new life under construction

ever since seeing our baby girl on the ultrasound, the Lord has reminded me over and over of what an Awesome Creator He is. the day after the ultrasound, adam and i went on a solitude retreat with other leaders and church staff members at a state park not too far away. we spent hours in nature, alone with God in an effort to hear his voice, listen to his words and praise Him for his works.

i love nature. i love the outdoors. i love seeing God's creation. i love trees, mountains, oceans, beaches, and especially sunsets. i feel so close to Him when i get outside and see His beauty. but lately, all these things don't even begin to compare to this new life he is constructing inside me. humans are his most prized creations! he spends a great deal on each of us...especially in the beginning, forming our bodies, and molding our personalities.

on the solitude retreat, i read the chapter titled "content to be me" in Calm My Anxious Heart. linda dillow shares a prayer she prayed for her yet-to-be-born granddaughter based on psalm 139. it spoke directly to me and i prayed along with it for my little one growing inside me:

"O God, I praise You that You are intimately acquainted with all her ways. I thank You that You have gone before her and followed her and that You placed Your hand of blessing on her head. This knowledge overwhelms me with gratitude. I thank You.

Right now, You, the Master Weaver, are forming her personality and emotional makeup, weaving them together in my daughter's womb. Wonderful are Your works!

You know all about my granddaughter. You are knitting together her body, soul, and spirit. As a crafter creates intricate embroidery stitches, You are superintending every detail of her beautiful design.

You have prerecorded all the days set before her on this earth. Already You are preparing her portion and her cup.

O God, You are great! I praise you! You have created who she is to be but also what she is to do. You have created her to fulfill a unique plan ordained especially for her. Truly my grandchild is fearfully and wonderfully made. I praise You for Your awesome work. "

i have nothing to worry about since God is creating my little one. he knows all her days and he is fearfully and wonderfully making her! and this goes for all of us...he has created each of us and truly knows us. how awesome!!!

calm my anxious heart

one of my favorite christmas gifts i received this year is a book called Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. i have heard of this book for some time but never had the opportunity to read it. i started it just days after christmas during some down time we had at the faithwalkers conference.

during the first few pages, linda mentions a "prescription for contentment" that a godly woman who served God in africa tried to follow:

-never allow yourself to complain about anything--not even the weather.
-never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
-never compare your lot with another's
-never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise
-never dwell on tomorrow--remember that [tomorrow] is God's, not ours.

how hard it is for women to follow these things...we complain about so much, especially the weather. we picture ourselves in a different place in life almost every day! we're always comparing ourselves to others and what we have and what we don't have. it's so sad!!

i've been meditating on these ever since that afternoon i first read them. it has really helped me with my thought life. i've shared this with many of the girls around me too in hope that it would also challenge them in their thought life. it is so important to be content and not to worry

i'm so glad linda dillow wrote this book. and i hope to share more of what i've gotten out of it so far. and i recommend it to every woman.

It's A GIRL!!!

our BIG ultrasound on january 4th went extremely well! it was SOOOO exciting! we're expecting a little baby girl! and she is so beautiful. the sonographer took all her measurements, checked her 4-chamber heart and her brain. it was so cool seeing her and watching her move around. and so incredible seeing her arms, legs, fingers, hands and feet! we even saw the lens in her eye! we could also see her spine, ribcage, stomach and her little heart beating. :) i could feel her moving around...she seems to be so active in there! and how wonderful it is to be able to say "she" and "her" instead of "it"! adam is so thrilled too :) he was sitting in a chair at the end of my bed, squeezing my ankle while we were looking up at the monitor. "that's our little one!!!" he seemed to be saying to me. he is so happy. he's going to be such an incredible father.

it was about 5 minutes before the sonographer announced we are having a girl. it was so exciting to find out!!! the lady was trying to get a good shot of in between her legs to show she's a girl but our baby kept her feet together like a modest one! :) she's already so adorable to me! the lady did have a hard time checking our baby's tailbone area to see the bottom of her spine. she had to shake my belly a few times in an effort to get the baby to move! i wonder if she'll be stubborn like her mommy! lol. we were given a dvd of part of the ultrasound as well as a few printed pictures to take with us. you can see the video at our website www.adamandmeredith.com.

it was such a joyful day! my sister lindsay got to come with us. we originally wanted her to take a video showing our initial reaction to seeing our baby on the ultrasound for the first time but the room was dark and the sonographer said we weren't allowed to film anything. i'm so glad she got to come anyway. she's going to be a great aunt to our little one. :)

i had my regular checkup with the midwife following the ultrasound. i was so excited that my blood pressure had risen to 126/86! they had me lay down on my left side to see if it would drop and it did right away. everything is looking great though and our baby's measurements are right on schedule. we couldn't be more excited and more thankful for this gift from God. this whole pregnancy and keeping track of the development just blows my mind! God is so cool! :)

i've got more posts coming soon...there's so much to say!

halfway there

pregnancy is so cool. especially this part of it. they say you're able to feel your baby move for the first time anywhere from 16-20 weeks along (closer to 20 weeks for first-time moms). so beginning around 15 weeks, i would sit or lie down really still in an effort to see if i could feel anything. and from time to time, i would feel twinges but nothing like they describe in the books (fluttering or gas bubbles) so i was never certain if it was actually our baby moving. but on christmas eve, while sitting outside around the fire with my family and some hot chocolate, i felt about 5 "kicks" in a row and i knew right away it was Baby. :) i was 19 weeks along then and i have felt Baby move everyday since. the kicks were so frequent yesterday while i was driving, they made me laugh out loud. feeling our baby move around inside is so incredible...there are no words to describe it. but it brings me so much joy. the bond between mother and child is forming and we only have 20 more weeks til we meet face to face!!! i am SO EXCITED!!!

and tomorrow is our scheduled ultrasound!!! lindsay is coming along with adam and me to our appointment. she'll be videotaping our reactions to seeing our baby on the screen. this is our very first ultrasound and probably the only one we'll have, assuming everything looks good and they get all the measurements they need. and as long as the baby cooperates, we'll be able to find out if our baby is a boy or girl!!!!! i'll be back later to post the results!

it's 2008!!!

so it's the new year! hope you all have a happy one. it's gonna be a pretty big year for adam and me. i can't believe all that is about to change. here's a brief look at what is to come:

1/4-our baby's first ultrasound! hopefully we find out if we're having a boy or girl :)
1/9-adam turns 24! happy birthday!

5/12-adam and i celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary!
5/17-our estimated delivery date!

7/?-jason, joy, ethan & laurel move to russia!

10/8-my 25th birthday...1/4 of a century! eek!

so of course, the most exciting thing is that we're having our baby this year...i'm so stoked!!! and getting quite nervous!!!! i am 20 weeks pregnant now...that means i'm halfway there!!! only 20 weeks to go! and our long-awaited ultrasound is in TWO days!!!!!!!

what a happy new year it will be!!! :)