Remembering

Today, I remember the life of an extraordinary woman. Two years ago today, my precious grandmother went home to be with the Lord. I still remember so vividly receiving the phone call from my dad around 9am that she had died a few minutes before. I'm so thankful that Josh was right there with me and just held me while I wept. My tears were not only for losing her, but also knowing that she would never meet my baby boy and her first great-grandchild. There are times I look at him playing or laughing and I wish with all my heart that she could have met him and held him.

A couple of weeks ago while visiting my parents, I went through cards and letters from high school and college that I didn't even know existed. I'm not one to keep anything (I hate clutter) and I was surprised to find an entire shoe box of old cards and letters. As I was reading through those notes, I realized that most of the cards and letters were from Grandy. When I was in college, she sent me letters frequently. I think she knew how much a college student wants mail from home, but more than that, she wanted me to know that she loved me and she was praying for me.

And that is what I miss about her most - her prayers. My Grandy was a woman of the Word and of prayer. She faithfully prayed for her family everyday. When she was close to death, I remember telling her how much I loved her and would miss her. She told me she loved me too and she also said that she would pray for me to end. My prayer now is that I would be as faithful as she was to know the Word and to pray for my family. She has given me such a wonderful example to follow.

As much as I miss her and remember her today, I know she is with her Jesus. She used to talk a lot about how much she wanted to go to heaven so that she would be free from physical aches and pains, but most of all to be free of sin. Praise the Lord for two years she has been free from sin's very presence! May we all long for that day!

"It Is Well with My Soul" was sung at her funeral and the last verse is especially meaningful as I think about her departing and one day my own.

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
"Even so," it is well with my soul.

*I wrote a tribute to my grandmother for girltalk for Mother's Day 2008. If you didn't read it then, you can find it here: http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/A_Tribute_to_Margie_Powell_Lusk

Daddy's Home!

Josh arrived home safe and sound on Sunday evening. I decided to surprise him by meeting him at the airport in Charlotte while Josh's parents kept the boys for me. He was surprised and happy to see me and on the bus ride home, I was able to hear many funny stories from the entire team. The team shared with at least 75 to 100 people and three people are now believers! Praise The Lord for answering their prayer from Psalm 67!

One unique story that Josh shared was meeting two of the guys that I shared with four years ago. Both of those guys are now believers and went out with Josh's team everyday. One of the guys, Jeremy, brought pictures of me and another girl (Anna) when we were there. He also brought the bible I gave him four years ago before he was a believer. It is very worn now and Josh said he was so proud to show it off. The other guy, Jason, is considering a call to full-time ministry - God is so good!

Thomas was very happy to see his daddy. I wasn't sure how he would respond, but his face lit up and he said, "Daddy! Daddy!" Yes, I think that made Josh's month! It was way past Thomas' bed time, but he stayed up for a little while to talk to Josh and then Josh tucked him into bed.

Here is a picture of Thomas with the gift Josh gave him. Doesn't he look so cute?!

This is the picture of what I wrote in Jeremy's bible four years ago (the date is 7/28/05).

God answered that prayer and now Jeremy is a believer and sharing the good news with others! Praise God!

Picnic Fun

A couple of weeks ago before Josh left for his trip, he decided we needed to have a picnic. He wanted to spend extra time with us since he was going to be gone for two weeks. I have to admit that I was not thrilled with the idea of a picnic. Why? Because I'm selfish and sometimes lazy and didn't want to go through all the work of getting the food together and the kids ready (remember Josiah is just a newborn). However, Josh insisted we have the picnic and I grudgingly went along.

It didn't start off so well, because as soon as we got the blanket down and the food out guess who woke up? I think that babies have some sort of alarm that goes off right when mom is about to eat! Anyone else had that experience? Eventually, I began to enjoy myself and most importantly to enjoy the time with my family. Not many dads are able to come home at lunch and even fewer want to go outside dressed up and have a picnic. I repented to the Lord and to Josh for my bad attitude and a fun time was had by all!

Here are some pictures from our fun time!

Playing Is Tiring...

This is how I found Thomas this morning when I went to get him for lunch:

He was having independent play time and I guess he decided he needed some rest. Notice the two cars beside him. Grandma & Poppy gave him the cars when we got home yesterday and they have yet to leave his side. Moments like these are priceless!

For The Gospel

Yesterday morning, my husband left to go around the world to share the gospel with people who have never heard. Josh, along with six other people from our church, will be gone for two weeks. They are going to the same place and working with the same missionaries that I had the privilege of working with 4 years ago. Everyone was very excited and nervous yesterday morning. They have spent months preparing spiritually and financially for the trip. On Sunday night, we had a commissioning service for them and Josh preached a short sermon on Psalm 67. That Psalm is their "theme" as they go - Let the peoples praise you!

I'll admit that it was not easy watching him leave yesterday morning. I think it is going to be a long 2 weeks for me, especially caring for a toddler and a newborn. Yes, I do have help (we are at my parents for a week), but it isn't my husband. The longest Josh and I have been apart since we were married is 5 days and he was only 8 hrs away.

As I was writing this blog, Josh called! He is there and had no problems traveling. He is very tired and hoping to get some rest. If you think about them, please pray for health & safety and most of all for many people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!

