The Great Physician

Well guys, it's time for me to tell the story of Connor. Many of you know what happened to him last Thanksgiving by now, but I have only told the "whole story" to very few people- mainly because the devil has kept me silent so that God's total glory wouldn't be completely revealed in this particular situation. I believe though that God has been gently nudging me to speak out in boldness and confidence about the things He has done. I don't know what you all think about spiritual warfare, but I have to tell you that I have had my eyes opened! George and I both have in fact, although his version of this story would probably highlight different details. That's because God has spoken to us both in very unique ways according to the journeys we are on with Him. We both lived through some of the scariest moments of our lives thus far and have grown closer to God and to each other through this ordeal. I'm sure we both would agree that intimacy with God is what He is after in all of us. The devil knows this though, and he is always on the prowl, always trying to find a way to intervene- guys, we have to wake up and stand up to the battle that is being fought for us daily!!

This is the story...
Our son Connor was taken to the ER on Thanksgiving night as we noticed him slipping into unconsciousness in my arms. When we reached the hospital, he was immediately taken from us and was bagged and intibated because he quit breathing on his own. We had no answers and no test showed any reason for this to be happening. Within less than an hour, the helicopter from Arkansas Children's Hospital had arrived to airlift Connor to Little Rock. To say that we were in shock and completely surrounded by fear is an understatement. I don't remember much about the short visit in the White County Emergency room except collapsing on the floor reciting bible verses I didn't even know I had memorized. The thing I remember saying the most was, "nothing will ever separate me from the love of God". I get chills now even writing that! Only the Holy Spirit could have taken over in that moment to breath that kind of truth into me at such a scary time.

By the time we arrived at ACH, the doctor on call informed us that Connor had slipped into a deep coma and had little to no brain activity and what he did have was abnormal. The outcome was very bleak-still no answers from anyone about why we were even in such a predicament! We watched in horror as our nearly two year old son was hooked up to machines and taken back in forth for multiple MRI's CAT scans and other various tests all in hopes of finding an answer. At one point in the night, Connor's heart rate started dropping drastically and they had to immediately put a central line into him that would pump medicine directly to his heart in an effort to jump start it. We were sent out of the room, unsure if the procedure would save our son's life. We watched as nurses and doctors all started running into our child's room gasping and shaking their heads- at which point, we honestly thought we had lost him.

About 45 minutes later, we were allowed to go back into the room-our child was still living, thanks be to God! The next few hours were just as confusing, scary and bleak as the first. As word started getting out about our tragedy, we knew that multiple prayers began going up to the Great Physician. Loved ones started trickling into the hospital, all of which were leaving family that they had been with for Thanksgiving Day. We were reminded of how loved we are, and how blessed we are to have so many loved ones.

All night long we stood next to our son, praying, singing to him, and begging God to turn things around. We were totally in shock. The next morning, one of our long time dear friends called and told me that she had a friend from church that felt that the Lord wanted him to pray over Connor. He had heard about our story from someone and had completely rearranged his plans for the day to obey what the Lord had asked him to do. Here is the kicker...

Our friend said, "Donna, this man believes he has the gift of healing and wants to know if he can come pray over Connor."

Now, I have to admit that that kind of wording was not something I had heard of everyday-except on TV of course. But in a mother's desperation all I could say was,
"If He is doing this in the name of Jesus, of course, tell him to come."
At the time, I was desperate and I believed that God could do anything. We needed a miracle. And... that is exactly what we got. Praise God!

I remember that Connor's regular nurse left the room and was replaced by a nurse we had not met yet. The man came in, introduced himself and what I remember the most about him was that he kept saying over and over again,
"Now, I want ya'll to understand, that I am just a man."
In other words, he was not interested in gaining any glory for whatever happened next. He just kept giving all glory to God for what He alone was and is capable of. He prayed first, with George and I and I remember that his prayer was one of the boldest, most heartfelt prayers I had ever heard before. It was if he had a personal relationship with God that I had only longed to have. I'm talking about real intimacy. He was having a real conversation with God. He then moved over to Connor's bed and placed his hand on my baby's chest. His hand was shaking a little bit and I remember that he started sobbing as he prayed over our child. His tears were falling down on Connor and his prayer was so moving. So real. He prayed for God to heal our son. He prayed and begged The Great Physician to lay His mighty hand of healing on him and work a miracle. The nurse that was there was praying aloud too,the whole entire time and we were all crying by the end of the prayer.

