Today's Church Message: In His Favor....

The message today at church was out of the book of Leviticus 26:3-13...

" 'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. 'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."

He always looks on us with Favor - Face Forward!!! God is not either, or. He is both, and.
He has never done anything to hurt me. He has always been there to help me through! He is here now more than I have ever felt Him.
The day that we lost the baby I didn't feel Him and I pushed Him away so much. I thought I could do it by myself because I was so angry with Him for what He did to me but, I heard Him whisper "Tish you need me now more than ever!"
"Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me." ~ Pslam 17:7-9

The "apple of your eye" - literally means the pupil. What do you do when you get something in your eye?

I can choose to feel hurt and angry at Him or I can choose to Praise Him in this storm! He has so much purpose in the loss of our baby! That purpose is perfect!

It's my chance to be closer to my husband than I have ever been! Praise Jesus for that! I love Mike more than on the day that we married! He has been a rock and continues to be everyday even when I fall constantly day after day! God's plan was so perfect when He put Mike and Tish together!!

It's my chance to share the good news!!! It's good because He saved me and it's news because so many people need to hear it! What a great opportunity! If this is what brings people to Jesus so be it and I will praise Him everyday for it!

It's my chance to be there for those that have or are going through the same loss! There is something comforting knowing we are NOT alone in this journey.
"I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone." ~ Number 11:17


Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus

Yard Work

There is just something about helping out family!
We spent the morning yesterday weed eating and mowing Mike's parents yard. His step dad Dan is suffering from major back pain right now. Please keep him in your prayers for his healing to happen fast!
I had not touched a lawn mover in probably ten years and I have never been on a riding lawn mower. Believe it or not I really enjoyed it!
Jonah our nephew helped by keeping watch on my mowing... Just making sure that I didn't miss a spot. Alyssa our niece helped by bringing us cold lemonade and weeding the garden. Great job guys you were such a big help!
Patty was awesome and made us breakfast and lunch! While Dan helped with coaching me on mowing. I wanted to make sure I got it right. Thanks guys!
Mike had the biggest job of us all... He weed-eated (I think that's right) the ditches on the side and front of the parent's home. It was a big job but it had to be done!
I kept thinking if I were pregnant right now I wouldn't have been able to help out and Mike would have been out there all day. I loved being able to not only help out his parents but, to help Mike out as well. He does so much for me!
"The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." - Genesis 2:18
It was also nice to see him get a kick out of me riding on the riding lawn mower too!

Memorial Day Weekend!

Mike loves to surprise me and book a hotel in random places so he booked a hotel Memorial day weekend in Burlington, WA.
At first I was like what are we going to do in Burlington, WA? But, if I know Mike he always has something to entertain us with.
Of course we stayed at a Marriott Hotel so we could earn more points for that Hawaii trip we are always dreaming about.

On our way out to Burlington Friday night we stopped at the "Angel of the Winds Casino" to have a 99 cent dinner and play a little bit o' slots. Mike always finds the best deals... We ate at Kate's Kitchen (I think that's the name) and I had a corn dog and fries for 99 cents and a free soda. Mike had salmon and fries, shrimp cocktail, and strawberry shortcake all 99 cents each and a free soda!! The food was actually better than we both thought it would be. We would eat there again for sure.

After eating we went and played on the slots with $20 plus free $5 that the casino gave us and won $8!! I know it's not a lot but, we love to win!

The next day Mike planned for us to go to Deception Pass. I had never been there and I was so excited! We got there probably at around 11am and it was the perfect weather! It couldn't have been a better day.

We crossed over the bridge to go down to the beach. Both Mike and I are afraid of heights it was crazy for us because there's not much walking room on the bridge! So I was in a hurry to get across but I was able to get a few pictures.

At the beach we spent some time just sitting on a log and enjoying the breeze hit our faces. I remember thinking that I was so lucky to be able to enjoy something so wonderful that God has created!

After sitting and enjoying the beach we decided to hike up to "The Summit" were the view was AMAZING! When we first got there only one couple and their kids were there so it was nice to be up there and enjoy the peacefulness that it had to offer before others started showing up.

After Deception Pass we went to lunch in Anacortes at Fidalgo Drive-In. We both had hamburgers and fries followed up by sharing a chocolate shake. It was really good!

After lunch we went to the Outlet Mall in Burlington. We were sadly disappointed. There were NO deals! We were able to get a few things from a kitchen store but that was it. :(

Later that night we had dinner at Bob's Burgers and Brew. We shared Turkey sandwich and fries. The food was good and so was the company!

The next day we drove down to Federal Way and spent some time with our good friends Paul and Julie! We stayed up into the wee hours of the night talking.

The next morning we had breakfast and played "Settlers of Catan" until 3pm!! At first I didn't think I would like the game at all because it was all about strategy. Mike is usually a lot better at games like that I am for sure. But I ended up winning two out of three games. The first one I won because Paul and Julie helped. But, the second one was all on my own! Paul won teh last game! Yeah you go Paul!

Memorial Day weekend was a great weekend for us.

