Family News!

I have not forgotten that I still need to share what God taught me on the retreat. I think I am still processing it all. That amount of uninterrupted time with Him was totally unprecedented for me and I think that I am still a little in awe of the fact that He spoke to me at all. I will share what I learned though, just give me time. I do want to share a couple of other things that are going on in our family though.

First, I am praying about something, and would appreciate your prayers as well. I was able to be with a dear friend of mine when her baby girl was born at home about three and a half years ago. The feeling of being at the home birth of a baby was so awesome I don't really have words to describe it. I came home from that birth and said to Stan, "I really, really wish I had gone to school to be a midwife. I could do that every day." That thought has been put on the back burner for obvious reasons as our life just continues to get busier and busier. However, God has really opened doors for me to learn a lot about nutritional healing and herbs for medicinal purposes, etc... After I decided that Arbonne was not going to be a good fit for our family on a full time basis, I felt like I wasn't offering help to as many people as I was when I was with Arbonne. I continued to learn, but kind of felt stagnant. Now, it seems that people call me a lot and ask me what they should use to treat this or that minor ailment with their children or themselves. I love sharing what I have learned and how it has helped our family, but the traditional medical field holds NO appeal to me whatsoever. Last weekend on the retreat, there were two midwives. As you know, women together always eventually get around to sharing birth stories (kind of like men and their fishing stories) - it gets harder and the baby gets bigger for every one! I spent a lot of time talking with Crystal, who I described in my last post. As I shared with her my love for alternative medicine and how I felt at that birth, she encouraged me to start my doula training and eventually become a midwife. I immediately thought of my friend who had invited me to her birth in the first place. I knew she had a heart for midwifery. Little did I know she had already started her doula training with the intent of eventually becoming a midwife. So, now, I am praying about embarking on this with her. We figure we may be able to do it faster together, since we would have help with young children - she has five and homeschools and I have four. So, this is something new on the horizon for me. I'm not sure what God is telling me or what I would end up doing with the training. I figure it could certainly come in handy on the mission field or with friends and family if nothing else. I love the fact that God chose to make our bodies so absolutely amazing that as women, we can actually sustain life inside of us and then with His help, bring it forth into the world as a little person. It is beyond me how people can experience the miracle of life and not believe in a Creator God. To think He allows us, fallen women, to be the vessel for this kind of miracle. I am amazed to think that I could be a witness to that regularly as a midwife. I love it when I encourage women about birth, especially if they have experienced a c-section previous, and then they end up with a natural birth. They are so full of wonder and joy that their bodies were able to do what they were created to do. As a disclaimer, let me say that I know there are times when intervention is needed and I am so thankful that we live in a time when God has allowed medicine to get to a point that women and babies are able to be saved through c-section. I truly believe I have Joshua with me today because God used that surgery to save his life. Please don't hear me say there is no place for medicine in birth, but I truly believe that surgical birth is being overused for convenience sake and too many lives are being put at risk. Anyway, if you think to pray with me about that, I would appreciate it.

I have another piece of family news to share with you. Stan's mom, Gayle, who some of you know, is engaged to be married! We were very surprised, but we are very excited. When the kids and I were visiting in Birmingham during the middle of June, we were fishing on Father's Day at a state park called Oak Mountain - I think I posted on that earlier. We were on the pier with a family consisting of two sisters and their husbands and children and their dad. We all had a good time chatting while the kids fished, but did not take the time to really get to know each other - never dreaming we were to become family within the year! Peter began a conversation with Gayle and we found out that his wife had passed away 13 years ago. We also found out that they live in the same neighborhood. He told her he would call her and that was that. So we thought. We left later that week and he did call her. They began spending time together and have completely fallen in love! His daughters are thrilled that their dad has found someone after so long and we feel the same way for Gayle. I have spoken to both girls on the phone and we instantly hit it off. They are probably a few years younger than me, but very similar in a lot of ways. One sister has one two year old son and the other has three year old twin boys and an 8 month old daughter. We already have a lot in common. We are looking at an October wedding, but have not finalized plans yet. Our next step is a long weekend getaway sometime in the next few weeks so that Stan can meet everyone. He feels a little out of the loop without faces to put with the names. Bryce was able to spend the weekend with Gayle while I was at the retreat, so she got first dibs on getting close to everyone. She is absolutely in love with their precious kids and with her new "aunts and uncles" and Papa Pete. Please keep us all in your prayers as we move forward with this new adventure!