We thanked the man and as he began to leave, the many DR's that were lined up outside the room began to take their turns checking out Connor. The first DR came in, did a quick check and said she saw no change. Immediately after her another DR came in and did what looked like the exact same check-up, only this time, he said, "Now, just a minute here, I think I see some response."

I of course, started jumping up and down and began proclaiming a miracle, right then and there. I was so ecstatic. He checked again and was convinced that Connor was responding-very slightly, but it was response none the less. This was within 10 minutes of the prayer!!! Oh my goodness, if you know me at all, when I'm excited about something, I don't typically hold back, and this was one of those times- let me tell ya! George and I were sobbing and hugging each other but not in disbelief! I was absolutely convinced that we had just witnessed a miracle right in front of our very eyes- and I still believe that to this very day. Please don't tell me modern day miracles do not take place today. You will never convince George or I of that as long as we live.

From that point on, Connor gradually started improving more and more with each passing hour. The doctors and nurses were in awe. They had no answers. Nothing made medical sense to them that what they were witnessing was possible. We kept hearing them express their confusion to which I would always respond, "it's a miracle, just write that down in your chart!!" We finally got a couple of Dr's and nurses to admit that a miracle could be the only answer. By that evening, Connor was breathing on his own again, the intibator was removed and all his heart and oxygen levels stabilized. His brain activity went from little to none, to completely normal within a matter of hours. Connor slowly came out of his coma and by the next morning, I was holding my baby boy in my arms once again. Only this time he was gazing into my eyes, aware that I was holding him and trying his hardest to say "mama".

The DR that had checked us in the first night came by to check on Connor and I couldn't believe his reaction. He was absolutely in shock to see our child "awake" and improving so rapidly. He just kind of stood there staring at Connor and then back at us and was shaking his head. He looked right at us finally and said, "You don't understand, he was gone when I saw him last."
I remember thinking, wow, that's not quite what you told us at the time, but here we are! I assured him that what he was witnessing was a miracle. He definitely couldn't deny it!

We now have a very normal and highly active 2 year old running around! Our family is whole. God came to our rescue. All the prayers that our loved ones prayed were heard by the Father. The Great Physican came into that room at Arkansas Children's Hospital, in the form of a man that obeyed the call and was willing to be a vessel for the King of Kings, and layed His hand on our child- and healed him- because we believed He could.

I know that I am taking a risk by writing what you just read. But, God has been writing it on my heart to do so for several months and I too, have chosen to obey. I love each and every one of you that will read this and question it. It's ok. But, George and I know it's true and we have been forever changed because of it. We have experienced the hand of God and we will forever give Him the glory for healing and saving our son. I will no longer keep my God in a box. He is capable of doing so much more than we could ever ask or imagine. Why do we put limits on Him? Where did that begin? Well, for me, it has ended-no more limits. My God is real, He is powerful, He is mighty to save!!

We did find out about a week later after some test results came in, that Connor had significant amounts of a muscle relaxer in his system. We do not know for absolute sure where he got a hold of it. We haven't tried hard to pin the source down because honestly, it doesn't really matter. We almost lost him, but we didn't. God wanted to use the situation to open our eyes to His mighty power and have called us up to shout His glory so to pursue the cause of the incident really wasn't necessary. God will forever get the glory for His miracle, no matter what!

You may be wondering what spiritual warfare has to do with this. I've decided to save that part of the story for my next post. For now, I want to share with you a verse that God showed me after we had been home a few days after our scare. This sums it all up.

Psalm 145:

"I will honor you, my God the King.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Lord, you are great. You are really worthy of praise.
No one can completely understand how great you are.

Parents will praise your works to their children.
They will tell about your mighty acts.
They will speak about your glorious majesty.
I will spend time thinking about your miracles.
They will speak about the powerful and wonderful things you do.
I will talk about the great things you have done.
They will celebrate your great goodness.
They will sing with joy about your holy acts.

The Lord is gracious, He is kind and tender.
He is slow to get angry. He is full of love.
The Lord is good to all.
He shows deep concern for everything he has made.
Lord, every living thing you have made will praise you.
Your faithful people will praise you.
They will speak about your power.
Then all people will know about the mighty things you have done.
They will know about the glorious majesty of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom that will last forever.
Your rule will continue for all time to come.

