Life is Good

Oh....life is good...it is so good to be home! I didn't realize how much I'd missed my girls and my husband and the craziness! And it is crazy...though we've had some fun family times these past two days...last night was movie night at the Poche's house and today we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun. My sweet husband has been on a cleaning rampage this weekend....lucky for me!!

Lydia has been eating fairly well today....just the bare minimum, but within accepted range, nonetheless. I hope to see her appetite pick up more and more this week. She is not refusing it by shifting her head side to side anymore, like before. She just stops sucking (or falls asleep) near the end of a bottle sometimes. Her spoon-feeding has gotten a lot better over the past few days. She seems to be enjoying her fruits and veggies. :)

I hear more and more often of new people following our story by reading the blog and joining in prayer. I am inspired, encouraged and strengthened by this more and more. I usually hear about someone new at just the right time...when I need a little pick-me-up...just God following through on His promises to remind me that He is there and sending people to carry me. Thank you!

A little reflection....
I received this story in an email today...it speaks volumes:

WHEN YOUR HUT'S ON FIRE
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Everyday he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief and anger! He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?" Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. The Moral of This Story:It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives...even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

I've always felt strongly that pain, suffering, grief, etc. are inevitable in life. I have never felt like God was punishing me during any pain I've endured. I've always felt that we must know pain in order to truly know happiness. How would we ever know how good life was if we never knew how bad times could be? It makes such sense to me. Before Martin and I had our three beautiful girls, our first pregnancy was a miscarriage. Very soon after that happened, I counted it as one of the blessings in my life. I felt so much love and support from my family and friends around me at that time...I saw something new in my husband that made me love him even more...and it all happened in a way that only God could have planned: Martin and I knew that we wanted to get pregnant, and I was leaving for the weekend for a bachelorette party for a friend of mine...I knew I'd probably have some drinks, so I decided to take a pregnancy test before I left, just in case. Well, it surprised us as positive. I made an appt with the OB and we had ultrasounds three weeks in a row because the doctor wasn't sure if it was a good pregnancy or not...it could have just been too early in the pregnancy to see a heartbeat. By the third ultrasound, we found out that the fertilized egg had actually disintegrated in my uterus. I had to have a D&C to rid my uterus of the debris. The doctor told us that if I hadn't had the procedure in time, we may have had trouble getting pregnant again. I had never felt pregnant...had not missed a cycle yet...I would have missed the entire thing, if it wouldn't have been for that bachelorette party I was supposed to go to. I felt so good about it and was so thankful that God planned it to happen the way it did...we may never have had our three beautiful daughters. Sometimes it is hard to recognize the gifts that come with difficult times. I pray that God opens our eyes to those gifts when we have trouble seeing them ourselves. I already am so thankful for the experiences I've had through Lydia's difficulties. I have been granted so much love and support from so many people...I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Yes, some times are really hard...but we know that God has a plan for every minute of every day. We must be thankful for the difficult times because without them, there would be no happy times....how would we know what happy was?