Hello!

Some days/weeks/months are just busy, ya know? I'm looking at you, Month of April. So while I've got words to say, I've also got work to do... so, yeah.

The main reason I wanted to post a little something today is because April 14th is my Staying Alive Day. 5 years ago, I was hit by a car. Yep. Pedestrian in crosswalk, meet car in road.

It could have been much, much, much worse, and I am so so so grateful for... life. While the experience was horrid and traumatic, and I truly wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, it makes me more grateful and more aware of the gift of health and life.

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I hope you're having a wonderful day and that you're grateful for it! :)

Finish This: Week Forty-eight

This is a fabulous Wednesday for a link-up with Nicole at Three 31, Jen at The Arizona Russums, Lisa at Coastlined, and Becky at The Java Mama.

 

My biggest fan is my family. No matter what scheme adventure I'm on, they support, encourage, tease, and uplift me. Even if they don't understand everything I love {doula-ing, Doctor Who, cough cough}, they are happy I'm happy. 

My greatest blessing is the fact that God loves me. How great the Father's love for me!

Sometimes, all you need to feel better about life is a glass of wine and some Pushing Daisies. What can be wrong that a little Lee Pace can't fix?

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That's all I have to say about that!

 

Baby Cuddling: Blessing Song

Yesterday while holding babies, this song kept going through my mind, so Baby Boy and Baby Girl got silently sung to all morning.

Baby Cuddling, Week One

Two Sundays ago was my first day getting up to my 4:30am alarm. It was the first time I groggily called the NICU, willing my voice not to croak like a bullfrog. It was the first time I tried {and failed!} to clock in using my volunteer PIN.

It was the first time I made the rounds in the NICU, asking the kind nurses if they had any babies needing cuddling. It was my first time {ever!} in the Family and Maternity Center {FMC}, and it was my first time holding a baby completely uninterrupted for longer than an hour.

The nurse didn't know this baby boy's name, so I didn't get to know it, either. We just knew he was a little fussy and that his mom needed some sleep. I settled into my rocking chair and opened my arms. The nurse gently transferred him to me, and I started gazing at him.

Everyone says that every baby is perfect, and I absolutely agree. Babies with pale skin, brown skin, yellow skin, red blotchy skin, purple skin... babies with no hair, black hair, curly hair, blonde hair, two hairs total... they are all perfect.

This two-day-old baby and I got to hang out for three hours. We watched {okay, I watched and whispered descriptions to him since his eyes were closed} the sun rise and the morning fog dissipate. I prayed over him and sang to him.

He squeaked and I hummed. He stirred and I stroked. He twisted and I patted. And when my shift was over and I gave him back to the nurse, I wondered where the time had gone and why couldn't I stay for the rest of the day. And then I realized that I would never see this baby again, and I confess that I cried a little.

I can't really describe the joyful ache I feel in my heart and my arms. I feel full of gratitude for the opportunity, contentedness with a baby in my arms, humbled to be serving new moms in this simple way... and I feel lonely for my future babies, sad for the NICU babies who can't go home with their parents yet, and pain for the parents who never get to take their newborn home.

Describing my time at the hospital really helps me process allll these emotions, so brace yourself for some baby cuddling stories! I don't know how much information I can share, but if you want to join me in praying for these little strangers, that would be wonderful. Thanks for listening. 

Not Alone Series: Chivalry

Linking up with the marvelous Jen from Jumping In Puddles and Morgan from Follow and Believe!

Chivalry should not become a lost art and we, as women, ought to step up to the plate a bit more and encourage men to treat us as women, thereby respecting them as men. Do you have tips, ideas, or stories to encourage men to be... men?! Open doors for us, initiate dates, honor us as women, etc? Let's chat!

Hmm. This is a great conversation to start, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to dialogue about it a bit. That being said, I imagine that this is going to be an ongoing conversation with lots of growth and adjustments, and we will probably come to a variety of conclusions multiple times.

Right now, I am concentrating on being respectful of people, men and women. This means not participating in sexist jokes, comments, or mindsets. I'm not going to say someone can or should do something simply because of their gender; my goal is to be respectful of people because we are all made in the image of God. Below are some ways we can show respect to both men and women:

Listen without dismissing - I'm sure we've all experienced it: we're talking about something we care about, and someone else listens for 2 seconds and then rolls his or her eyes and leaves the conversation.  You're passionate about the Seahawks and I barely remember which sport they play, but that doesn't give me an excuse to dismiss the topic as stupid or uninteresting. It's interesting to you, so I should be considerate and respectful and ask you questions {and you should be considerate of me and not mock my lack of knowledge}.