The Lord is faithful and will keep all of his promises.
The Lord takes good care of all those who fall.
He lifts up all those who feel helpless.
Every living thing looks to you for food.
You give it to them exacty when they need it.
You open your hand
and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

The Lord is right in evrything he does.
He is loving toward everthing he has made.
The Lord is ready to help all those who call out to Him.
He helps those who realy mean it when they call out to him
He satisfies the needs of those who have respect for him
He hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all those who love him.
But he will destry all sinful people.

I will praise the Lord with my mouth.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever."

My Past/My Chains

I've been thinking about using this blogspot as my personal testimony especially in regards to my previous post today. God has put it on my heart to take you all the way back to the beginning for me- back to a place I don't like to visit in my past, but a place of redemption. The memories of my past mistakes no longer haunt me with the same torment as once before because I now recognize how I've been set free. Don't get me wrong, the devil still tries his hardest to fill me with shame and doubt but he doesn't get as far as used to in that attack.

As a dorm manager, I have had many opportunities to sit with girls as they pour out their shame at my feet about past mistakes and decsisions that they can't shake off. As I have listened to countless confessions of pain and sin, I have found myself speaking God's truth to them about how there is "no comdemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It's much easier to try to convince someone else that their sins have been forgiven and the slate wiped clean than it is to accept that truth for myself. Maybe that is one of the reasons God has placed me in such a position- because He knew that surely after repeating the same thing over and over to many hurting young women, that maybe I would eventually get it!! Maybe then I would apply the same truth to my life. Maybe after promising over and over that God's love is unconditional, I would accept that truth as my own. I think God knew what He was doing!

I used to keep all my secrets to myself thinking that if I uncovered them, my authority would deminish in the eyes of the college girls I have influence over. That was a lie from the pit of hell and God has been revealing that to me gradually over the past couple of years. Now, I do believe that it is very important to be discerning with information, but I have begun to see a pattern from my Almighty God. Every time He brings me a precious wounded young woman with tears in her eyes, it doesn't take long to notice that my story is so similar to hers. Every single time. It's like He keeps bringing me people to minister to that He knows will unlock some secret unhealed hurt in my own life. I used to be so afraid, so wrapped up in fear of someone finding out the "real dirt" about Donna McDaniel Strachan, but oh, how the ways of God are so much greater than our fears!!!

"My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace"

Testimony Time

Well, guys, I have to tell you that God has been writing it on my heart for months now to use this blog to glorify Him. I know I need to be journaling about the things He has been and is continuing to do in my life and this seems to be the perfect avenue for that. I believe that God is stirring within me a boldness to speak of His fingerprints in my daily life and although my flesh is hesitant to speak out for fear of looking crazy, foolish or misguided, I know that God's spirit within me is greater and I want to obey.

There seems to be so much that I need to catch everyone up on, but I will just take this journey slow and easy because I do tend to get overwhelmed and quit altogether- the devil knows this about me and I am determined not to let him win this time!! I want to be consistent with this blog and use it as a means to encourage, uplift and spur others on to the calling God has for us all in developing intimacy with Him.

This verse in Jeremiah 33:3 has been speaking to me for several years now.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

I have prayed hard for a long time for God to show me great and unsearchable things. I have called on Him to show me "more of Him" and He has answered. He has the same desire to answer all of us in this way. There is more.... God is bigger and greater than we will ever know. I want to share with you my journey. I pray that in the details of my story, you will feel, see and hear God in yours.

One of my new favorite verses in Scripure comes from Revelation 19:10,

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"

In other words, the testimony of Jesus in our lives is the very spirit and prophecy of what He can and will do in someone else's life. If God can redeem me, lift me from the pit, release my chains and set my spirit free to truly feel His love and acceptance of me...He will do the same for you. I promise.

7 Months Later.......

Those of you that know me (and love me) understand completely that I could go 7 whole months without updating my blog!! I have to admit, that I try to be on the computer as little as possible, because if I'm here in my office when the kids are up and on the move-- it looks as though I've been robbed when I finally shoo them out! Everything is pulled out from drawers and off of shelves and every marker, piece of computer paper, paper clip, thumbtack, book, cd, checkbook etc. etc. etc. is completely strung out. The phone is off the hook and children are fighting and fussing to climb up in my lap. Sound familiar anyone?!?!? Please tell me this doesn't happen just to me!! When these little bundles of joy are in bed and I'm waiting for curfew to roll around, all I want to do is sit on the couch and try to regain consciousness from the day!! Anyway- I had to give the dramatic side of my excuse for being MIA in the blogging world for 7 months!!

