Book Review: "Winning the War in Your Mind" by Craig Groeschel

Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Exceptional book that will help you gain mental and spiritual fortitude. In a time and culture where mental health seems to be declining rapidly and stress runs rampant, this book is an absolute must-read. Craig Groeschel shares some deeply personal stories of disappointment and struggle in his own life and helps us learn how to overcome our own mind wars. Bonus - I listened to the audiobook read by Craig Groeschel and there is an accompanying PDF so you can work through the exercises. https://www.harpercollinschristian.co...



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Book Review: "Beginner's Pluck"

Beginner's Pluck: Build Your Life of Purpose and Impact Now by Liz Forkin Bohannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got to see Liz Bohannon (via webcast) at the 2019 Global Leadership Summit where she endeared the whole audience and inspired everyone to not play small with this one big life we get AND where she literally flew over the audience. Anyway, her determination and yes, PLUCK, inspired me to buy her book; and I was not I disappointed.

Liz is so full of life and spirit and adventure and shows you just how fun life can be when you are following after God and trying to make a difference!

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Book Review: "The Divine Mentor"

 

The Divine Mentor: Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior by Wayne Cordeiro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Our church board read this book together. Pastor Wayne Cordeiro really demonstrates the importance of reading the Bible for a relationship and for wisdom. It's a good reminder that it's not something to just check off on a to-do list. One of the most practical takeaways for me was just in how to approach devotional time: with my Bible (obviously), a notebook, a pen, a Bible reading plan, AND my planner. The planner is for when my mind starts to wonder to my to-do list, write it down (brain dump) and the move on. This simple tip has so helped me to focus better!

Favorite Excerpts:

"Protecting and cultivating your spiritual root system is not a pill to swallow that automatically will bring you health, wealth, and a perfect family. But it will give you wide-open access to an all-wise, all-powerful God who will personally walk with you step by step. You’ll embark on an adventure that will introduce you to lifelong mentors who may save your health, your marriage, your ministry, and your future."

"I hate to break the bad news to you, but about 80 percent of all you do, anyone can do! For example, going to work, attending meetings, checking e-mail, answering phones, going to soccer games and lunches and dinners. Additionally, about 15 percent of all you do someone with some measure of training could do in your place. Whether it’s selling a product, running a program, teaching a class, or fixing a problem, there is education and training available for someone else to do what you do. But at least 5 percent of what you do, only you can do. No one else can do it for you.
The last 5 percent . . . it’s something we have to discover and then be responsible for. • • Only I can be a husband/wife to my spouse. • • Only I can be a father/mother to my children. • • Only I can grow myself spiritually. • • Only I can keep myself healthy. • • Only I can keep myself disciplined."

"Neglecting devotions will cause you more problems, more quickly, than just about anything you can name. Spending unrushed time alone with God in His Word releases a fountain of refreshment from the very core of your being."

"When you miss your devotions one day, you notice. When you miss them two days, your spouse and kids notice. And when you miss them three days, the world notices."





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Book Review: "Hope in the Dark"

Hope in the Dark: Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not by Craig Groeschel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Favorite Snippets:

"Honest questions, sincere doubts, and deep hurts can draw you closer to God than you’ve ever been before."

"To really know God, you have to wrestle through pain, struggle with honest doubts, and even live with unanswered questions. So while I won’t promise you that God is your copilot or that the Bible says it and that settles it, I will promise you this: if you wrestle with him, seek him, cling to him, God will meet you in your pain."

"WHEN YOU’RE GOING THROUGH A SEASON OF STRUGGLING WITH God, remember: Habakkuk’s name means both to wrestle and to embrace. You can wrestle with God about all that you don’t like, yet simultaneously embrace him because he is good and trustworthy."

"Over time, as you grow in the grace of God, what normally would have rocked your world becomes something you can take in stride, knowing God is with you and will carry you when you are weak. "

"Even though I don’t like it, even though I don’t understand it, even though I know he could and he should but he’s not, yet will I trust in the Lord my God.”

Pray: Even though … I will trust you. You are my God.