Encourage those around you - If someone is kind, considerate, awesome, generous, or something else that gives you warm fuzzy feelings, tell them! Encouragement and gratitude are a huge part of showing respect, because you're recognizing and acknowledging people's gifts and strengths, and maybe even their weaknesses that are growing into strengths.

Laugh with, not at - Although sarcasm may be in vogue, and although it can be rather humorous, continually putting someone down just for laughs is not cool. Make yourself the butt of a joke, or change the tone so that everyone laughs at wit, not individuals. Even gentle teasing gets old after a while, so make sure that your jokes and barbs are uplifting.

What do you think? How can we be more respectful of the people around us?

Blog Every Day in Feb: Day Nine - A Day in the Life

Linking up with Bailey Jean as we continue with her February challenge!

This prompt reminds me of one I wrote for Victoria's October challenge {see Creative Writing tab for those posts}. Just to keep things interesting, let's use this style. 

5:43 AM - alarm goes off. Snooze is promptly hit.

Nine minutes later...

Alarm goes off again. Decision time: hit snooze again? The answer is almost always yes.

Another nine minutes later...

Doesn't Apple know how to make an adjustable snooze time??? Seriously. 

With this thought, I get out of bed. With either a worship song or the audio Bible playing, I get dressed, put on make-up, fix my hair. Shoes, scarf, purse - check, check, check. Grab water bottle and lunch from the fridge, and out the door I go.

Driving to work = audio book! This makes my commute so much more peaceful, it's unbelievable. 

7:00 AM is the official start to the workday. Emails receive responses, phone calls are answered, clients are cared for. 

Noon brings a lunch break, usually with my parents and I stealing the newspaper and interrupting each other to read whatever headline we're engrossed in. 

12:30 PM - back to work! More phone calls, some typing, a bit of editing, lots of reading and searching for share-able material {I manage our social media}.

Monday-Wednesday, I leave the office at 3:00. Thursdays are my volunteer day, so I leave at 1:30. Friday is done whenever the phone stops ringing, which means between 2 and 3.

After work, there is usually a Zumba or dance class to rock out work out. Dinner with the bestie, maybe some classic Doctor Who, and then reading before bedtime - all of these are important. 

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When I type out this description of my days, it sounds boring and uneventful and life-less. But there is life here, in each day. There are conversations with my parents {perks of working for them}, there are conversations with my bff, there is laughter with my co-worker, there is gentle teasing of clients. 

At home, there is the rhythm of household activities: laundry loads through the cycles of wash and dry; dirty dishes arranged carefully in the dishwasher; checking the mail and feeling like a grown-up for taking care of bills {online bill pay = hallelujah!}; coordinating dinner plans and deciding how adventurous tonight's meal will be. 

My life is full of life and I love it. This season is really wonderful, and while I can see changes ahead and have vision for things to be different, still each day soothes my heart and I must declare: 

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Thursday = Volunteer Day

Some of you know this already, but in case you don't, here's the scoop.

On Thursdays, I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy clinic. So far I'm still in training, but it's still one of my favorite parts of the week. The atmosphere in the clinic is so peaceful and welcoming; each time I arrive I think of the hours and hours of prayer and preparation that went into opening this new-to-the-area clinic. The grounds have been soaked in prayers of preparation, and it is evident even in the parking lot.

Last week, I got to shadow the director with a client for the very first time. It was a surreal experience for me, partly because I've been volunteering since April and hadn't seen a client yet, and partly because seeing a client is what I've been praying and preparing and training for since last September {I did my Care Net training before my internship in the Frozen Tundra}.

And it was also surreal because this was the first time I encountered someone facing a crisis pregnancy. We hear about these women all the time {or at least, I do because that's what I'm interested in}, but last week put a face to my prayers. This girl was not an example in my training manual; she was not even someone my director or fellow volunteers had met. This was a girl sitting on the couch a foot away from me, considering her options.