Honestly, the past 7 months have been absolutely wonderful! This busy life of being a mommy to 3 kiddos has it's challenges, but all in all, I wouldn't trade a minute of the hustle and bustle for anything! (Well, I might trade a tantrum or two).

Andrew is in Kindergarten at Harding Academy and loving it. We love all the fun activities that the Academy provides. Last week, all 3 kindergarten classes participated in a box car derby- what a blast. Andrew made a Celtic Soccer Team car and boy was his daddy proud! Andrew is a sweet hearted boy with lots of energy and we are finding out more and more that his greatest desire in life so far is to make others laugh and draw attention to himself! Oh boy!! Yes, we have already had several embarrassing discussions with his teacher about this issue-(thanks alot Gary McDaniel- my dad). But Mrs. Barden couldn't be a better teacher. It is so refreshing to know that your child really is loved unconditionally when they are away from home. We wouldn't trade our experience with the Academy this year for the world.

Abby is growing prettier and sassier by the day! She is mama's little girl and has daddy pretty wrapped around her little finger too! She is into EVERYTHING!! She loves helping with her baby brother and playing mommy with her dolls. She is in Carpenter's Kids Preschool 2 mornings a week and loves the interaction with other children. Sandwiched between 2 boys, she is learning to be tough and pretty tricky at the same time! George's parents were here for 2 weeks after Christmas and Granny gave sweet Abby all the attention she needed while they were here. I think she probably owns just about every little girl toy ever made now!

Baby Connor is not such a baby anymore! He turned 1 in December and is trying his hardest to walk. He loves to practice his "walking lessons" as Daddy calls it! He's still not taking off on his own too much though, but I'm certainly not rushing it! He is still a pretty laid back little guy, although he had to learn pretty quick to hold his own with 2 older siblings. He is a big ball fan and has one in his hand just about every second. His favorite past time lately is splashing and dropping his pacey in and out of the potty- so neat!!!

George and I are trukin along just fine too. We are both pretty busy with our jobs here at Harding, but we know how very blessed we are to be here. God has given us so many things to be thankful for- Life is Good.

Well, I'm not really going to make any promises about keeping up with this thing, because, well- you know!!
love to all!!

Summer!!!

Here are a couple of updated pictures of the kids. All is well here in Searcy. I have had a full summer full of camps and various groups in the dorm so far, but things should slow down a bit in July. Our family may plan a vacation together then. Hope all is well with all of you in the blogging world- I stink at blogging, but enjoy the pictures anyway!! Love to all!!

Checkin In

Well, I don't really have a lot to say, our family is just truckin along, everyone is happy and healthy at the moment! I figured I'd better check in to the blogging world, since it's been a while--again. I am about to embark on the end of the year and "closing down time" here in the dorm. Next week will be insainly hecktic and wild, but then it will be summer break!! I am desperately looking forward to some sleep! I'ts been a great year though, a blessing.

Andrew had his Pre-school graduation last night. I can't believe he will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall- what happened to my baby boy?!? I'm really looking forward to spending the summer with him at home with us for the last few months before school.

Abby has reached a milestone in her sweet little life too! She has overcome her addiction to her pacey!! She threw them in the lake for the ducks and has had very little trauma as a result. I hear her muttering every now and then "2 pacey in the bawter", but other than that, she has done great! Now on to potty training -uggg!!

Baby Connor is absolutely HUGE for our standards anyway! He is just over 16 lbs and is in the 75th percentile for his height and weight. Our other kids were barely on the chart at all! He is already in 6-9 month clothes and he isn't even 5 months old yet. He has started eating cereal in the evenings too, and loves it!

I guess I should mention George too! His news is that he just bought a boat motor this evening, so I think I'll be seeing a lot less of him these days! He deserves a little splurge though, he's such a hard worker and awesome daddy and husband to our family. Speaking of daddy- he's done (officially that is!) as of about 2 weeks ago!

I'll try to add some pictures in a couple of days or so, we've had another camera issue- don't ask!!

