January 31, 2000--this was a life changing day. I came home from the hospital with my first baby girl. A new baby, new mother, a new father, and a mother-in-law in the house! It was not a pleasant night. I remember it was a Sunday evening when we got home, (had had an emergency c-section at 10:40 on Friday night) it was way too early to be home from the hospital. It was Superbowl Sunday and the Rams were playing, that's about all I remember about that. I do know that the Hastings came over after church to visit. As they were leaving I remember Bro. Jeff commenting to my in-laws that they should just stay the whole week! I told him it was time to go... :) I remember sitting in my chair rocking baby Taylor, I wrote my husband a note and passed it to him. It said...Do whatever you have to do to get them to leave tomorrow. It was a long night, not much sleep, they left the next morning and we had a great week as our new family. Something about bringing home a new baby, especially the first one.

As I sit here eleven years later I am truly amazed at how the Lord has blessed my life. We prayed for a baby...the Lord answered our prayer and gave me 3 healthy baby girls and 2 babies await us in Heaven.

I am so thankful that the Lord gave me the desire of my heart. So many times I would petition the Lord, give Him my burden, but then take it right back. Finally in early 1999 I realized that I was letting my circumstances (of not being a mother) control my joy. The Lord showed me that the Joy of the Lord was my strength and that if I was depending on my circumstances to make me happy I was not right with Him and I would always need something else to make me happy. So I made a decision...I gave Him my burden. I decided to live my life for Him and that if He wanted to answer my prayer and give me a baby I would be happy. If His will was for me to never have a baby I would be happy. This attitude changed my life. And literally a few months later I was able to share with so many who had prayed for me that the Lord was giving me the desire of my heart.

I'm so thankful for the memories of life, hard times and all, so that I can see how the Lord has worked in my life and changed me...