility were it is held.

The sessions were just as good as last year, and even better. So many of the questions that we had going down were answered. We came back refreshed and challenged. Hopefully, I will get a chance to write more about what we learned later.

We had planned on camping, which we did, but in a modified way. When we got to the campsite, we were informed that there was a cabin available. It was very nice, and comfortable for a lady with a big belly. :) We spent one night there and then one of our friends from the church invited us to stay in their home on Saturday night. That was a blessing as well. We had a good time of fellowship that evening.

Now I need to get to work on my to do list. Lots of things are screaming for my attention! Pray for me today if you read this post… I am heading to war and I intend to be victorious over the enemies of clutter and piled up chores! :)

 

Goat Vanilla?

I was listening to the kids while they were playing this morning. They have had a grand time digging up grub worms in the goat pen lately. They were discussing what should be done with the ones they have. Jakin was informing Sarah that to keep her worms alive, she would have to put goat vanilla in the bucket where they now were held captive. She was arguing that it was not needed and he was calmly insisting that it was.

It took me a minute to catch on to what he was meaning to say.

Yesterday David and Jakin had a similar discussion, where David gave Jakin infomation about how to keep his worms alive. After talking about some of the other details of grub worm habitat, David told Jakin that for the best chance of his worms staying alive, he would need to add goat manure to the soil he already had.

Goat manure.

Goat vanilla.

Sarah knew what he meant.

:-)

Ready To Go!

I am pleased to report that I acomplished the goals I set earlier in the week!

I made the best bread today, possibly the best I have ever made. It is 100% whole wheat, but sooo light and fluffy. It is just perfect sandwhich bread.

I got the roast cooked and sandwhiches made with it.

I have pre-sliced cheese and mayo packaged, ready to go.

I even boiled some eggs to take...

I feel very set and ready to go. At least in the area of eats!

On the other side of packing, I am waiting for one of Sarah's dresses to dry and we are running the kids through the tub. After I run me through the tub and throw toothbrushes in, I will pronounce everything to go.

Houston, here we come!

Off To Houston...

Well, it is official. We will all be attending the FIC conference this weekend.

I am so excited!

For several reasons.

One being the conference.

The other being, this will be my first trip to Houston in a pregnant state. Part of me just wants to march into MDA and show my belly to everyone! I know my Dr. would love to see me…:)

I have a lot to do to get ready, but come time to leave, ready or not, here we come!

I am planning to cook a roast, make some bread and then make up sandwiches ahead of time to take. Adding a few fruit type snacks and maybe some chips to that should work nicely. I may also take some of the old standby peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. With peach jelly, of course. :)

We are planning at this point to camp while we are down there. It will be a different way to experience Houston than we have previously done, but should prove to be enjoyable. I suspect the kids will like it much better than a hotel room. There is much more space outside than in a cramped space that you are supposed to be quiet in and not bother things. (Of course, I might be wrong. They might really miss jumping from bed to bed, and then to the chair, and being told not to. They might miss being told not to stomp if we are upstairs and having to be quiet, even though they have had to be quiet all day already. Maybe I am wrong, maybe they will really miss the hotel…)

FIC Conference in Houston!

We are looking forward to the FIC conference that will be in Houston next weekend. Voddie Baucham, Paul Renfro and Rob Rienow will be the keynote speakers at this year’s conference. There will also be breakout sessions, which were great last year.

The deadline for the conference registration has been changed! So, as long as the registration is in by the 7^th of Oct, there will be a meal included with the conference fee. (A very nice meal, I might add!)

At this time, we are not sure if the whole family will be going or not. While we would really like to take everyone, David was hoping to be able to take/go with a group of men this year. So far it looks like there is no one to go with him. We are still waiting to see what the Lord does in that area.

Please pray that the Lord will show us what to do.

If there is someone needing/wanting to go with David, pray that we will get connected.

If we just need to go as a family, pray that we will have clear direction and provision to do so.

