How Great is Our God?

To quote one of Grande's songs that I've been singing to myself lately: "You move mountains in my soul / drench the deserts of my heart / in the deepest, darkest valley Lord / You lift me up and strengthen me / breath in me new life /relieve me of my burdens."

Over the past few weeks I've had a less than plesant experience with life. But I'm learning that through prayers and God's promise something that is horrible in every way can be made a little bit better with prayer. And that is something wonderful that I know I can count on in the future.
My dad's bike accident hurt him badly but I prayed over him a couple of times and he is healing quickly. I also prayed that they would be financially ok and all his medical bills would be taken care of. Someone informed my mom that they can use their own auto insurance to pay for his medical bills and so that is taken care of!!! Thanks God.

One of my students delivered her son at only 33 weeks gestation. I've been visiting with them at the hospital while he's in the NICU. On Saturday she called to see if I would come up to the hospital to meet their families. I was honored to meet their loved ones and quickly bonded with her mom and sister who are Catholic and understand the power of prayer. Since she went into labor I prayed for the baby to be healthy and to get out of the hospital quickly. Myles is very healthy and when I was leaving church on Sunday she called to tell me they took him off his oxygen and were going to be removing his IV very shortly too. This is AMAZING because it was less than a week after his birth!! Praise you Lord, I expect this baby to be in his own bed at home this week.

And then the worst of all. My best friend lost her baby girl at under 19 weeks gestation. I've been in such shock that I'm either speechless and really crabby or crying a lot. I've never prayed so much and so hard in all my life. While she was in the hospital I was specifically praying for a) a pain free delivery (apparently the drugs are very powerful and require most patients to have an epidural AND morphine) She did it without the drugs. b) a quick delivery, which it was c) An answer to why this baby did not make it into the world, the answer came upon delivery, the cord was wrapped around her neck. d) that my friend come out of this physically and mentally safe. She is physically safe but I continue to pray for the peace of mind that only the Lord can bring in such a time of despair. Blessings, S, I love you.

Just to know that my prayers were all answered is so comforting. I've been doing a bible study on the book of Daniel which is really great. I'm a very simple person and if I don't understand AND enjoy something I won't do it, this bible study is easy and wonderful. But in the homework I did last night I was brought to tears when I realized why all these prayers were being answered. It all comes down to the fact that God loves that I'm diving into His word and worshipping him through educating myself. It was so beautiful and so simple that I now want to do some sort of study of EVERY book of the bible. I didn't grow up in a church so this is my adult version of Sunday school and I'm excited about it.

I wanted to post this to give credit where credit is due, I may have been praying but God did the work, not me. He is the almightly and powerful One that works miracles!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I hope I don't develop an allergy to cucumbers. I just picked this yesterday and I picked 6 more today! Let me know if you like these delicious little pickle cukes and I'll give you some.

The next round of abundance from the garden? Tomatoes and then squash.

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todayIobservedthatwehavebecomeaccustomedtoreadinglikethisbecauseofallthoselongwebaddresses.
maybeIshouldposteverythinglikethisfromnowonjusttomakeSarahRossreallymad.
itisreallyweirdthatyoucanreadthisway

I observed this on a bilboard today www.detroitsciencecenter.com the whole title of the place is the name of their wesbite. couldn't it be DSC or something, geez

This is crazy!

A little update on my dad. I just talked to him on the phone and he sounds great and he says he feels so much better . Thank you Lord!

He is nearly 60 years old and had worn braces on his teeth for about 3 years recently. When he was in the accident he was wearing his retainer (which broke) and they say that if he hadn't been wearing that retainer his teeth would've been knocked out.

Ever since the accident he's been coughing a lot, almost like his body was trying to get rid of something. He said that this morning he had a coughing spell in the bathroom and coughed up a good sized chunk of his retainer! And he hasn't coughed since! Isn't that crazy!?!?

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I am learning that I have really odd food allergies. Not the usual like peanuts or dairy......

When I was a teenager I learned that I am allergic to avocado. If I eat even the smallest piece of avocado in any form I will be ill within 10 minutes. I actually feel like I'm going to throw up but I never do.

When we were on vacation I ate a bowl of rice crispies with some bananas on top for breakfest one morning. Within 10 minutes I was throwing up, it actually felt like morning sickness which startled me a little. Well yesterday Adam was eating a banana and decided that I should finish what he couldn't, so I chowed down on a nice banana. 10 minutes later it was coming out both ends if you know what I mean (sorry for the TMI). I broke out in sweats and was laying on the bathroom floor rocking in the fetal position. It was awful, I will NEVER eat another banana.

So long bananas! That's ok, you weren't my favorite fruit anyways.

Who knows what will be next.

