Welcome Little Wonder: The Divine

I cannot reflect on Moriah's birth without declaring God's goodness and kindness to our family. It compels me to say...

God is our help and strength. He gives abundantly more than we ask or imagine. The prayers of His people are powerful and effective. He is truly with us, holding us, caring for us, and working out His perfect timing. The Glory is His, the Story is His, and I am forever grateful that our lives are His forevermore. 

Here are some of the prayers we and so many others prayed along the way that He answered so graciously: 

-Let us one day laugh at how much easier it was to deliver a child in North Africa than in America...believe me this prayer took a lot of faith and was even prayed without full confidence. 

-Please work the timing out so Felicity can be cared for, Cheryl and Dan are in town, Dan gets to be there for as much of the birth as possible...with a small social network here, and all of them out of town for Moriah's due date, this was a huge request.

-Getting an epidural, blood transfusion or c-section frankly terrifies me in this foreign place, please keep us from all of these, Lord

-Please let her delivery be short, let us stay at home for most of it, and let us get home as soon as possible following her birth

-Give Cheryl and our doctor wisdom

- We pray for a healthy baby girl and mommy

We called, and He answered. We are still in awe and completely overwhelmed at His kindness to our family and the kindness of our friends and family that joined us through prayer though they were so far away. 

God met me through prayer in another way during labor. Just the night before, we had listened to a message and the speaker said something like, "we are most miserable when we focus on ourselves." This word came to me early in labor, and I decided to pray for friends and family through contractions. In between, I picked who I would pray for in the next contraction. It gave me focus and really helped me get through the first 4 hours of labor. It was something I did not plan. In moments of pain, in this big life moment for our family, I was able to walk with so many of you who have faithfully held us up along the way. It was a gift.

We moved to this new part of our country at the very beginning of my pregnancy. I would say this season has been a greater struggle for me than when we initially moved to North Africa. There were times I cried and cried, afraid that I hated this place and couldn't bear to live here because of how sick I felt. I battled the god of comfort and realized its ugly place in my life. I had moments of fear for my own health and that of our little girl's. All the while, I never questioned if we should deliver in this place. In hindsight it's as if God sheltered me from all of the crazy places my mind could have gone or the depths of fear my heart could have felt. He carried me along giving the grace I needed each day. He carried me even until the very end.

In the very last pushing moments of her birth, I had an image of Him holding me. For a moment things seemed to standstill, and I felt as if I was looking on at the whole thing in slow motion. I was being held. 

I'm not the kind of person who this sort of thing happens to regularly. I struggle to see beyond the concrete and the here and now. This moment was one of the most affirming in my faith journey to this point. I marvel at His presence, and I give thanks that He allowed me to feel it and know it so well at such a time. It is my prayer that this piece of our story, Moriah's birth, will continue to encourage us and deepen our trust as we follow the One who so graciously provides all we need through His presence alone. 

For all of these things we give YOU thanks, God. Help us to walk on in light of what you have done and in complete trust in what you are are yet to do.

Our Little Wonder: One Month

One month ago our little wonder, Moriah, was born with a head full of brown hair, blue eyes, and blue little hands. Her hair is still here but has lightened a little, it even reveals shades of auburn at times. Her eyes are still blue and her hands are still little but blue no more. We love her little natural mohawk, her wide-eyed stare that sometimes goes cross-eyed, and the way she breathes on our cheeks while grunting with her little open mouth. 

Early on her daddy started calling her Mo-Mo. I said there's no way we're calling our little girl Mo-Mo. Here we are at the end of the month, and I admit, I call her Mo-Mo and sort of love it. 

Her very first night she slept six hours straight, God's grace to her parents. Ever since we've had stretches of 1 to 2 hours with a very rare 3 hours of nighttime sleep. She eats well and has since the very first time in the hospital. Sometimes I do wonder if she drinks as much milk as she spits up! She spends the night hours with mommy starting at 10 p.m., and then occasionally has quality time with daddy as early as 5 a.m. 

Moriah loves her little hands and won't stand them to be swaddled. She loves to suck on her fist and has been known to be calmed by a little pacifier time. Bath time is her favorite and ours. She seems to relax immediately as Daddy holds her with one hand in our kitchen sink. 

By week three, glimmers of a smile were in her eyes, and she even gave a few legitimate ones to show off her dimple on her right cheek. She also started lifting her head off of our shoulder and rolling to her side from her back. Of course, we think she's advanced. ;) 

On her three week birthday big sister and mommy took her on her first outing with our friends to a traveling Italian circus. It was loud, there were lions, and she was a dream sleeping and eating most of the time. 

Over the course of the month, she's had quite a few visitors. It all began at the hospital with various nurses and receptionists coming to see the American baby. Since then, we've been blessed with friends and neighbors coming for sweets, juice and snuggles. Moriah tends to sleep through it all and does a great job of letting others hold her when she's not hungry. 

The poor little thing has already seen God's protection as she had her first little "surgery" performed by Auntie Cheryl for a terribly infected hang nail. She also came out unscathed after a very tired mommy slipped on the stairs while holding the sweet girl. We are grateful that He sees her and is taking care of her every need even when we are lacking. He always provides.