Philippians 4:6

Hi,

This post will be quick. I have my first "proud mommy" moment to share! This weekend our little guy had been moving around so much, that I put my hand on my stomach to see if I could feel him kick from the outside, and I did!!! Spencer and my sister Kate both got to feel him move too. It was so, so cool. I know for Spencer it made his little presence even more real. I love it. I love him.

Tomorrow is a huge day for us. To be honest, in some ways I have been really anxious, despite repeating Philippians 4:6 to myself over and over, "Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." So when I feel anxious, I pray.

Would you please join us in living out Philippians 4:6 by praying with us for tomorrow? Specifically, would you please pray:
- For God to work out a miracle for our little boy
- That the cystic hygroma has continued to shrink and that hydrops have still not developed
- That our little boy's heart looks perfect and that the cardiologist can conclusively say that it is in his chest
- This his brain and spinal column have continued to develop normally
- That his lungs look perfect and are developing just as they should
- That there are no signs or markers of a genetic syndrome (Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome and Pantology of Cantrell often have an omphalocele as a marker, so additional markers could point to one of these)
- That the omphalocele hasn't gotten any larger and that no other abdominal organs, like the spleen or kidneys, are exposed
- The the baby's limbs and everything else have developed perfectly
- For the doctors-- for wisdom in their interpretations of their findings, that they would be somehow impacted by our faith and that God would use this to influence their lives
- For a heart of peace for Spencer and I, that we would be able to hear and understand what the doctors are saying, and for wisdom as we continue to walk forward through this.

Last night I realized that although living in so much unknown has been hard, one thing that has been great about it is that it leaves room for hope. Knowing that the hygroma had shrunk, that his heart has 4 chambers, and that the omphalocele is fixable has given me a lot of reason to have hope and to believe that our little boy, although will have a tough road ahead of him, will be okay. I think my anxiousness has stemmed from the fact that tomorrow the doctors will be able to see so much more and may be able to more definitively deliniate what is going on. My fear in that is if what we hear isn't good, that there will be less room for hope and that it will be harder to remain optimistic. Would you please pray that God would guard our hearts, my heart, against that?

Finally, I can truly say that this experience is the first time in which I have really had this true desire to fast. I wish I could say that there have been other experiences where I have felt lead to do that, but for some reason I haven't. I don't why. The trouble is that I don't think that being 20 weeks pregnant is a good time to fast because it wouldn't be healthy for the baby. So, if any of you feel so inclined to fast and to pray today or tomorrow on our little boy's behalf, it would mean the world to me.

Thank you to each of you who has read our blog, left notes of encouragement, and has prayed for us and for our son. God continues to be so faithful, and I am hopeful that we see an even bigger glimpse of that faithfulness tomorrow in a way that brings glory to God.

I will be sure to update when we get home.