Crazy Busy

I've been crazy busy this weekend full of things that perplex me. This is a short synopsis:

First, my dad was riding his bike home from work on Friday evening when he was hit by a car. Long story short he is fine, 24 stitches in his upper lip, some bruises and scrapes but no major damage. He's lucky to be alive. He didn't remember anything from the accident but my mom finally got the police report today. Apparently as he was riding north bound on Gulley Road (which is not a busy road at all) and he was on the right side of a large RV. The RV was stopped at the light at Ford Road, but what my dad didn't know is that the RV was stopped so that a pickup truck traveling southbound could turn left in front of it into a gas station. Being that there was a large RV blocking his view he didn't see the truck and ran right into it.
Now here's the thing that perplexes me. The person driving the pickup truck didn't get a ticket and their name was purposely blacked out on the report so that my parents couldn't see it. If you were involved in this accident wouldn't you want some closure to know that this biker who was taken away covered in blood is alive? And if my dad had been in a car and ran into that pickup truck wouldn't the driver of the truck get a ticket? That makes me a tad bit angry.

My parents don't have health insurance but they think that their auto insurance will cover his medical expenses. Normally, the insurance of the driver involved would cover the medical expenses but that person is MIA.


THEN, one of the couples in my Bradley class calls me Sunday morning to tell me her water broke. I'm supposed to be the doula at this birth, the only problem... it's 7-1/2 weeks EARLY!!
So they give her steriods at the hospital and tell her that if her contractions don't speed up within a week she'll need pitocin. A WEEK!?!?!? If this woman went in for her 38 or 40 week check up and they found the amniotic fluid to be even slightly low they'd induce her. But sitting there with no amniotic fluid is ok for a week? That's so weird to me.
And so she's transferred to a semi-private room yesterday and her husband isn't allowed to be in the room overnight so he goes home. Her husband called me at 5AM today to tell me that we both missed the baby's birth. She called him at 4AM and the baby was born at 4:30! He only weighed 3 lbs. 13 ounces but I saw him today and he looks really good. He's breathing on his own, crying and responding to his mother's voice.


Through all this craziness I've had a great expereince with God. He's given me words to pray over people in need that really make a difference. I prayed for my non-believer dad and he is being healed very quickly. He even thanked me every time I prayed for him which meant a lot to me.
Then, today when I was in the NICU with my student she asked when she can hold the baby because she hadn't held him since the moment he was born. The nurse said "well, how about now". I couldn't believe that God had put me in this place. Earlier today I was thinking about praying for them but I was really seeing her holding the baby when I prayed. Mainly because I wanted to pray for mom just as much as the baby. I asked her if I could pray for her and the baby and she said "of course". God sent words of life into both mom and baby and I could feel the healing in them as I hugged them and prayed for a quick recovery.

So, it was a busy weekend but one with great reward for my wonderful God.

Now I need to get a good night's sleep and prepare because tomorrow night I start a new Bradley class and I now for sure I've got my hands full with one couple. ;) Nate and Sarah are joining this session!

We're Baaack!

Sunsetting on Lake Michigan in Muskegon

Little boy and a big lighthouse in Ludington

We're back from a much needed vacation. Although it wasn't very fancy (it consisted mostly of camping and cabin living) we did the things that we love the most for over a week. We swam, watched the sun set, hung out with Brian's family, hung out with the Lloyd family, spent time in nature, and enjoyed each other's company.

We started out in Beaverton where we spent a few days with the Surowiec's at their cabin. When we weren't swimming we were trying as hard a we could to convince Papa to remodel the cabin. Only time will tell if it works. I used the best tactic I know, black mail... I said I won't have anymore kids until he makes the place more kid friendly. And by "kid friendly" I mean more than 2 sound proof bedrooms and a bath tub! :)

Next we drove over to Ludington where we camped for one night at Ludington State Park.
This is a really beautiful state park that I would recommend to anyone. A river comes out at the lake and creates a really nice swimming spot. The park is also situated on huge sand dunes that are fun for a kid of any age.

Then we went to Muskegon and camped there for 2 nights at Muskegon State Park. Another very nice park. Our campsite was HUGE and right by the steps to the beach. We took a tour of the Hackley-Hume historical site in town, that was pretty great for adults, not so much for a 2 year old.

THEN, we drove a few miles down the road to Grand Haven where we met up with our friends Dave and Paige Lloyd and their 2 girls Abby and Caroline. Together we went swimming a few times and I somehow became tanorexic (my back is really dark). We taught Dave and Paige how to play dominoes and we spent many night time hours addicted to playing that game. I also discovered the game of Boggle and how much I don't enjoy it, I'm too lazy to try to find all those words! We had such a wonderful time with them. Before we drove home on Sunday we took one last trip out to the beach. I really didn't want to leave all that fresh air and beautiful scenery, but I know where it is if I ever need to go back. Maybe some day I can stay there permanently.
Click here to see all the photos from our vacation.