Week 34

Andrew has five weeks off between semesters and he has been busy!  Not only did he spend a week in Washington, but he has been spending all of his free time doing things around the house to get ready for Baby Girl.  

He took our crib over to our friends, the Malones, so that he would have a little room to spread out and get it sanded and painted.   

All sanded and ready for some paint!

Andrew picked a sunny day to work on the crib at the Malones!

On New Year’s Eve, we both went over to finish painting the crib together and found that Chris and Lauren had painted it as a surprise for us!  We were so touched!  Our friends have been such a blessing in our lives and truly an answer to our prayers. 

With Andrew now in grad school, we have definitely had to find ways to save on the expenses of a new baby.  We really puzzled over how we could do this.  All of our prayers for many months revolved around finding ways to provide for our little girl.  It was especially hard on me, I think, because I am a planner and this baby was not fitting into our budget!  I couldn’t see HOW we were going to make financial ends meet.  We were stretched even thinner at this time as I did not have health insurance and we were paying cash for all of my prenatal care—as in thousands of dollars worth of prenatal care.  More than a few tears were shed as we agonized over this.

But just as we have discovered time and time again, Heavenly Father will answer our prayers.  And He answers them with an outpouring that we can hardly contain. 

In the middle of December, my visiting teacher, Jess Shorter, dropped off two large tubs and a garbage bag full of baby items that she no longer needed.  That same week, Lauren Malone dropped off another bin of clothes.  January 1, after many, many phone calls, Andrew got us signed up for health insurance.  The first Sunday in January, we received a Facebook message from a family in the Lynchburg second ward that had a stroller they no longer needed.  And it hasn’t stopped.  I receive daily phone calls, texts, Facebook messages, etc. of things that people want to pass along to us.  What a blessing!  Our nursery is now overflowing with generous gifts from friends and family and the burden on our shoulders has been lifted!

We are thankful to our Father in Heaven who is ever mindful of our needs and know that HE WILL PROVIDE.  We are grateful to be surrounded by a Church family that acts as His servants and has ministered to our family.  Their sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit on our behalf, have touched our lives and strengthened our testimonies.