Walking by faith

The past two years of my life have taught me a lot. A lot about trusting God for His will and His timing. A lot about simply putting one foot in front of the other. A lot about living life TODAY instead of worrying about tomorrow (or yesterday).

You may or may not know that for the past two years we had been trying to have another baby. The process that we have had to go through to get each of our children has been long, and very different for each of them. It took 22 months (of dr visits) before we were pregnant with Kate, 6 months with Jenna, and now this baby was a very long 23 months. 23 months of putting one foot in front of the other (often blindly) and waiting for the doctors office to call to tell us what we needed to do next. 23 months of waiting, crying, hoping, and praying that maybe - just maybe - this time would work. 23 months on a crazy emotional roller coaster. 23 months of trusting that God knew what He was doing, and that if it wasn't in His time - we didn't want it.

Add into this that during this same 23 month period, we decided to pursue selling our house. An adventure in and of itself. (There are separate blog posts about that process here and here) Part of moving, meant figuring out a whole new part of the metro area that we live in, and establishing a new normal. Oh, and we started homeschooling this year -- yeah, it's been a crazy-busy year!

I am by no means an expert, but I feel that I have learned a lot about taking steps by faith in the past 2 years.  I won't lie - it's SCARY to not know for sure where you are placing your foot (literal or figurative) as you take each step, but in the end it is so very worth it.

I am able to now look back at the past 2 years and see some of what God has been doing (or at least what I think He has been doing) through these trying times.

• Through infertility I have become much more open and real with others in my life.  I have always been something of a private person, not going to volunteer the "really personal" stuff.  I reached a point in this that I realized that I COULDN'T walk my path alone.  So, I reached out to some friends for prayer support (they got to hear the good, bad and ugly).
• I have been stretched out of my Southeast Suburbs comfort zone and into the Southwest Suburbs ... which might not sound like a big deal, but it meant moving away from all of the things that I knew and what was familiar - and away from many of our friends.  Learning new places and people has never been on my list of "fun things to do" - but I have, surprisingly, enjoyed getting to know this area and I am meeting some really great new friends. 
• I am happy to say that we are 14 weeks pregnant with baby #3, the girls are SO excited to have a baby brother or sister and love finding out each week how big the baby is now.
• I have learned that God's plan really is the best plan to follow.  We planned for things to be quite different than how they have turned out, but I wouldn't change them for anything.  I have increased my reliance on God in the past two years and that is something that I would not give up for anything - even if it meant that things had gone "my way".

If you see nothing else from this post - see this: God's plan is best - EVERY TIME.  It may not be what you want, it is probably not what you planned, but His plan is perfect and He is good!

I am going to leave you with a few of the verses that helped me through the past 2 years:

"For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And hope does not disappoint us, 

because God has poured out his love into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Romans 5:3-5

My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a matter

worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Philippians 1:27

And we know that in all things

God works for the good of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

There are so many more that I could add here - if you want them - let me know :)