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Book Review: "The Power of Moments"

The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In my various leadership roles and even my job as a real estate agent, this book challenged me to do better at making the little moments special. The first day on the job, the first meeting, the first showing, the closing table, etc.  All of these moments have the power to make someone feel valued, appreciated, loved and should not be taken for granted. 

Here is a good checklist that we should make sure our team can answer:

"1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work? (Validation.)
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? (Caring.)
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development? (Understanding. Caring.)" 

Addressing these 6 answers/needs helps foster a positive work environment.

All-in, lots of good takeaways for any one who wants to be a better leader/influencer!

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Crown Realty Annual Awards Luncheon 2019 - My Speech

2018 was our 45^th year in business and also the year we said goodbye to my grandma who helped start Crown Realty with my Dad. She greatly influenced who we are today, and I wanted to spend a little time this morning sharing with you some things I learned from my Grandma, Naomi Hosack.

We have adopted a new slogan around here and it’s “where agents are family and clients are royalty.” We truly believe it and try our best to practice it around here, and I think my Grandma started that trend of treating each and every agent like family.  I used to love visiting her at the Olathe office when I was younger and I saw how she interacted with everyone.  She knew everyone’s name and what was going on with them.  As we grow larger and larger, I realize that gets harder and harder to do, but I’m thankful that with our smaller office sizes every broker and secretary knows their team so well! 

 

Another thing I learned from my grandma is the importance of celebrating.  She celebrated every victory, every closing, every listing won, every referral, everything.  And as Nick’s and my grandma, she celebrated everything with us too – basketball games, losing a tooth, getting a good grade, whatever it was – she was there to party with us.  Celebrating victories is what we’ll be doing here today too.  2018 was an exceptional year, as you heard from Dad.  

The other part of our motto is “where clients are royalty” – because we are family, we believe we truly can treat clients with the absolute best customer service.  We try to filter all of our decisions through that lens.  

Every website and tool that we provide to our agent family is to help us best serve our buyer and seller clients.   And because of our in-house training and high staff-to-agent ratio, each agent is able to be the very best they can be with the support of their broker, their education, and their secretaries.  We believe that when our agents have help setting signs, inputting listings, marketing, contract support, and more, that frees you up to treat your clients like royalty.

I recently read a book by Danny Meyer titled “Setting the Table.”  Danny Meyer started off with one restaurant in New York City at the age of 27.  He now owns a restaurant empire with hundreds of successful restaurants.  One, Shake Shack, is here in Kansas City, on the Plaza.  In his book, Danny writes that 75% of restaurants fail, and interestingly enough the stats for real estate agents are similar, 80% of real estate agents quit in their first 2 years.  Fortunately, Crown Realty agents, much like Danny Meyer’s restaurants do much better.  I went back and looked at our new agent rosters over the last few years, and over 50% of our newer agents are consistently closing over $1 million a year and only 15% have let their licenses expire. 

So what’s Danny’s secret ingredient?  I think it’s the same as ours.  He calls it “enlightened hospitality” and it’s all about how you make the customer feel.  Many restaurants have similar menus, appearances, and ingredients.  Every agent has the MLS, a lockbox, and a license.  But Danny Meyer’s argues that in this day and age, it is how you deliver your service that counts the most.  He writes, “In the end, what’s most meaningful is creating positive, uplifting outcomes for human experiences and human relationships. Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard."

Let me read that last line again, “Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel.  It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.”  My Grandma made everyone around her feel like family.  It is my hope that we continue that legacy with each other.  And that every single client of all of ours feels like royalty when they are working with a Crown agent.

Crown Family, THANK YOU for all you do to serve with all your hearts and represent our family well!

---

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is full of stories and gems of insight for anyone in business or leadership no matter what field!

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Book Review: "Only Love Today"

 

Only Love Today: Reminders to Breathe More, Stress Less, and Choose Love by Rachel Macy Stafford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Empowering and Beautiful

This truly is one of the most life-giving books I have ever read. This inspires me to be a better mom, wife, friend, worker, and person. I highly recommend this one!!!

