Newsday Tuesday, hold your babies close

Newsday Tuesday and the biggest news is ....


Iridessa Skye Guinn has arrived!
She was born 12/05/11
at 6:06pm weighing
5 lbs, 6oz

She is a miracle. It's so surreal... it seems like a lifetime ago that these two kids were dealing with this crisis pregnancy, trying to navigate some rough waters with their families about baby Dessa... and one thing that stayed steadfast and true, no matter what the consequences they faced, Logan and Hillary wanted this baby. Before they knew it was a girl, before they knew how they would manage to raise her. They still may not know how... but they knew they loved her and wanted to give her life. It hasn't been easy. Even now, Dessa is in NICU because her blood sugars are unstable. All I know is that any life that God creates deserves a chance to be born... and then to grow surrounded by love... Every life matters.

There's a news story right now here in Atlanta about a 7 year old girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and discarded into a dumpster. From the mother who allowed her child to play without supervision to the evil creature who harmed this precious child... there was a serious disconnection of comprehension of how precious life is.

For me... it would be like allowing my little niece Jamie... with all her bubbly sweet innocence... to be put in a place where anyone or anything could harm her. How could you let your child out of your sight? Even now... with Austin nearly grown... I worry when I don't know where he is or what he is doing. God's grace allows me peace with the things that I can no longer control where my children are concerned but... I can't help but worry and wonder about the babies that I brought into this world...

To have a child is to forever have your heart walking around outside of your body.

There is a young boy in Jacksonville who violently pushed his little brother into a bookshelf. While the little boy laid unconscious, his mother searched "loss of consciousness" and "concussion" on the internet... downloaded music... checked several other websites...for several hours instead of calling 9-1-1. Her two year old died and her 12 year old son is on trial for murder. As a mom, you can't always keep your kids from fighting but she failed to protect both of her children.... the baby, by not calling for medical assistance that would have probably saved his life... and the older child, by putting him in a position where the consequences were far more severe than they had to be.

My Boo... my oldest son... will be in Georgia for Christmas... so although I'll be pretty much confined to my nest for the duration, I'll at least get to see him.

My mom will be coming to stay with us when I have my surgery. That will make a huge difference. I worried about how mobile I would be and whether I would be able to do anything. I've been searching the internet for testimonials about the recovery from this surgery and they all consistently say that the pain is horrible for the first week or so. I'm anxious. Trusting God but anxious.

Our landlady had a huge party over the weekend and shared the leftovers with our neighbors upstairs who shared them with us... turkey, dressing, green beans... mmmm! And one of our clients brought banana nut bread yesterday... also very mmmm!

As I was sitting in the parking lot of a busy shopping center in Cornelia yesterday (the old Walmart) eating a banana and listening to Rush Limbaugh, this man approached my car and wanted to engage me in conversation. I was parked far away from any other cars and my window was down because the weather was mild and I had just been chatting with a coworker who was in the same parking lot... she pulled up beside me and we chatted. So... it was very unsettling. I made haste to get away from that situation.

My stomach is still very unsettled but yesterday, all day at work... my tummy was fine. My back was pretty out of whack for most of the afternoon but I was stronger than I thought I would/could be. Every day is a blessing. Every day that I can do what I need to do... blessing. Every day that I am not strong enough in my own body and have to rely on God... still a blessing.

  I wanted you to be able to hear this beautiful song by Christian Artist Sandi Patty... I tried to find a youtube of her performing it but all I could find were these tributes created by mothers for their little ones. Made me kind of mushy... I used to sing this to my babies... it's based on Psalm 139, the chapter I was learning this year... I gave up right around the time of the fire. I'm determined to finish by the end of the year ANYWAYS.

So that's all the news from the nest and beyond... praying that you have a wonderful Tuesday!