Love you all,
Donna

Back Home Safe

Well, my boys made it home safe from Scotland on Monday. They had a wonderful time and had lots of stories to tell of their special time. It is such a blessing to be able to share such a unique cultural experience with our children. Andrew got to wear a kilt to a wedding with George and although he wasn't to excited about wearing a "skirt" as he called it, he sure did look handsome! He was proud to match his daddy. I am once again so thankful for the father George is to our children. There aren't a whole lot of dads that would be willing to have a 5 year old tag along on a 9 hour plane ride and all that comes with a vacation with a preschooler! But George was so excited to make the trip with Andrew and share some special bonding time together. And Andrew is at an age that he'll remember the time he spent all by himself with his daddy.

The Lord blessed me here at home too. 2 of my dear friends came to visit and filled all of my time up with late nights and lots of fun so I wouldn't sulk about missing my boys. We had a blast and it gave me time to spend with Abby and Connor too. I am so glad to have our family back together again. Next year, Lord willing, we will all go to Scotland as a family and George and I will steal some time away together to Italy to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

Love to all, Donna

Precious!

Update--We received Andrew's passport on Thursday. He and George are having a blast in Soctland! They will return home on Monday.

Our life is speeding by so quickly! I can hardly believe it. Connor is growing so fast and just looks so big to me! Abby is talking in sentences now all of a sudden and today, we are taking Andrew to Kindergarten screening at Harding Academy! What is happening to my babies!!!!! I have to say that I am trying so hard to enjoy every single minute with my children and I realize now, more than ever before, what a joy and privilege it is to be able to stay home with them. I don't miss a minute of their growing and changing and I will cherish every single memory in my heart forever. I will also say, that for our family, 3 is definitely enough!! Our cup overflows!

George and Andrew are going to Scotland on Saturday. Well, let me re-phrase that, Lord willing, Andrew is going! We haven't received his passport yet. We have to call everyday this week to bug them at the passport place. I just pray that God will send the right person to find it and send it on it's way in time. We have been praying our little hearts out about this for a couple of days now, and I have to admit, that I am kind of thankful for the opportunity to share such a teachable moment with Andrew. I think it's so important to teach our children to pray for any and everything. God knows the desires of our hearts and he listens to his children. I know that if our prayer isn't answered and Andrew has to stay behind this time, that will be a teachable moment too. Sometimes we don't always get exactly what we pray for, but faith in God teaches us to trust in Him even if we don't understand. It will be okay, and we will keep on living, there are worse things that could happen. Any prayers on all your behalf would be appreciated though, it will break my heart to see Andrew's little heart broken. I'll be sure to update on the status of this situation at the end of the week!

We had the kid's pictures taken last week on the front lawn. I think they turned out beautifully! We love y'all, Donna

Precious Friends...

Sometimes I wonder why God blessed me with such wonderful friends. My whole life, as far back as I can remember, the Lord has given me real, true, life changing friendships. In fact, I can't remember a time I didn't feel the security and agape love of a handful of friends. There was even a time in my life that I was definitely not being a friend to those that considered me as a friend, and yet, deep in my heart I knew that those precious girls would do absolutely anything for me.

It overwhelms me to think that I could be so blessed even when I have been so undeserving at times. I had some deep special childhood friends growing up that I'm still super close to today and thru the years, I've collected a few more along the way. My eyes are filling with tears as I write this and I think of all the ways I've benefited from such special women in my life. It is a precious thing to share God in the center of such deep relationships, because friends bump up to "family" status very quickly in such relationships.

God knew what He was doing when he designed our need for relationship. I know that my walk with my Father would not be as intimate and real if it weren't for some pretty special women in my life that continue to teach me by there example and encouragement. I am reminded of the verse in 2 Timothy 1 where Paul writes such sincere words to his special friends, "I thank God whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers... I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy."

I love you my sweet friends, you know who you are--you are not only friends, but sisters. Thank you for blessing my life, bringing me joy, picking me up when I fall, and loving me for me.

I'm Back!!

Hey there! Yes, the Strachan's do still exist! I've wondered if I'm not on some crazy roller coaster that won't ever stop though!! Wow, life with 3 kids is pretty wild! Everybody needs something at the same time, including me! I have to admitt, I've lived the past several weeks feeling pretty overwhelmed, but thank the Lord, I think I'm coming out of the "fog" I've been in lately. I'm calming down a bit and am trying to listen to the Lord speak to me again. Why on earth do we forget to do that when we need His voice of direction the most?!