"Pause in the busyness of your day—even a moment or two will do. For that moment, pay attention. Notice. Listen. Stop. Breathe. There’s a good chance you’ll catch a moment when all is right in your perfectly imperfect, gloriously messy, happily chaotic little world. Peace, love, freedom, and joy, right there at your fingertips. The most meaningful life experiences don’t happen in the “when”; they happen in the “now.” It is the sacred pauses within everyday life that heal our frenzied souls. Let us pause and live today." 

"Now, more than ever, we must catch glimpses of that which can lift us up.        

Now, more than ever, we must search for these barely noticeable glimmers of light that have the power to carry us. 

Now, more than ever, we must not let cynicism, negativity, or the busyness of life allow us to lose sight of the good."

"Today I will turn my attention away from the negativity filling my senses and my News Feed. I will turn to the people I love and notice that there is still so much goodness to be grasped and celebrated. Goodness comes down the stairs with crazy morning hair. It has a milk mustache and stinky feet. It puts gasoline in my car and kisses me good night. It bags my groceries with a smile. It teaches my children. It hugs me with shaky, wrinkled hands. The ability to detect goodness where others see nothing good is more than a day changer; it’s a life changer. Today I will notice the good in the world and in my world."

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Tomatoes Preaching

On Saturday, after working my shift at the Crown Realty booth at the Cider Mill, my mom and I took the kids on the Miami County Farm Tour.  We stopped at a delightful little farm (Metcalf & 327th) - Foxfire Farm and picked strawberries and bought (8!!!) tomato plants.

Saturday evening McKenzie broke out with a terrible rash and her knees & elbows were swollen and hot to the touch.  At first, I thought maybe she'd had an allergic reaction to the strawberries - although she's eaten them many times before and these are organic, pesticide free, so I couldn't imagine these would be worse than any others she's had.  In fact, they were so incredibly delicious and perfect!  Sunday (Mother's Day), we went to the walk-in clinic at our family practice (College Park Family) and found out she had strep!  24 hours of antibiotics and steroids later, she was back to her normal cheery crazy self.

So, long story short, my 8 beautiful tomato plants sat in my dark garage for 2 days.  They were wilty and browning.  Cut off from sunlight & water, they were dying quickly.  Monday evening, the kids and I got them planted, watered from our rain barrel, and they instantly perked up.  2 days later, they are really thriving.  They smell so wonderful and we can't wait to pick some beautiful tomatoes!

All of this has gotten me thinking.  Reminding me how much my life is like those tomato plants.  One day disconnected from God's Word and prayer connection with Him, and I am worse off than these little plants.  Wilted.  Worn out.  Unable to produce fruit.  Thankfully, it just takes time in His life-giving presence to perk right up.  Thankful for that truth!

When I Don't Understand...

I'll just let this song speak for me today...  I don't really have any words better than this.

Another negative pregnancy test today.  I don't understand why God doesn't bless my friends Adam & Natalie with a baby.  I don't understand why they have 6 babies in heaven.  I don't understand how He could ignore thousands of prayers for this.  I don't understand why His answer appears to be no.  I don't understand why it's so hard for good people to have babies.  I don't understand miscarriages.  I don't understand infertility.  I don't understand cancer.  I don't understand heartache and broken dreams.  I don't understand this fallen world.

... but I will choose you God!

Gun Shy Confidence {6dp5dt}

Feeling anxious today.  I hate the waiting period.  I'm just crying out to God to make this surrogacy attempt successful.  My God can make dry bones live, can make all things new, and can certainly do this!

Our last go-round I was SOOOOOOOOOO confident, so this time I'm very gun shy, but still cautiously optimistic and trusting God, because what else can I do?  I faithfully did my bed rest, I have avoided lifting over 10 lbs (much to Kenzie's dismay), and have been eating eggs, avocado, black beans, & salmon + drinking whole milk!  It's in His hands now.

Today is 6dp5dt (6 days past 5-day embryo transfer).  If you spend too much time on surrogacy and IVF blogs you will become fluent in crazy abbreviations and also a little crazy!  I shared this last time, but here's a look at what's going on with these 2 little embryo-babies!