*For security reasons, I'm not naming the country where he is.*

Josiah's Birth Story

On Saturday morning, June 13, I woke up about 1:30am with some mild contractions. Since I had false contractions three times before, I didn't think this was "it." I actually had Braxton Hicks contractions exactly a week before at the same time. By 4:30am I was no longer comfortable lying in bed, so I got up and decided to surf the Internet until they stopped (I still didn't believe this was real labor). I tried going back to bed around 5:30am, but I couldn't get comfortable and told Josh at 6:00am that I was going to walk our driveway to see if it would get better or worse. After 20 minutes of walking I knew that I was in real labor. Josh & I both took showers and then called our parents. My in-laws came around 7:45am to get Thomas and Josh and I left for the hospital!

We arrived at the hospital at 8:45am and after the nurse checked me she said I was 4cm dilated and they were going to admit me. Josh was thrilled that Josiah finally was coming and while I was excited, I was in a little bit of pain!

I had decided that I was not going to have an epidural unless the pain was unbearable or I needed it for some reason. Even though the contractions were intense at times, I breathed through them fine and held Josh's hand or he rubbed my back. The doctor and the nurse were surprised at how calm I was with no medication, but I have a high tolerance for pain and the pain wasn't constant - thank goodness! I asked the nurse to check me around 12pm and she said I had dilated 6cm and thought my water would break soon. However, when she checked me again at 3pm, I was still at 6cm and my water had not broken. The nurse told me my doctor would not break my water as long as I wanted a "natural" birth because the pain would intensify greatly. At this point, I wanted my baby and felt like my labor had stalled, so I told her I wanted the epidural and for the doctor to break my water.

The anesthesiologist arrived around 3:15pm and gave me the epidural. I was having really strong contractions in the midst of receiving the epidural and when the doctor came to break my water about 15 minutes later, I was at 8cm. He was sure that Josiah would be born in the next couple of hours.

About 45 mins after getting the epidural, my ears started ringing and I was feeling really nauseous. Josh said he was going to call the nurse, but I told him not to bother her that it would go away soon. Thankfully, he didn't listen to me and immediately called the nurse. Sometimes the epidural can cause your blood pressure to drop too low, but it usually happens within minutes of receiving the epidural (and I didn't experience this with Thomas). When the nurse checked my blood pressure it was 64/40 - no wonder I didn't feel well! They put something into my IV and changed some things and I was okay. After I was feeling normal again, they told me that I was pasty white when they first came in the room and knew something was wrong!

The doctor came in again around 5pm and I was still at 8cm. He told the nurse to give me some pitocin to help the contractions along because they weren't as regular as he wanted. The doctor came back at 5:30pm and I was at 9cm, so he thought it would be real soon. One thing that concerned the doctor and the nurse was every time I had a strong contraction, Josiah's heart rate was going too low. I had to wear an oxygen mask to keep his heart rate up.

Finally, the doctor came back around 6:30pm and I was still at 9cm. He told me it was time to have a baby and even though I wasn't at 10cm yet, he wanted me to push one time and see what happened. When I pushed, the doctor saw the top of Josiah's head and said, "Okay, let's get her ready." My mom and step-mom wanted to be in the room, so I told Josh to get them quick! By the time they got me and the room ready, it was around 6:45pm and after 3 pushes, Josiah was born! I remember the nurses telling me on the last push to open my eyes to see him come out and it was amazing! The first thing I heard was, "He's a big boy!" He was beautiful and I cried tears of joy that our baby boy was finally here! Josiah cried too because he was finally here - I think he didn't want to leave the womb!

Josiah is a joy to us and we are so thankful that God gave us a healthy baby boy. It is hard to believe that he will be 6 weeks on Saturday. I'm trying to cherish each day with him, because I know it will go so quickly. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

A New Normal

We are alive and well! I know that I haven't posted this first month, even though I have thought about it several times. The little free time I have these days is spent cooking, doing laundry, cleaning a little bit, or most importantly, sleeping!

Josiah is doing what all babies do at this age - eating and sleeping. He still isn't awake too long, but we enjoy the time we can talk to him and cuddle him. I am beginning to see the differences between him and Thomas. The biggest difference is that Thomas loved to sleep and Josiah fights sleep. Thankfully, he is sleeping at night about 3.5 hrs at a time, but during the day he doesn't want to sleep even when I lay him in the bed VERY drowsy. I think he senses that I'm not holding him and he protests loudly!

Thomas has adjusted very well to Josiah. He has not acted jealous or even acted as if Josiah is a stranger. I think he knows that Josiah belongs to us and he is happy to have him in our family. When you ask Thomas, "Who is your brother?" his response is, "Ohh." It is so cute! We think he gets the "Ohh" from hearing people say, "Oh isn't he so cute," or something like that. Everything of Josiah's is labeled "Ohh's." For instance, he calls Josiah's carseat, "Bye bye Oh."

Josh and I are adjusting to being parents of two. We had forgotten how exhausting newborns are and even more so with a toddler in tow. Thankfully, we have begun to find a "new normal" and are beginning to get a little more rest. We are so grateful for the help we have received from family, friends, and our church family. The meals we have received as well as the laundry cleaned and dishes washed have been such a blessing to us. The Lord has been so good to us in giving us such sweet family and friends.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of our family from the past month.

First morning home from the hospital.

Thomas wanted to be swaddled too, so we put them in Josiah's bed together - aren't they adorable?!

Josiah at 3 weeks. He is a very alert baby.

Sweet picture of Daddy and Josiah

Family picture on July 4th - Thomas looks unhappy and I look tired!

Thomas "holding" Josiah