I picked up my bible in desperate need of peace yesterday and prayed for the Lord to speak to me through His word and this is what He showed me... From the Message, Psalm 119 I read,
" By your words I can see where I'm going, they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I've committed myself and I'll never turn back from living by your righteous order. Everything's falling apart on me, God, put me together again with you Word... Your my place of quiet retreat, I wait for your Word to renew me. "

Wow!! Exactly what I needed to hear from God! I need to be in His word to keep from falling apart. The quiet retreat away from the caos is simply found in Him. I'ts funny how light bulbs can go off in our heads at just the right moment! Duh, all I need to do is STOP!! Stop to breath, stop to relax a minute, stop to enjoy my precious babies, stop to savor my husband, stop to be thankful for the gifts that lay in front of me. Just be quiet in God's word and Stop!

I know that one day I'll miss this busy part of my life and long desperately to return even for a short minute to re-live what I'm not stopping to appreciate today. All of us with little ones at home, let's take a break from the stress and just enjoy, savor and appreciate what we have been given, what we don't deserve.

As you can see, our precious little Connor is growing so fast! What a joy he is to our family! He sleeps 7-9 hours at night too! Whew! I can survive anything when I have enough sleep! He is laughing and smiling all the time and focuses on us now, especially his active brother and sister that never stop moving! He spends lots of quality time with daddy too. They are great buds.

love to all,
Donna

One week old

Connor is one week old today! Wow, time has flown by so fast already! He is such a joy to our family, we are all getting along great so far, although I'm a bit worried about juggling three kids, housework and a dorm full of girls when George goes back to work! He has been such a huge help and keeps Andrew and Abby occupied and happy all day long! I am so thankful to have a month off for Christmas break, After all the fuss, I have to admitt, Connor was born at a the perfect time!

We are looking forward to Christmas! Hope all is well with all ya'll in the blogging world! Have a wonderful holiday season, I'll post some Christmas pictures as soon as possible!

Connor George Strachan

He's Here!! Our precious little angel has finally arrived! We have been home 4 days now and are all settling in great. Connor is a perfect baby, he eats about every 2 hours and goes back to sleep in the night just fine. When he's awake, he is happy and loves to just look around and listen to all the sounds of home. Andrew and Abby are doing wonderful with him, Andrew wants to hold him all the time and Abby loves to pat his head and make sure he has a pacy near by! George and I just feel so blessed, if I could sum up my life in one word it would be "complete". God has been so good to us.

It was so fun waiting to find out if Connor was a boy or girl, the anticipation during labor helped get me through. When he was born, his back was to us as the DR. was suctioning his nose and stuff and no one said if he was a boy or girl, it seemed like forever, although it was probably a second or two, then someone finally said he was a boy! It was all just so exciting!

I really wanted to try hard not to use an epidural and prayed about it for several months, in fact, I didn't really tell people how much of a spiritual issue it had become to me. I really believed that I could make it through with God's help. There were so many answered prayers along the way. My nurse was new to the hospital and come from a hospital where most moms chose not to use an epidual, so she was such a huge help to me. She talked to me a long time before the hard labor hit and kept me focused on what was to come. I went from 5-6cm to complete in about 30 minutes, so the Lord sped things up for me. It was a hard 30 minutes, but I did it! I remember at one point at the peak of a very intense contraction, I closed my eyes and saw the cross. The words running through my head were, "If he could do that, you can do this". I knew the Lord was whispering those words to my heart. I just kept telling myself that nothing is impossible with God's help. I'm not saying I'd recommend not using an epidural to everyone, modern medicine is a wonderful thing! But I'm glad I had the experience at least once!

We will keep you up to date as we can, our lives are in busy overdrive right now, but every mom loves bragging on their kids, so I'm sure I'll find time to share our blessings with you all.

IT'S TIME!!!!

The song "Be Still and Know That I Am God" has been running thru my mind since I last blogged, no wonder! God always knows what He is doing even when we start throwing temper tamtrums and getting impatient with His plan. All I can say now is, PRAISE THE LORD!!