5-Day Transfer

Days Past Transfer (DPT)	Embryo Development
One	The blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell
Two	The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus
Three	The blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation
Four	Implantation continues
Five	Implantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop
Six	Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream
Seven	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Eight	Fetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
Nine	Levels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

Naps, Books, and Netflix

Ok our last surrogacy attempt was obviously the first and having nothing to compare it to, everything was fine; but I will say today was so much smoother and easier and just felt better. Hoping that leads to positive results in 12 days! (January 27th is test day!)

Luckily I also had a couple clowns in the recovery room to help me out! (Thanks Eli and Adam!)

So today's been a nice day of rest (thanks to Uncle Nick and Aunt Caitlin for watching the kiddos!) watching some Netflix, reading a lot, and even napping. Plus spoiled rotten by treats!

Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers!

Lucky 13 Pills Per Day

I'm a little late to update here, but it's been a hectic week!  I started a really great real estate training program so I've had class from 9-11 every day AND homework plus balancing my normal duties and real estate clients and kiddos and I've felt like I'm struggling to keep my head above water, but it's good to be busy in my world!  :-)

Anyway, Janaury 7th was an important day for several reasons.  I started the morning at 7:30am at the doctor's office so they could check on my progress with all the estrogen.  My uterine lining was 10.73 and my estrogen levels were at 1550  and apparently that's perfect so YAY!

And then I got to go out with my lovely husband to celebrate our 9th anniversary!  I was craving meat (odd for me, probably all the hormones!) so we went to Fogo de Chao for the first time and then to my favorite date place - Barnes & Noble.  LOL!

Today I got to add several things to my daily estrogen doses: progesterone, steroids, and antibiotics.  A grand total of 13 pills a day + 3 patches!  5 days away from surrogacy!

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy this diet!  ;-)

http://www.top10homeremedies.com/superfoods/top-10-superfoods-boost-fertility.html

Trusting God that January 15th is going to be successful!

Christmas Fun

My maternal grandmother instilled in me that the 12 Days of Christmas starts after Christmas so we celebrate up to "3 Wise Men Day" (some call it Epiphany) - January 6th - every year.  In fact, the 3 wise men used to bring my brother and I gifts on January 6th bundled in brown paper and left at our front door via their camels of course.

So for us, the tree is still up and the lights are still on.  Luckily, our beautiful 10' 4" tree is still looking pretty good even though we chopped it down in November!   We have had such a fun Christmas season though and I wanted to share some of the great things we got to do!

We visited Crown Center & go ice-skating!  The kids' first time.  Kenzie was not a fan, but Micah loved it!

We had a very wonderful family trip to Branson with my mom & Steve, Eli's parents, and Nick & Caitlin.  We stayed in a cute stone house and saw Silver Dollar City in all its Christmas glory PLUS rode on the Polar Express!

Saw Rudolph musical at the Coterie at Crown Center on December 26th.  If you are wondering why Kenzie is not smiling in this picture it is because she was VERY disappointed that "the Bumble" (the Abominable Snowman) was not present for the photo ops.  He's her favorite... which probably says quite a bit about her little personality.  ;-)

Also, I got to share Advent with the kids with a cool book by Ann Voskamp (one of my favorites!) called "Unwrapping Christmas" - every day was a new Bible passage and reading.  I downloaded the free coloring pages that came with the book and while I read they colored.  We had a blast with it, and it's been so special that they are getting old enough to understand so much and get a taste for why we really celebrate Christmas!  

I know I am forgetting so much, but those were the highlights for our family!

Patches & Pills

Well, we are back in the baby making business! LOL!

Back in November, Natalie harvested more eggs and she & Adam have 6 good looking embryos in the freezer. They upped Natalie's hormones this time and that seems to have yielded really terrific results!

On December 26th, I went in for bloodwork and a scan to check on my estrogen levels and to make sure my ovaries were "quiet." Everything looked good, so I started estrogen patches & pills on the 27th!

Please pray that my body responds well to the hormones! If everything goes well, we'll be doing an embryo transfer on January 15th.

