Baby Blessing Numero Tre

10 weeks

Less than 6 months ago...if you asked me if I was interested in expanding our family with more kids, you would have heard that I was content to be done...accompanied by many rational lies like "we agreed to only have 2 kids", "we don't have the space", "I don't have the energy..I'm getting old", "John will be deploying again soon...I'd be alone caring for 3 kids, plus I have to keep up with homeschooling."  But with my husband open to having a third baby; it left my heart a bit uneasy with a sense of disunity in our household.  I started praying that if it was God's will that He would change my heart to want a third baby or that He would change John's heart to want to adopt.  After connecting with about a dozen older, wiser, godly women within my church and asking them how they decided on the size of their family....I learned what convictions they gleaned in this area according to the Bible and their relationship with God.  Each response they gave me resonated in me in one area or another, forcing me to search my heart to see if I'd find...fear or faith.  I had to admit I was making a choice not to have anymore kids based on mainly fears and not a strong leading from God.  But boy was I stubborn and God was going to have to get busy changing my heart!

Through more influence from an online Christian group that encourages women as wives and moms, an old missionary friend from Germany telling me that I was a great mom and should have 3 kids, and then our pastor at Lighthouse preaching on trusting God for what He's called us to do...at last! the stack of bricks in my heart crumbled and I shared with John that I was open to being blessed with another baby if He chose to.  John was overjoyed of course!  What a miracle and adventure--God was taking my heart and enlarging it to include more kids to love!   
 
November 22nd, we got the exciting confirmation that we were having a BABY (one baby seen at our first ultrasound on December 15th)!  We had so much to be grateful for at Thanksgiving this year.  We told the kids that they would be big brother and big sister on December 14th.  Ellie was especially excited and exclaimed in hushed wonder, "That is amazing!"  For Joel, slightly unimpressed, perhaps thinking it was the most natural of things to happen in our family...took it all in stride.  We decided it would be so much fun to tell the news to our families during our trip home the end of December/January IN PERSON, which we never got to do with Joel and Ellie.  It has been extremely hard keeping such an exciting, great big secret!  It will be fun to see everyone's shocked, happy faces...as I'm sure they never really expected we would have a third baby!

Our official due date is July 27th (summer baby!), but with a scheduled C-section probably around July 20th.  We'll see if Grandma Kathy gets a birthday buddy since her birthday is on the 18th!  I'm thankful for such great timing as I'll have a month to recover and adjust before we start the homeschooling season again.  For now, I'm just trying to get through all the first trimester challenges (i.e. throwing up, nausea, tiredness, etc.).  For now, John and the kids are doing great at picking up my slack and give me grace when I need it.  It is much appreciated.