My water broke at 4:45 this morning and we will head to the hospital in a bit. And today is my sweet Mema's birthday! It brings tears to my eyes to think of how God works. We saw her last night and she told me how she's been praying for the baby to be born on her birthday, and I know one thing for sure, God hears my Mema's prayers! She has prayed for me every single night since before I was born and I'm so excited that her prayers thru the years have been answered because I bet those prayers have saved me from alot of the junk of life! My mema is one of the most precious and influencial people in my life and I am just sooo excited to be able to cherish her memory in such a special way when she leaves this world. Now one of my most precious gifts in life will share this day with her. I love how the Lord works!

Please continue to pray for us during the labor and delivery, we will update you this evening with our little joy! Now, I need to go call my Mema!

This picture is of Mema, Andrew and Abby on this day last year- her birthday!

Stubborn Baby!!!

Ok, so I am officially 2 days over my due date and I'm getting impatient now!! This baby feels so much later to me than it really is because I've been expecting it to come early for about 3 weeks now! I have had contractions on and off for weeks, especially the last few days. We even went up to the hospital early this morning because I thought they were close enough together that they might admitt me and help move things along! No luck!! I had 2 contractions in the hour they monitored me!!

Dr. Citty said that I could come in Wednesday for him to break my water and I took the offer gladly at the time, now I'm having second thoughts and don't really know what to do! I'm just exhausted at this point, but maybe that's selfish. Part of me thinks I should just be patient and let God and this baby decide what is best, but the other part of me is going nuts! I have been praying every night that my water will break on it's own like with the other two kids so then at least I'd know I was really in labor!

I guess I'll keep you posted on whether or not we went in on Wednesday. I've got some praying to do between now and then!

Love you all,
Donna and Connor or Kaylee (stubborn baby #3!)

The Countdown Continues!

Well, we are 2 weeks away and still no baby! I guess this baby has it's own ideas! Maybe my prayers really are working and since this child isn't entering the world with gusto before it's expected like my other 2, it will be quiet, easy going and laid back! Ha, we'll see!

Dr. Citty plans to see me on Tuesday and said he would talk about inducing me this week if I was interested. George and I have talked about it and I think we are going to wait. God and this baby have their own plan, I better stick to that! I know it sounds weird, but I sort of want to spend as much quality time with the other 2 kiddos before thier world gets turned upside down. They both woke up in our bedroom this morning, Andrew camped out in his sleeping bag on the floor last night and Abby snuck in this morning and slept with me after George went to work. I guess they know some changes are about to take place in thier little lives. I pray everyday that I have what it takes to be a good mother of 3 kids. I want to give absolutely every ounce of energy and love I have to my family and I want them to know it and feel it!

Well, I guess in the next couple of days we'll be posting pictures of the new addition! Stay tuned!

Our family before baby #3

New Baby Count Down!!

Well, it's almost time for our new baby!! I am three weeks away from my due date- Dec. 9. Abby was 3 weeks early and Andrew was 2 weeks early, so really, anytime now for this one! Now watch, I'll probably go over the due date and be late! I have definitely been "nesting" because I was frantic to clean out the kid's closets and make room for baby number 3 this week! I washed all the generic baby clothes (which isn't much) and put it away and I've packed both my and the baby's bag for the hospital. I have a few more little things to get, but pretty much, we're all just waiting! I would really rather NOT go into labor while eating Thanksgiving turkey, so before or after next Thursday would be great! I don't want to miss all that good food and we all know what natzies the nurses can be about eating while in labor!
Part of me still can't believe we're having another baby! I really am starting to get excited now and less anxious. I've prayed so much that this baby will be as easy going as possible and sleep good, and that Abby Rose will adjust ok with not being the baby anymore. She is hard core in the middle of the 2 year old independance stuff and I just really pray she will not feel neglected or jealous. I know God will take good care of us. Sweet Andrew will be such a big help, I am seeing more and more that he really does have a heart of gold, he is so thoughtful of others and is almost always willing to help. I can't wait to see what personality this new baby has! We have 2 precious children now, with very different personalities and it's hard to imagine a different personality in the mix!
I'ts going to be real fun to see if this baby is a boy or girl, the excitement is really building now, so stay tuned, I promise to post our news just as soon as possible! Love to all, and keep praying for us during this time!