Because of privacy laws, I can't tell you more than that. But I can ask you for your prayers, for this girl and her situation as well as for me. I cannot fully describe to you how it is both intimidating and peaceful in the counseling room. There is pressure to say the right things, respond the right way, make your face look calm but involved, concerned but not freaked out, neutral but caring. But there is such peace, because Jesus is in the room too, and He is so, so faithful to prompt the right words and responses, and His heart shines out through our faces.

Psalm 27:13 ~ 

"I believe that 

I shall look upon

 the goodness of the Lord

 in the land of the living!" 

{ESV} 

My Steal of the Weekend, and Boys with Hair

Ok folks, I had one goal for this weekend: buy a bookshelf. My bestie and I are in the "accumulate piles and piles so we drive our mothers mad furniture" stage, and a bookshelf was the last big piece I needed. My plan was to go thrifting and see what I could find for my budget of $50. My hope was to find something of decent quality, nothing too fancy, but just something sturdy that wouldn't collapse after I put Team of Rivals on it {that book is heavy!}.

I called the local Goodwill to see what they had, and they informed me that they had one, count em ONE, bookshelf. Well, it wouldn't hurt to look. But before that, I decided to look on Craigslist. Sometimes there's crap, and sometimes it's gold but way outside my budget, but I thought that it couldn't hurt.

Lo and behold, I found a gorgeous bookshelf nearby for $40!! The challenge: picking it up. The guy needed it gone an hour ago, so I made some phone calls, but they were to no avail. U-haul was out {figures- it's the last weekend of the month} and all my friends with trucks were a ways away. So, I did the noble thing and called my mom. She gave me a few ideas, and when nothing came of those, I decided to comb my hair, go across the street, knock on a door, and ask my nice neighbor if he and his truck would drive me to pick up a bookshelf.

He said "sure."
I said "Praise be unto the Lord on high!!!"

So off we went, and this bookshelf is incredible. The guy must have taken down the listing; otherwise I would totes show you my new treasure right away. Patience, my young pad wan learners.

The thing was a beast to carry and move, but we got it loaded and unloaded and settled into my garage without a hitch. I was amazed. How awesome that God would look out for me like that, providing a quality bookshelf for exactly my budget: the guy sold the bookshelf for $40, and I gave my neighbor $10 for gas. Shut the front door. So when I eventually get the thing moved out of the garage, I will take pictures and show you all. Just wait for it :)

Oh, and guys with hair. The gals in Film Club were talking about boys {what else? JUST KIDDING!} and somehow C and I discovered that we both love Matthew Gray Gubler...

What's not to love!?

Anyway, it was revealed that I appreciate a bit longer hair in men...and here's the number one example:

Poor deceased Heath Ledger...may those locks live forever and ever, amen.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, I'm heading to Nicaragua this week for a mission and work trip. We'll be gone the 4th through the 15th, so no blogging. Pray for us, please! It will be hotter than blazes, we're rather a large group, and there are tons of logistics to take care of. Oh, and tons of pictures when we get back! :)

Happy Monday!

So Blessed…

As I've been away from home, I've come to recognize to a greater degree how blessed I am. If you recall, I wrote about this earlier, but I cannot stop praising my God for His amazing blessings in my life. Check out this list!

I have several families who drive 40 minutes to pick me up from college on Friday evening or Saturday morning, and then drive me 40 minutes back to their home, and then drive me 40 minutes back to college on Sunday afternoon, and then return home themselves. What sacrificial love is that!

As just mentioned, I have families to stay with on the weekends! Not one, not two, but many families who love me, a total stranger, and welcome me into their home on a regular basis. I cannot describe how grateful I am to have a week-end family and a church family. They are praying for me, and I can tell, and I am full of gratitude for these amazing new family members.

My family {natural and church} at home MISS me! And they tell me! It is so nice to know that I am thought of and remembered… today, I got 2 birthday presents in the mail, one from my BFF and one from my parents. I am so loved- how does anything else compete?!

My God is so amazing, and I love His Word!!!!! The present from my parents is a Message translation of the Bible- I randomly {or not!} flipped to Psalm 51…ahhh, Jesus! Here it is:

“Generous in love- God, give grace! Huge in mercy- wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been, my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean; scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, including all the bulls they can heave onto your alter!”

Don’t you LOVE that!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!? I love it, and I love my God- He is full of abundant blessings!

The underlined sentence is my emphasis- Year of Overflow, anyone?
Be blessed!