If you are interested in info about the conference, click here.

For a direct link to the registration page, click here. This page says that lunch is not included for registrations after Sept 26, but we received an email from Grace Family Baptist stating that registrations received by Oct 7^th will include the lunch.

BTW, if you are reading this and are planning to be at the conference, leave me a comment! :)

An Interuption To My Day?

Today I had one of those experiences.

You know, I had a plan and something got in the way.

I tried to print a picture for Sarah this morning. I printed one picture, but was not able to print the next one. I have had several issues with my printer lately, but this was a new one. “Cartridge Error,” it said, as if it was only logical. The poor thing didn’t even know what to tell me was wrong with it. It said, “See user guide”

After digging here and there, I finally found the manual.

I looked up the error.

The manual didn’t know what was wrong. It said to check the manufacturer’s website or call customer service. This was an advanced error.

So, still trying to do something else and a bit disgruntled that I was going on a hunt for a solution to an “advanced error” I logged on to the website of the manufacturer. I searched this way for the answer, that way for the answer.

Nothing.

The website didn’t know what was wrong, either.

Finally, I called to speak with a human.

After going through menu prompts, I got to a human. He asked me info about my issue, then offered to sell me more print cartridges, (at a better price, of course), before transferring me to a technician who would help me.

No, thank you. I am having a cartridge error. I think I will wait to see if it can be resolved before I buy more cartridges…

After I was transferred, the technician took info that I had already given…

We worked through a series of steps to try to resolve the issue…

As I was trying pulling my cartridge in and out, unplugging my printer, etc, the technician made polite comments about things unrelated to the printer issue. I asked where he was located. He was in India, he said. He commented that although my address said TX, I didn’t sound like a Texan.

At one point, I decided to tell him that I had 3 kids and was pregnant with my 4^th. I then told him about how I had been diagnosed with cancer and how I am now healed.

My technician friend was getting a bit excited at this point.

I am not sure, but it really seemed to me that he was a believer. He said that he would pray for a safe delivery for me in Nov.

I also told him about the fire and how we are now living in the house that God saved in the fire.

He was very encouraged, it seemed like. He could see how God was taking care of us.

I got off the phone having gained a friend on the other side of the world.

Thanks to my printer throwing a fit today.

Oh, yeah. The printer.

It still isn’t working. They are going to send me a free cartridge and see if that resolves the issue.

It is going to be inconvenient having the printer down. But somehow, I don’t really care that much.

Because of my stupid printer, or stupid cartridge, whichever is to blame, I made a connection with, I am assuming, a brother in Christ on the other side of the world. I was encouraged and I hope he was. I have a prayer request from a brother in Christ to pray over.

I think I can handle a messed up printer and plan.

Cat Momma...

There has been some concern expressed that this pregnant momma will not be able to see over her belly and will trip on her new rug.

I would like to lay all such fears to rest with one question.

Have you ever seen a pregnant cat trip and fall?

I never have.

This momma is like a cat.

I may moan and groan in the bed like a cow, waddle like a duck, and even resemble a hippo in appearance.

But, when it comes to balance, I think I can be compared to the cat.

Just thought I would ease the concerns out there. ;-)

First Rug!

Okay, I am admitting right up front that this is a weird way to be nesting, but here I am. I have the rug bug.

I started this rug yesterday afternoon and this morning got it finished.

Well, almost.

As I was putting the edge on it, I ran out of jute!  So, as you can see, the right edge looks a bit rough. Otherwise, I am so pleased with it. It worked up quickly, (I just crocheted it), and it seems like it is going to wear well.

Anyone have a scrap of heavy jute lying around…?

If You Want To Do Something...

…about the bailout package being rammed down our throats, follow this link.

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/

Like Dave says, first, PRAY for those that have gotten us in this mess.

If you agree with the plan that is laid out, send it to your Senator’s and Representatives.

I don’t know if Washington will listen to us or not, but isn’t it worth a shot?

“By the People, for the People…”