Spillin' My Guts

(CAUTION: This will seem like a total Debbie Downer post at first. But stick with it...it'll turn around.)

My attitude is in stark contrast to the overwhelming "Happy New Year! Hope and Expectation! 2011 is gonna be great!" vibe floating all around in the air on this New Year's morning. And that contrast is only seeming to magnify said stinky attitude.

You see, I'm in THAT place AGAIN and it stinks. THAT PLACE being the place where I really, REALLY would love to be pregnant and am not... and don't know when I'll be...or if I'll be...ever again. For those of you that don't know, it took us three years to get pregnant with Ella. (Yes we know what's wrong, yes we've been to every doctor known to mankind and none of them can tell us WHY or what to do to change it short of fertility drugs, and that's a whole different conversation! So who knows what's in store this time around...but thus far it's seeming like a whole lotta the same.) Those of you that have been in this place, give me a shout out. I mean really, lets just say it like it is. It ROTS.

I'll admit, It's probably just because I know a lot of people at the same stage of life as me...or perhaps it's just my super narrow baby focus right now, but I swear I can sniff out a pregnant woman like a bloodhound tracking a wounded coon. And they're ALL around me! It was the same way back when I was trying to get pregnant the fist time and now we're up for round two... It seems as if everyone I know, and their sister, their aunt, their cousin, their mother AND their grandmother are all getting pregnant. I swear to you that I know THIRTEEN people who are pregnant right now (and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten some!). Please, please don't get me wrong. They are wonderful people who are already or will make wonderful mothers. I am so happy for them to expand or start their family. But I'd be a bald faced liar if I said a part of me didn't sink with a bit of disapointment each time I hear of someone new being pregnant. It just serves as a little reminder each time that I am not. Totally self centered I know. It may not be pretty, but life isn't always pretty people and it's the truth. There I said it.

HOWEVER. (Don't lose hope, here's where it starts to turn around...kind of.) I am also so very aware that when it comes to baby woes I am SO very much low man on the totem pole so to speak. I may know a lot of preggos right now. But I also personally know SO many people who are or have gone through situations that I cannot even fathom. I know people who have been married for 10 years, trying to have children for a good portion of that time and are now waiting to adopt, updating their numbers each month as they wait in REALLY LONG lines to be able to hold their baby in their arms. I know so many women who have had miscarriages... and multiple miscarriages and multiple miscarriages in a row. I know women who have given birth to stillborn children. I know women who have given birth to their sweet children and watched them die in their arms within days or months. I cannot even wrap my head around this kind of heartache...my mind does not comprehend and all words simply fail. My heart hurts for them and I am well aware that the ache I feel for another little one in my arms MORE than pales in comparison.

Oh how I pray for those ladies...the ones I know and the many, many women who'll I'll never even know, but who've experienced a heartache like that. And I count my many, many, many, many blessings. One of the greatest being a sweet, beautiful, healthy little girl who is, this very minute, running about with her daddy and filling the upstairs with the sweetest laughter I've ever heard.

And I ask God what he would have us do...what His plan is. Although it took three years to get pregnant with Ella I can look back and see that His timing was perfect. And even thought it doesn't look like we'll have another babe by the time Ella is 2 1/2 or 3 like I had wanted...I know His plan trumps mine...and while uncomfortable at times, even painful...is always better in the long run.

And I wonder. I wonder if one biological child is all He has for us. I wonder how much we should take into our own hands...with fertility drugs that are readily offered to us. I wonder if doing that might have us miss out on an opportunity He might have for us to expand our family through adoption or fostering...knowing full well that there are so many children with no parents to love them. One thing is sure. I know He has a plan. I know it is good. I know He will unfold it for us in all clarity at the right time.

For now, I wait. And in that waiting God gives me this promise, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:30-31.

But hold up... if that's true...then why is waiting so DANG hard!? Why is it that I feel impatient, sad, weary and not the slightest bit strong or renewed!? Well, from the mouth of one of my FAVE Bible Teachers (Beth Moore)...IT'S BECAUSE I'M NOT WAITING ON THE LORD...I'M WAITING ON THE "THANG". Now that may not hit you with the weight of a GIANT wrecking ball like it did for me, but please let it sink in. So often I am weary and down trodden because Iam just waiting on the "THANG"... The thing I want, the way I want it, when I want it. Instead He asks me to wait on HIM, focused on His strength, His character, His love, His comfort, His peace, and trust and wait for His plan. When I do that, waiting is pretty fabulous.

So Wendy if you're reading this....What God wants from me this year is to wait upon Him...not upon the thing.

Have You Ever Had One of THOSE Days?

Well, today was one of THOSE days for me. First off, I've been fighting some sickness for a while. Just keeping it at bay enoughs to still be able to steam roll through my days, but feeling like a steam roller just got finished with me by the time dinner's on the table.

This morning my kitty graced me with an unexpected trip to the vet, and a 1 Gazillion dollar bill for his pesky little UTI.

I needed to to laundry and pack our bags for a trip north for Thanksgiving, but I realized I had no laundry detergent or disposable diapers. A trip to Walmart ensued and I decided to use my birthday giftcard to shop for some clothes I really need while I was there.

First of all, they were out of just one certain size diaper...Ella's size of course! So I had to get the more expensive brand. (Please note: I HATE shopping. It's a necessary Evil.) I primarily needed long sleeve shirts. I must have tried on EVERY long sleeve shirt they had in the store. It took forever! Too big, too small, too thin, too low cut, too short, not my color. I ended up with ZERO long sleeve shirts. I picked up other things instead and headed to the checkout.

Nice cashier lady had rung up all my giftcard purchases and whatdaya know...I couldn't find my giftcard. I tore my purse apart there in the line and came up with nothin'! I asked if they could hold the items because I had spent all of that prescious time shopping and I WASN'T doing it again. She agreed. I bought my other things and silently fumed all the way out to my car. I looked all through the car and couldn't find it. As I pulled out of the store I realized my gas light was on. Had no idea how long it had been on. I drove all the way home and as I pulled in the drive I looked on the back seat and there was the gift card!!!! ARRRGGHHH. I figure either God was having a hearty chuckle at that point, or my whipping around corners had shaken that dang thing loose from somewhere.

So I filled the car up with gas, drove all the way back and made my purchases and got a grip and a little perspective. Although the events of my day were surely annoying, and would have made great material for an evening sitcom...they were surely nothing major. My bad day is probably someone else's best day comparatively. And then I had a good chuckle!

And besides that, who could stay in a bad mood when you come home to this little cutie! Here she is cruisin' with her crawling on ANY surface and hugging Mr. Quinn!