Still Waiting... {A Surrogacy Update}

Lots of people have asked where we are with Round 2 of this whole surrogacy journey, and I guess the best answer is we still haven't started yet!  Man, this waiting thing is hard, and patience has never been a strong trait of mine!

However, Natalie and I did get to go visit with our doctor Tuesday morning, so we have a very rough timeline, and it looks like it we'll be doing another transfer sometime in December.  Dr. Milory is taking the month of October off and we are doing some extra steps and testing beforehand, so we'll have to practice a little patience and lean into God.  Probably the point, huh?

We were/are a little bummed for the long wait, but I also know that it will go quickly.  On the bright side, I've always been pregnant in that season (McKenzie born in August, Micah in October) so all my old maternity clothes will be perfect.  haha!

Ironically, our grow group met tonight and we've been studying the book of James this summer, and tonight we were in chapter 4 where it says "You do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, IF THE LORD WILLS, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:14-15, ESV, emphasis mine).

So, my update is this:  Lord willing, I'll be getting pregnant with Adam & Natalie's twins in December!

Anyway, that's the latest...  thankful for your continued thoughts and prayers!!!

Book Review: The Mess Detectives and the Case of the Lost Temper

The Mess Detectives and the Case of the Lost Temper by Karen Poth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We LOVE the Veggie Tales at our house. The kids love the hilarity of talking vegetables and wonder at how they can get so much accomplished without arms. Even Kenzie (who just turned 2) claps her hands enthusiastically and can sing parts of the theme song. So, since they love the shows and movies so much, I knew they would love some of the books. So far, I haven't been disappointed in any of the Veggie Tales brand of books, and we especially love the VeggieTales Bible Storybook: With Scripture from the NIRV.

This particular edition is of the "I Can Read!" line of books that uses short, simple sentences to help kids learn to read. This one is Level 1 so geared towards 4-8 year olds, but even younger kids will appreciate the story and illustrations. Older kids will get a lot more out of it and realize how silly it is to lose our temper. Micah (who is almost 4) asked me a lot of questions about why Bob (the infamous tomato) was upset and he caught on right away that they mysterious "masked door slammer" wasn't who the detectives (Larry & Bob) thought he was.

If your family likes Veggie Tales as much as we do, check this out!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: "Love, Skip, Jump"

Love, Skip, Jump: Start Living the Adventure of Yes by Shelene Bryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was crying in the first 10 pages. This book is just a wonderful, beautiful work of art filled with stories about what saying "Yes" to God can look like. Shelene Bryan starts off with comparing the Kingdom of God to "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and I was HOOKED. She's brilliantly creative and honest as she shares with us how she learned to broaden her vision of the world and her place in it as a child of God.

Intrigued by the title? I was! In a nutshell, here's what it's about...

LOVE - God loves us in such a grand way that if we had even a slight understanding of it, it would change everything.

"Gratitude for such amazing, undeserved love will compel us to give of ourselves and our treasure. His inexplicable love toward us will become the motivation for all we do." (xviii)

"The fact that such a majestic God does not treat us like ants to be crushed is wonderful and phenomenal all at the same time." (32)

SKIP - the attitude of self-denial in order to give to someone else.

JUMP - the action of doing something... the adventure!

"If you are not using your God-given gifts to help others, you've got to expend some energy to get moving. You have got to jump." (43)

I truly believe (and have experienced it in my own life) that following God is an ADVENTURE, so I loved that Shelene's subtitle is "Start Living the Adventure of Yes," and I'm so thankful she shared some of her adventures with us! Drawing on her experiences from travelling all over the world, witnessing God's amazing direction and provision, and allowing herself to get a little uncomfortable for the advancement of God's kingdom, Shelene inspires us all to do love, skip, jump in ways we maybe never thought we could or would! I highly recommend this one!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

He is Faithful

Tonight (errr, last night since I'm posting this after midnight), my amazing in-laws hosted a BBQ fundraiser for Adam & Natalie's IVF/surrogacy fund.  We had the best night!  There was karaoke, a silent auction, cotton candy, and an iPad mini raffle, and we raised over $3,000!!!  We didn't get an exact count, but about 100 people came out to support us and celebrate with us!