Pumpkin Patch

Well, I just had to share a couple more pictures of the cutest kids in the world! We went to the pumkin patch on Monday with our playgroup here in Searcy and we all had a blast. We went on a hayride, the kids picked thier own pumpkins and we had a picnic with our friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded with friends and families that are so special to our hearts. God is so good to us.

Soccer Game

I finally talked my tight (money conservative husband sounds better) into getting a non-ghetto camera! We picked it up about an hour before Andrew's soccer game on Saturday. I took some video, but I'm not sure how to share that yet on the blog, but I hope you enjoy the picture. I didn't get any close ups, I'll try to next time. But I just love this picture of George talking to the boys before the game. He is so sweet to them. I didn't get a great response from George however when I told him he was a "sweet" coach. I guess "cool", "awesome" or even "tough" would have siuted his fancy better! But it's true anyway. He is so kind and patient with the boys and they all really like him a lot. Andrew is doing much better at hustling and paying attention to the ball, he makes us both pretty proud.
I couldn't be more blessed to have the precious family God has given me. I wonder every single day why I'm so lucky and blessed. George really couldn't be a better dad if he tried. He reminds me so much of my own daddy and how loved I felt growing up as a child. I get chocked up thinking about it and feel such assurance and peace about my own precious babies feeling the same security and love from their father. George paints a perfect picture of God to his children as a loving, devoted father. I know that thier little spiritual lives are already flourishing because they will be able to understand the unconditional love God has for them someday, because of their relationship with their earthly daddy. He gives every ounce of energy he has left over after a busy day at work to our kids and they appreciate it so much- so do I!!
I can't help but recall my favorite passage in the bible in Jeremiah and how God has such special plans for our lives, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans of hope for our future. I recall a time in my life when I never believed I could have a life this good. I thought I had messed up too much, I thought I had thrown away any hope of a promising future. God picked George and I both up from the traps of Satan many years ago and led us straight to each other. I couldn't ask for a Godlier man for a husband either! Praise the Lord, I know how unconditional His love really is- I've experienced it first hand!! And now I get to watch my own husband reflect the same love toward his children.
Wow, I got deeper than I intended to about a silly soccer game!!
Love to all, donna

Another Try!

Ok, I never said I would be good at this thing! Ya'll all know how I hate to sit down and focus very long on anything!! Thanks for the sweet comments though (mostly!) Well, ya'll can forget pictures for a while because our camera is once again ghetto-like everything else the kids get a hold of. Anyway, maybe I'll talk George into getting a new one so we can actually enjoy taking pictures again!

Well, I'm sure you all know by now that I definitely didn't find out about the sex of this new baby! Ha- not one person thought I could really do it! Just about 9 more weeks to go and we will be a family of 3! Wow, I'm not sure I'm totally ready for it yet, but I guess I'd better gear up pretty fast! People have 3 kids all the time, I don't know what I'm so worried about, I guess I'm just afraid I don't have enough energy to go around so many different ways. I know God must believe I have it in me! It is such a blessing to be in Searcy near so many precious friends that know me well!! I know I have several people to call on if I start to go nuts! Being on campus is so nice too, I don't have to worry about cabin fever, I can just pile everybody in the stroller and stroll around campus or go see George in the student center. I am very blessed!

Anyway, I need your help with coming up with a middle name for a girl, if that's what we're having! We have pretty much settled on Connor Douglas for a boy name (George came up with that, sounds very Scottish doesn't it?- I still think it has to be the name of some famous soccer player or something, but he promises he came up with it on his own!) We like Annalise for a girl, we may spell it differently too, but I can't think of a middle name that goes well with it. Give me some ideas, I'm thinking it needs to be only one syllable so her name doesn't sound like a paragraph.

When we can get our camera to download again, I'll send a picture of Andrew at his first soccer game, he looks super cute in his uniform, I can't say much about his first game other than that!! He basically collapsed and cried on the field when someone took the ball from him or interfered at all. But I have to say, that last week he was awesome! He even scored a goal and really hustled well to keep up. Praise the Lord, because the last couple of weeks around our house have been glum because George had decided he failed at making Andrew a good soccer player. It was about to drive me crazy, so I prayed he would make a goal last Saturday, and I promise, not 2 minutes after that prayer, he did!!! It has been peace on earth around here since then, Andrew and George have both been glowing with pride and I'm thankful for the smiles again!! Why are sports that important to guys, I mean, what's the big deal anyway?