Start at the Shallow End!

As you can see this blog has been silent for a while.  The time of trials was heavy this year.  And writing about it seemed more than I could do.  Goodness do I dislike a constant complainer.  And it felt like that most of what I had to say would sound like a complaint.  Truly, truly I am not ungrateful for the trials of the past year. They were hard.  They brought tears, arguments, and more tears.  But they brought strength of spirit, refinement of the heart, the knowledge of true friendship and caring. So instead of diving in and catching everyone up on the happenings of the last year I shall dip in a toe.  Then catch my breath and go a little deeper. How is that.

In SIX days we will have a beautiful new addition to our blessings- a baby girl.  Name still up for debate but the top two are Audrey Rebekah and Autumn Joy.  Feel free to vote your preference under the comment section. 

 I am ecstatic over this news although in honesty it took a few weeks after finding out. I have always wanted many, many children. Children bring me such joy. They are treasures unlike any other- a gift from God beyond measure.  However I have extremely difficult pregnancies and with 4 other beautiful children we figured that time may have passed.  Always it was His will be done, and we would leave it up to Him- but no trying for us. This decision was a struggle to come to.  I found it hard to combat the resentment that I felt that pregnancies were so difficult for me.  I reminded myself of those who have so much more pain.  Those who cannot have children of their bodies or have lost babies over and over. And I persevered realizing I have naught to weep about.  The Lord granted me the grace to accept the time of my life where it was.  The body He had granted me.  And the joy to be content with the blessings He had already bestowed upon me. I felt content.  I felt rested in His assurance.  We had moved on looking ahead to what awaits.  Then boom! Guess what.

It took a while to sink in. It seemed unreal. Had we not moved past that phase in our life.  But soon the joy took over.  Another little gift from our Lord.  Praise His name.  We knew that the road would be hard. I still had not recovered from the major illness that racked my body the months before hand.  However we clung and still cling to the promise that He gives us no more than we can bear in Him.

These thoughts I will blog about another time.  Like I said shallow water today.  The lessons I have learned, the gift of sacrifice that has been shown, it will take multiple blog posts to even touch a small part of it.  I want a clear head and a sincere heart. 

So today is the beginning of the topic of what do you do when you are stuck in bed for months at a time.  You would be surprised what you can find to do. Family, friends, Homeschooling, laundry folding, heart to hearts with your husband and children, crafts, reading, tv are all things that got me through the long months.  I am going to post a topic on Homeschooling while sick or on bed rest sometime in the future.  We have been doing it for over a year now. But back to the list, tv can only be tolerated for so long.  There are only so many books your mind can absorb in a period of time. Then I really found myself becoming addicted to that amazing place called Pinterest. It grabbed me like a fish on a hook  Called my name at night, "Becca, Becca look at all the decorating ideas, the meals you can fix, the sewing you can do, the crafts."  You see files of ideas, to-do lists, to make lists have filled my house through the years. I adore lists.  This makes my lists right at hand and without adding to the clutter. GENIUS!

 I have planned every room in my house.  Got more crafts planned for the kiddos than we will ever finish. Have decorations, meals, and outfits planned for every special holiday of the year. Reworked my breakfast and lunch meal plans. Oh the joy!!!!!

So I spent many moments poring over ideas, adding to my list, changing my lists, and finally actually doing some of them. So I thought that over the next few days I would share with you my Pintastic ideas.  It is a good thing for me.  It has helped me take my mind off the pain and onto creativity.  It has got me thru many a sleepless night.  And as the nesting instinct kicked off it has helped keep my husband sane as I felt that I was actually accomplishing more than sitting like a knot on a log for hours at a time.

Be forewarned as I am in a baby frame of mind most though not all have to do with babies.  We do have a birthday party in there, a baby shower, an Easter dress, some Christmas gifts, meal plans etc.,so not all is made for baby. I will try where I took pics to show you how it was done. However from the bed it was really  hard to get clear pics of each part of the process. I would proceed slowly as the pain allowed me. Areas where I do not have visuals I will attempt to paint adequate word pictures.

That is all for now, folks. Just a heads up of what to expect over the next few days.  May even post the first one later today.  Should be fun.