Who is like God?

Today has been a good day. For some reason it has been a highly emotional week where it seemed the cares of the world pressed in and weighed down. Then I had one of those moments yesterday where you see something and have a moment of realization that might seem like the cheesiest thing in the world to someone else but is just the smack in the head that you needed to get your thinking back on track. I was driving down the freeway and saw this little bird running back and forth dodging the cars hurtling at him at 65 miles per hour. He frantically dodged being smashed like a pancake until he remembered he could fly and went up instead of side to side. This was all a matter of seconds but as I continued driving, mentally remarking to myself on the low mental capacity of my bird friend, I felt that all of the sudden the Lord was nudging me to see myself in his little bird brain. Why do I spend time dodging worries, and stress, and in the borrowing of trouble when all I have to do is go up? And then I began to see all the ways I have been failing to go up lately. It can become so easy to get caught up in the spiritual training and development of my children and then have nothing left to put into my own walk. So, with renewed commitment to my own upward relationship with my Lord, I went into today, one of those days when going upward gets a lot easier.

Today was the big day. I think when you have not reached a mid-pregnancy sonogram five times because of miscarriage and when you have received the dreaded "here's what they found on the sono" call from a brother/sister and a friend, you learn to never take for granted the incredible beauty of a healthy baby on that little black and white screen. It is a moment where time stops and you realize that indeed everything IS okay and your heart can resume normal functioning. And there is also that precious moment as a family (all the kiddos were there) of hearing for the first time who this little person will be. Today it was, "Are you finding out the gender? Good, because he is really not wanting to hide it." :) That has been the same with all of our boys. They're proud males. Watching my kids' faces was priceless. Kailey's first response to a continued reign as the only princess? "I have lots of brothers. I be nice to them." Precious, precious girl. She is our beautiful princess. And she will, just like I did, know the incredible blessing of three brothers surrounding her with love and protection (even when she feels like someone needs to protect her from them). Levi just kept asking the sono technician to use the little wand on his tummy. He's obsessed with tummies and really wants a baby in his right now. Little does he know. John V was hysterical making his observations on the sonogram. "I think it looks like a mole. Or a sleeping bear." And after seeing the little heart pumping, "Look, he's talking to us!" Priceless stuff. We are all thrilled and excited to now be anticipating our little one by name!

God has been so good to provide us each time with a name that was special and had a story. Something to tell our little one that will hopefully show him/her the way God has been at work in his/her story from before the beginning. This one is no different. Back in the fall during the time of the two miscarriages we experienced in a few months, our kids were completely unaware of what was going on. We decided it was best for the time being and when they are older we will share more of that story with them. But during all of this they began praying for a sibling and John V came to me and said that we were going to have a baby, it would be a boy, and his name would be Mitchell. Now, for anyone who hasn't figured this out yet, we're kind of on a roll here with the "J," "K," "L," and now "M" name thing. John V wasn't really clued in on this so we thought it surprising and amazing that he not only suggested a great name but one that started with the correct letter. We thought we liked it only to discover that it means, "Who is like God?" It gives me chills. God declaring to us through our oldest son in the midst of the suffering that there would be another child and his name would declare the greatness of our God. Who says those Old Testament stories can't happen today?! We just have to be watching and listening...even to the least of these little ones. For his middle name we have chosen the name Austin which means, "Worthy of honor." We pray that for him and wherever we go in the years to come we will remember this year of change, of moving to a new city (Austin) and of crying out to the Lord for faith when everything seemed different and some of it painful, and out of that came this precious boy to remind us of where God has brought us. Of His faithfulness.

So, Mitchell Austin will arrive sometime in late August or early September and each time we call his name we will set up our altar to the greatness and faithfulness of our God. Thank you for praising Him and walking this journey with us!