God is smart, and I am thankful

God is smart. I know that, but sometimes it's nice to be reminded.

Life has not calmed down. We have piles of laundry, piles of baby stuff, a half unpacked kitchen, an extra refridgerator in our kitchen...the list goes on and on.

To add to the long list of things to do, we started having some drain issues yesterday involving the kitchen sink and a shower. Probably very fixable--but just overwhelming when there is already so much going on.

Then this morning Lily went in for a jaundice check...and we were sent over to the hospital for a blood draw...and the possibility of having to check in if her levels were too high.

After we finally got home (Lily and I were pretty exhausted from the few hours it all took), Bean was getting me set up before he took the girls to a birthday party.

It struck me...God is smart that he gave us a third girl. He knew all that we would be experiencing. He also knew that we have lots of girl stuff and I had maybe 2 outfits for a boy and one set of blankets.

That can't be the only reason why God chose a third girl for our family. But the idea of trying to put together clothes, blankets, Boppy covers, bedding etc for a boy--in the midst of everything else--sounds impossible. I think I would have been even more of a wreck.

And for the record...this No Crying Mama...cried about five times yesterday. I like to blame the post-pregnancy hormones raging in my body. But sometimes (for me it's about twice a year) a girl just needs a good cry.

The good news is--although Lily's bilirubin levels came back as borderline, the doctor is willing to give her another day. I just need to keep nursing as often as I can and give her some sun therapy. Hopefully her level tomorrow will be the same or lower.

Perspective and Answered Prayers

I posted a few weeks ago about Miss Gracie's birthday and how it ended up being a little disappointing because dh got sick, so most couldn't come. What I didn't share in that post was the perspective I gained by the end of the night.

When my mom arrived at our house she told me she had recieved a message saying "have you heard about A.G.? It doesn't sound good. Is it true?" AG is a lifelong friend--a few years younger than me. We haven't lived near each other in years, but keep in sporadic touch. One of those friends you can pick up with so fast because you have so much shared history.

I hadn't heard anything, but had her cell # in my phone, so decided to try texting her after my mom shared the message with me. After all the birthday festivities, we were just hanging out and my phone rang...a number in her area code. It was her dad.

I knew right away, it wasn't good if her dad was returning my message. She is only 28 but had a massive heart attack a few days before. So bad that she basically died and was revived a few times in the emergency room, was basically on life support, not a good prognosis, would perhaps need a heart transplant.

Well, God sure kicked my butt on that one. Here I am crying over spilt milk basically--that my baby didn't get the party I had wanted for her--while my friend is fighting for her life. What perspective. This is why my motto is "no crying over spilt milk." When I do--I find that it is so worthless. Normally I would have just rolled with the punches for Miss Gracie's birthday. But I chose to be a crybaby and once again, learned the error of my ways.

Enter PRAYER! A blog network was established for my friend and I'm sure she went on dozens of prayer lists and chains at multiple churches. You can probably guess the end of this story. She has been almost completely healed! Home from the hospital now. It's a complete miracle. They don't even have a current prognosis for her, as people don't usually survive such a heart attack, much less walk out of the hospital without a transplant. God definately wasn't done with her yet.

Another lesson learned in prayer was this past week. I received an email about a desperate situation a friend of mine was in--waiting on governement and agencies. I shared the request with BelovedMaMa as well as our staff prayer meeting on Thursday morning. I'm sure many others were praying as well. Sure enough...within just a few days the situation completely changed and all prayers were answered.

Not that I don't doubt the power of prayer. I'm a pastor after all. I pray for people daily. But, sometimes it's nice to get a little faith boost. There are some situations in my life that I am going to renew my passion to pray about, and trust that I'll see change and answers!

What good does crying do you?

"There's no crying in baseball" is a well known movie line, spouted by Tom Hanks character to his female baseball team.

Why would I choose that for my blog name? Well, those who know me, probably can figure it out. I am an anomaly of the female race. I only cry a handful of times during the course of a year. Now, when I do cry, usually it's a doozy--I cry for all the reasons that I perhaps should have cried in the months previous. This year, because I had pregnancy hormones raging, I'll probably cry more than my requisite few times by the time the calendar shows December.

It's not that I am opposed to crying, it's just that I don't always see what good it does. And maybe I've had too many reasons in my life to cry so my method of coping is not crying. I am definately a "bottler." I hoard my emotions until they overflow. And that overflowing results in one of my crying episodes.

I have many reasons this week to cry. I can't and won't go into them. And I have "almost" cried a few times...but I choke back the tears. Partially because I am afraid to let them get control of me. Afraid of what might happen if I allow the floodgates to open.

I know that crying is healthy and it would be good for me to let the tears flow. But it's not something I can make myself do. My husband is thankful when I don't cry...because he doesn't know what to do when I do. I spoil him by not ever crying!!

I'll let you know when I finally do cry. I'm kind of hoping it will be in the near future. But, only time will tell.

Crying really accomplishes nothing for the situation you cry over...but I'm sure it's good for your emotional health.

God says that those who sow in tears reap job. Maybe I need to sow more in tears so that I can experience more joy.