Special Blessings

On Thursday, July 13th our new little grandson made his debut. Mark ANdrew Stachowicz was born at 2:34 AM at Winter Park Hopsital. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 ozs. and was 19 1/2 inches long. At first glance he reminded all of us of his big brother Blake and Blake of course is beaming at that news!
As I write this he is asleep in the pack and play in our family room oblivious to everything. Jen, Mark, Blake and Mark Andrew came over yesterday afternoon in the midst of a storm because the septic system has backed up in their house. Mark has gone over there this morning to meet the men who will fix it.
It was a very emotional week for me as the baby needed to have 2 sonograms of his kidney area and then an abdominal x-ray as they did not know if he has a csyt on his kidney or a mass. Thank God it appears to be a cyst and the Doctors feel that it will dissolve. And then of course Bob does not have a job and we are putting the house on the market tomorrow... so it all caught up with me.
I look at this baby and want to be able to offer him what I was able to offer his big brother... a Gram who can take care of him instead of a daycare... and I don't know if that will happen. I look at Mark Andrew and understand from a mother's perspective how difficult it is at times to love a child. You love them so much and give them all the love that you have in your heart and then sometimes when they are adults they hurt you deeply. I know that is how I sometimes treat my Heavenly Father who has lavished so much love on me.

Blessed Be Your Name

The Bible tells us to give thanks in all things. It's so easy to praise God and to give thanks when everything is going according to "our plans" but certainly we all seem to struggle with giving thanks in the midst of the painful times. God's word teaches us that He uses those times for good... He grows us and teaches us to become more dependent on Him. To trust as we maybe never have before.

On Sunday we went to church and one of the songs that we sang was the song "Blessed Be Your Name". I love that song and it is such a reminder of how we need to praise our God.

We are still in the "desert place" as Bob has not found a job yet, but I can honestly say I feel God's peace in the midst of it all. I think that in some ways it actually has been a "Good" time for Bob and I. We haven't spent this much time together since I was pregnant with Robert some 35 years ago. I think that it has brought us closer and helped us both to remember God's faithfulness at other low points in our lives.

So I will say .... Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name... Blessed be the name of the Lord...Blessed be Your glorious name.

Happy 4th of July 2006
Well, I have had lots of time to practice my patience and just waiting on God. Bob lost his job about 7 weeks ago (it seems longer) due to downsizing at his company. We have been sending out resumes and so far he does not have a job. We are even looking outside of Florida, but so far nothing has turned up. We are doing our part... the networking and sending out resumes and talking to Recruiters and trusting that our God who shut this door will soon open another.

In the interim we are getting lots of home improvement work done. We spent this past weekend weeding, planting flowers in the spots of those which succumbed to the heat and mulching. We are both sore, but the yard looks happy :)

I have also finished 2 quilts that had been on the chair for a while, caught Blake's personal Scrapbook up and started working on some craft ideas. My creative brain has kicked in once again. I think it has been asleep for a bit.

I also started facilitating a Pathway to Purpose Book Study at my church. It's a small group of women, most of whom are my Morning Glory friends, but I am looking forward to seeing how god will move each of us during this study.

God is so good. Everyday He gives me glimpses of His great faithfulness. Despite the fact that Bob isn't working and our cash reserves are dwindling it many ways it has been good as it has brought us closer once again. It has been a reminder to me as I sit here and write this morning of the early days in our marriage. I got pregnant with Robert 3 months after we married and the day the Doctor confirmed my pregnancy Bob lost his job. And then... to make matters worse I had to quit working because my blood pressure was so low that I needed to be off my feet. So there we were, no money in the bank, a mortgage and bills to pay and no income except for a small check every week from unemployment. Gosh, were we scared!

Bob's uncle put him to work doing carpentry for him and that kept us afloat and allowed us to pay bills. God was faithful then and He has been in so many instances in our lives.

He is the Shepherd who walks with us through all of the valleys.