Giving Thanks

There sure is a lot to give thanks for this year. But there always is.

First of all, our son! We are so thankful for little Asher Quinn. He has been such a blessing to our lives. Having Asher has really taught us about God's love. To know that God gave his only son, Jesus, to die for our sins even though we don't deserve it. When we look at Asher, we see God's love so much more clearly. It's amazing how having a child can expand that perspective and really make it more personal.

Second, I'm thankful for such a wonderful marriage. Jonathan has been so good to me and has made our marriage a priority, even in his ministry at church. We believe that having a healthy marriage can be a huge testimony of Christ's love to the church. Some of our students really need to see what a marriage is about and how that demonstrates Christ's sacrificial love for us. One thing Jonathan has been good at is setting Thursday nights as date night. It has been such a blessing to both of us. When I first had Asher, I thought that being away from him for a night would be so hard, but now I look forward to Thursday nights. It's great having time with Jonathan all to myself. I'm thankful for Jonathan's patience, love, understanding, and helpful hand and attitude. He's a great husband.

Third, I'm thankful for our families. We have such loving and supportive families. God has truly enriched our lives with believing families that enjoy our company and want to spend time with us. Family is so important to us and we are thankful for all the extended family members as well as our moms and dads and brothers and sisters. And who can forget the cousins. We can't give thanks to God enough for our families.

And I'm thankful for God's love. I'm thankful for His forgiveness and His grace. I'm thankful for Jesus and His teaching. I'm thankful that we can talk to God and give Him praise. I'm thankful for the plan He has for me and for our family. We thank God for guiding our lives and for allowing us to do His good work. We praise Jesus for his sacrifice and pray that we can only sacrifice ourselves to the Lord's will.

And then there's all the daily blessings that I tend to take for granted: trees with shade, a cool breeze, snow flakes, warm sunshine on my face, a nice home, furniture, daily food, clouds, the smell of fresh-cut grass, Asher's smile, Jonathan's laugh, cooking, heat in our car, two cars that run, a telephone, the internet, Iced Chai Tea Latte from Panera Bread, slippers, sweat-pants, toothpaste, running water, music (and lots of it), a microwave, interstate highways, vacations, ministry, our students, popcorn, friends, volunteers, babysitters, Glade Plug-Ins, milk, warm blankets and a soft bed, car seats, doctors and their offices, medicine, church and pastors, free activities, haircuts, flowers, books, clothes and shoes, socks, games, hot chocolate, surprise visitors, new babies, storage space, freedom and protection... There are so many more things to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for?

Sleepless Nights

Asher has had 3 separate ear infections since October 30th.

#1 - He was really sick Octboer 28-29 (over the weekend) while my parents were in Ames watching him so Jonathan and I could go to a high school reatreat. He was up all night while Papa and Nana were watching him. So we went to the docotor on October 30th and he was diagnosed with ear infection in both ears. So he started Ammoxacillin and continued that while Korrie and Sarita babysat him while Jonathan and I were on a Youth Pastors and Wives Retreat. His antibiotics finished on November 8th and we saw the doctor to recheck his ears on November 9th. They looked good so we went on our merry way.

#2 - Sunday night, November 12, Asher was up all night crying. I took the first shift and held and rocked him until about 4am. Then Jonathan took over so I could get a few hours of sleep. We called the doctor the morning of the 13th and got an appointment. That's when we found out that Asher had ear infection in his right ear. Dr. Nau said it was pretty bad so he put Asher on a potent antibiotic, Omnicef. So we went home and had another sleepless night until Tuesday when Asher woke up feeling better.

#3 - Then on Thursday night, Asher was awake, crying and whimpering every hour. So we made another appointment to see the doctor on Friday, November 17th. We found out that Asher's right ear was getting better, but his left ear had a terrible infection. The doctor also checked his oxygen saturation because he said he heard slight wheezing in Asher's lungs. Asher's sats were 94% and that's considered low (usually it's best to be 98-100%). So we were sent to have x-rays of Asher's lungs. His x-rays showed that he had the beginnings of pneumonia. So Asher had a shot of antibiotic in his poor little leg and he was put on Zithromax.

Asher finaly slept well last night and was actually smiling this morning. He had a bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal and played on the floor. It was so nice to see his smile again.

It's amazing how you can hurt for another person, especially your child. Plus, when you don't sleep your emotions totaly take over any kind of rational thinking. Tears seem to well up over the smallest things. I'm just glad that he's feeling better and we pray this is the end of his illness.

Welcome!

This is my first time doing anything like this! I don't even have a "myspace." Well, I thought I would use this blog as a space to record my thoughts on motherhood. But as I was setting up my little blog spot, I decided it would be about more than just motherhood. It would be about cooking, decorating, cleaning (which all have to do with motherhood), things that make me angry or full of joy, stuff that I think is funny and really anything else that I want.

I loved to write in high school and college and even contemplated being a high school English teacher. So, I want to use this as my creative outlet. Who knows what you'll find on my blog. I may just start a novel.

Oh, and I wanted to see what kind of creative juices are floating around in your head. I want a creative name for my blog but nothing cheesy. So if you want, you can post a comment on what you think my blog should be named. I would appreciate a little help in the title department. Thanks!!