And God provided through all our amazing friends and family!  So thank you all for being there and giving generously!

Between tonight's fundraiser, cash Adam & Natalie have received, and the GoFundMe site (which we are closing down August 1st), we have pretty much entirely met our goal in just 3 weeks!!!

I can't express here how humbling and amazing it was to sit down tonight and count all the donations.  I think we were all (barely) holding back tears.

Praising Him!  Thanking all of you!

Goodnight friends!  :-)

Through it All, Our Eyes Are on You

I know most of my readers here know Adam & Natalie, but some don't.  So for those that haven't had the great pleasure of meeting and knowing them, Adam is our Pastor of Worship Arts at Grace Community and Natalie often joins him on stage leading us in worship on Sunday mornings.  Inevitably, she is up on that stage after every round of bad news or traumatic experience they've had in their journey to have children.  They are absolutely amazing people and their willingness to share their hurts has touched so many people, and I know many are watching to see how their faith stands these tests, and I can tell you it is NOT broken.  Natalie sang this song at church this morning - I don't think there were many dry eyes afterwards (mine certainly weren't!).  I don't know how she got through it...

    

Through it all, through it all

My eyes are on You

It is well with me

I still don't understand, but I can assure you all that our eyes are on God.  

Far be it from me to not believe

Even when my eyes can't see

And this mountain that's in front of me

Will be thrown into the midst of the sea

We are excited to give this surrogacy thing another shot and we're trusting that this mountain's gonna get tossed in the sea!  We continue to ask for your prayers, and if you are able, a donation towards Adam & Natalie's next round of IVF & Surrogacy.  Even if it's just $5, please consider helping us reach our goal of $13,000!  

Have you heard about the guy on Kickstarter who asked for $10 to make a potato salad and it somehow went viral and he now has $49,336 pledged to him?!?  I figure if he can get that much to make potato salad, we can get $13,000 to make a BABY!  Please visit our GoFundMe page, give what you can, and share it with all your friends too!  Thank you for your support!

A New Day

So, the last couple days have been a blur, but the sun's out and life goes on.

When we got the awful call 2 days ago, both kids were still napping.  When Micah woke up, I asked Eli if we should tell him, and Eli said yes.  I sat down with him and I said, "Micah, you know Adam and Natalie's babies that the doctor put in Mommy?  They went to heaven."  He replies with the saddest, most serious face I've ever seen on him, "Oh man, why?!?"  My only answer was "I don't know buddy, God just wanted them with Him" and he immediately accepted that and was content with that answer.  It took me a minute to stop crying and realize that his incredible faith and simple understanding of life was exactly what I needed too.  Faith like a child.

I also have to brag on our incredible pastor Joel and wife Linda (who also happens to be Natalie's aunt), and they are supposed to be on sabbatical, but they made an exception to come to our house that afternoon, just hours after our bad news to pray with us and hug on us.  Love them so much, so thankful to be part of our local church family and under their leadership.

And then, we went out to eat with Adam & Natalie.  I thought we would go out that night, but I was convinced it would be a night of celebration.  It was not what we expected certainly, but it was a wonderful evening where we could begin healing and hoping again... and I am happy to announce here that we are going to try again!

Adam & Natalie have already invested a lot in this journey, but there are a lot of expenses that they will not have to repeat (initial doctor consultations, blood tests, legal work, counseling fees, etc.). However doing another round of IVF and another attempt at embryo transfer will entail another $13,000 in expenses for them.  One of my friends (thanks Trishelle!) pointed me in the direction of GoFundMe.com to help raise money for them, so please consider making a donation for them.  We expect that Dr. Milroy may slightly change our medications to give us a little better edge, AND we are hopeful that this time we will be able to do a fresh (not frozen) embryo transfer which will also improve our odds.  We are all so thankful for so much support from friends & family, and would be thankful for any financial contribution you can make, but most importantly we covet your prayers! Please pray that God would grant us success.

http://www.gofundme.com/babyjohnson