Baby Hale "Our Story"

It has taken me a long time to decide whether or not I wanted to share this with anyone this way. After hearing and experiencing the loss of Zachary Michael DeYager http://zacharymichaeldeyager.blogspot.com/2009/05/zachary-michael.html through Shaun and Courtney I finally have peace about our loss and I want to share our experience with others.

So thank you Shaun and Courtney for giving me the courage to do this! You guys are such a blessing to us and we are so lucky to have you as friends!
I know this is long story but it’s the way I wanted to write it! :)

On Monday, April 27, 2009 I decided that I would go see my Dr. after waking up with cold symptoms that I had since Saturday.

The thought never crossed my mind that anything would be wrong with the baby. I thought that I was in the clear because I was 17 weeks and 2 days along!

Come to find out I did in fact have a sinus infection. Out of routine Dr. Sparks decided to check for the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler. After trying for 15 minutes she couldn't find anything. She kept telling me that the baby was probably hiding behind an artery or something. So, she ordered me an ultrasound for later on that day.

I wasn't really scared much at that point because I believed what the Dr. was saying to me "the baby was hiding" so I had been very excited to finally have an ultrasound showing the baby moving. The last ultrasound we had was at 7 weeks and the baby looked like a gummy bear and not much of a baby.

When we went into to have the ultrasound it seemed like forever to be brought in especially since I drank all that water. I was so excited but, at the same time I remember this feeling of worry hit me. When the technician was running the wand over my belly she had asked me to stop breathing so that she could check the sound waves from the baby better. Once that was over she immediately turned the screen away from me... It was then that I knew something was wrong. She did some more measuring, etc then left to go talk to the radiologist. As we were waiting Mike sat by the bed holding my hand as I cried, I was hoping that the technician was wrong. Mike was a rock from the very beginning everything I needed!

It was less than three minutes and the technician returned without the radiologist to tell us that in fact we had lost our precious baby. When she left the room I just fell into Mike's arms and cried so hard... I didn't know how to feel I was in so much shock!

I went out to the car as Mike took care of everything, talking to the Dr. on the phone, calling family, setting up for what should happen next, etc... Initially Dr. Sparks recommended a D&C... I was so scared I had never been under for anything and I prayed that I didn't have to do that. Not minutes later the Dr. called Mike back and recommended that I be induced and deliver naturally. I felt relieved but, still scared to have to go through with it. The Dr. had said that it would cause minimal scaring or none at all to deliver naturally.

Before I went home that night they took cultures and drew my blood to do all the testing that they could possibly do to see what might have gone wrong.

The next morning on Tuesday, April 28th at 7:30 am we went to Steven's Hospital. I never thought that I would be going to the hospital this early or much less under these circumstances. I knew that it happened to a high number of women and that it "could" happen to me but, I never thought it would truly happen to me.

When I walked in off the elevator on the 7th floor Kathy my morning nurse grabbed me right away and took me to my room and gave me the biggest hug and said to me, "I am so sorry that we have to meet under these circumstances but, we will soon see each other under happier ones." What a way to start things off! I could feel God in the room at that moment protecting me.

Later on Mike's mom Patty showed up and stayed for the majority of the time. Dan his stepdad showed up a bit later for a short period of time. I am so luck y to have that kind of support from my in-laws!

After the nurse set me up with an IV a technician came in to take my blood. By then it was close to 8:30am. At 9:00am Dr. Fuhrman (Dr. on call) came into my room to induce me. I'm not sure the name of the pill but the dosed was one and it was inserted vaginally. After six hours of nothing happening the Dr. came back to do the same thing but upped the dose to two. Another four and a half hours went by and the Dr. came in and upped it to three doses.

During the second dose I had been experiencing pain so Kathy the nurse hooked me up to some morphine to dull the pain. I wanted to not feel anything... When it's time to do this again with a beautiful result then I will think about feeling pain.

At first I was scared of taking the morphine, if you know me you know I hate taking drugs of any kind... She had to convince me "Tish you won't get addicted to it..." After some persuasion I finally pushed the button and it felt so much better.

After the last inducing dose Mike and I kept dosing on and off through the night. When our night nurse would come in and check my vitals we would wake up and chat with her. She was so nice and young! Her name was Mindy. I was so scared that I would get someone that was mean for the night shift but, God was looking out for me once again!

Through out the whole day we visited with the hospital Social Worker and the Chaplin. Our pastor was out of town.

Around 5:45 am Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom so the nurse came in and sure enough the baby was coming. Baby Hale was delivered at 6:15am on Wednesday, April 29th.

Three hours later the placenta came! We were so afraid that I would have to go under to have it removed but, we were saved by God's grace again!

We were released from the hospital at about 1:45pm that afternoon. I was so scared to leave and really face the reality of what just happened. But, God has been by our side every step of the way!

“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ~ Genesis 28:15

Everyday I see God's purpose in what has happened and I am thankful more and more each day!

We can't wait for the time we get to hold our baby in heaven until then we look forward to all the wonderful blessings God will give us! "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." ~ Psalm 30:5