Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, "delares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Friends and Family
As you all probably know we are waiting with great anticipation for our third child, whose arrival is just around the corner. In light of the situation we thought it would be a great idea to start this blog to keep everyone in the loop during the days following the pregnancy. Plus it will give Ashley something to do as she recoups from the c-section. So if you're wondering how things are going and you haven't heard from anyone in a while, check in here and we will have all the details waiting for you.

To bring everyone up to speed, and not get into to many details, early on in our pregnancy our baby was diagnosed with spina bifida. The doctors then presented us with many possible outcomes from paralysis to d
Downs Syndrome among several other potential health issues. As the pregnancy continued, we educated ourselves and others about what was going on with our baby. Prayers and words of encouragement filled our life and helped us to cope with the unknown. Which is why we wanted to publish this post prior to our
baby's arrival, to let you know what we have come to know through the unknown.  :)

Our children are not our children
I have always known that all children are God's children.  While in quiet time after I had received the news about our baby, God really spoke to my heart.  He told me that I had been taking all the glory for Mason and Elizabeth, instead of giving it back Him.  This is when I realized how selfish I had been with my children.  When a stranger would give me a compliment about my children I would take full credit and give God none.  We should use every situation to show others around us how God loves us and how He has blessed us.  He has so kindly placed each of our children into our life for us to grow them up the way He would.  He has placed them with us for a reason, because they are a perfect fit in our family.  It is hard to understand that God loves our children more then we do.  I know that during the past nine months God has been holding my baby in His arms and loving it more then I ever could.  -Ashley
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.


What God wants
Everyone at some point is faced with situations upon which they do not have any control over the outcome. The question then becomes  "What does God want?" (something I'm sure every believer asks when faced with such a situation). In wrestling with this question I was reminded that God is in control of everything, the good and the bad. It all fits in His plan perfectly. He knew this child before the creation of the earth (Jeremiah 1:5). He knew what kind of issues it would or wouldn't have. He knew what our questions would be, our fears and our doubts. Every minute detail is guided by His hand.  There is one thing we can be sure of... God wants things to happen just the way they do, otherwise He would change them in a blink of an eye.

This Thanksgiving I heard people thank God for so many struggles Cancer, Unemployment, Marital Stress. All of these people were thanking God for their struggles because of how close they had grown to Him and how they came to trust Him and rely on Him through the hardship. He wants us to lay our burdens on Him, put our faith inHhis plan and fall at His feet in our victories and our losses. -Mic

What we want
Knowing this is where we have come to stand. We have grown closer to the Lord than we ever would have without this struggle in our life.  We wouldn't change a thing. We still have our questions and we still pray for healing, but its the process of relationship with our Lord that we desire most. We know He is there and He is listening. The best example of this is Jesus in the Garden just before He carried the cross Luke 22:42 "Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but your will be done." God wants things to happen just the way they do. How much did He want to save his son? Yet He let this happen because He desired a relationship with us even more than this.

More than anything we want you to know the joy and happiness that we have already experienced through this baby and it's not even here yet! Reguardless of what happens after the 27th we will continue to have this faith in our God. We hope that you join us in praising God for the great and mighty God that he is and the wonderful plan he has set out before us. -Mic and Ashley