More Praises To God, 2nd Update on Kristen, and The Unveiling of a Dream

"I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude."

Psalm 109:30

(KJV)

This morning, our phone rang, and guess who it was?

My dear niece, Kristen!

All glory to GOD, she is breathing better today,

and she called with the most amazing news!

These were her exact words that made me cry like a baby and caused me to begin praising God right there on the phone....

"My doctor called with the results from my genetic testing, 

and I am going to a have a perfectly healthy baby BOY!"

Oh, glory, glory to His Name!!!!!

If video doesn't load, click here.

Up to this point, we did not know the gender of the precious little one she is expecting, 

and, of course, we would have all been ecstatic, regardless which gender it turned out to be,

but it was so exciting to find out, and to hear the words, "perfectly healthy" in front of it

just made us greatly rejoice together!

GOD is hearing and answering your many prayers, dear friends!!

That is ALL there is to it.

Kristen is feeling better, the baby continues to thrive, in spite of all, 

and GOD deserves all of our praise, as always!

There are still major concerns, of course, and I wanted to share them with you and beg you to keep praying.

Kristen remains hospitalized, and the medicine that the doctors now have her on takes 6-7 months to work.

This means that she will have to continue to stay on it, via two daily self-injections, 

for the entire remainder of her pregnancy, and possibly, even a bit after that.

Needless to say, she is very concerned about the impact and effect this could potentially have on the dear baby she is carrying.

While they are telling her that it is low risk, any parent will understand the level of anxiety even "low risk" would cause an expectant parent to feel.

We know and realize that God does not need medication to heal.

We are pleading with Him to just dissolve this blood clot, in spite of what she is being told, and that He will continue to spare Kristen's life and not allow the blood clot to travel, 

and that He will just shield and protect the little guy and keep him safe all the way through a full-term pregnancy and perfectly smooth delivery.

Can we ask too much of our God?

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?"

Jeremiah 32:27

I know God has His all-seeing eye on Kristen and this baby.

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Jeremiah 1:5

This morning, Kristen and I talked about the amazing testimony this little guy will have one day

and how she will have so many stories to tell him of the things GOD has brought him through!

I keep thinking of the time the blind man was brought to Jesus, and His disciples asked Him,

"Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

John 9:2-3

Sometimes, God allows hard things to happen in our lives, 

for the sole purpose of providing an opportunity to demonstrate His awesome power to fix our problems.

Even though it is hard to see right now, I truly believe, with all my heart, 

that this is the exact reason this is happening.

Literally hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people are hearing about Kristen's trial,

and that same number will hear about her victory and how GOD brought her and the baby through.

The One Who will receive ALL glory will be GOD.

To Him it is due.

In spite of man's mistakes and them being the cause of this trial in the first place,

God is going to turn this test into a major testimony of His goodness, power, and ability to heal.

In Jesus' name, I speak this and claim it!

Dear Suzanne McClendon left this comment today,

"I can't wait to read the birth announcement telling of a happy, healthy baby and mama when the time comes for her to be delivered. :)"

I could not agree more, Suzanne, and I can't wait to write that birth announcement, either!

So many of you have shared in the carrying of this burden, and I will be so happy and grateful when we can all share in the victory and rejoicing together when God answers all of our prayers!

I tell you, I have just wept as I continue to watch the overwhelming influx of emails that keep rolling in to our inbox and the precious comments you are consistently leaving here on the blog.

I want you to know that every, single prayer you pray and every, single act of kindness you extend to us is GREATLY appreciated by Kristen, Mike, Sandi, Kevin, Zach, the rest of our family, and me.

I have forwarded your emails on to Sandi, so she can feel your love and also share your dear words of comfort with Kristen and Mike.

To say that we are most grateful is a huge understatement.

I am completely humbled and blessed beyond words to know that there are so many who care,

who will pick up our burdens and help bear them to the throne of grace,

and who will reach out to us in love during this difficult time.

Kevin, Zach, and I were talking about this blogging journey and how many things have happened  in our lives during the time I have been writing Homespun Devotions.

It has touched us deeply, time after time, as so many of you have prayed for us and lifted us to the Father and stood by our sides through the good and bad.

Though we still haven't met many of you in person, you have become very dear to our hearts,

and we consider you precious friends.

Do you know what?

I am going to share a secret dream of ours with you.

It is a dream that has been brewing and simmering in the back of my mind for the past couple of years...a dream that Kevin and Zach share with me.

Our dream is for the three of us to do a blogging tour together.

To come and visit so many of you dear friends and meet you face to face in person.

To spend an hour or two with you and pray together over shared needs and burdens.

To help you in some way, if possible.

To maybe even share a cup of coffee or tea or possibly treat you to a meal at one of your favorite local restaurants.

Who knows?

Maybe this is one of the reasons God is freeing us up and continuing to deliver and free us from so much bondage and so many encumbrances.

Psalm 37:4 says,

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

I believe that when we live our lives in perfect alignment with His heart and His Divine will,

He actually PLACES the desires in our hearts that He wants us to have, in the first place.

One day, I sat down and wrote out a list of the states where many of you live,

and I realized that it would be an amazing and extensive tour to come around and visit all of you.

It would be a big undertaking, but, hey, a girl can dream can't she?

Especially, when she is in personal relationship and on first-name-basis with the Dream Maker...

the Dream Giver...the Dream Originator Who placed the dream in her heart in the first place!

For now, we will continue to follow God's lead, as He steadily urges us to downsize, minimize, and let go of the excess in our lives.

We want to be ready for whatever He has for us to do next.

We've had the feeling that all of this preparation has been leading up to something great, 

and we want to redeem the time in between now and then and use it wisely,

so we are 100% ready when He reveals our next assignment.

So, may we all "occupy" until He comes.  Luke 19:13

May we all be found faithful!

Please keep Kristen and the baby and our family in your continued prayers.

You will never know how much we appreciate each and every one of you!

God bless you all and meet any needs you have at this time,

and if we can pray for you, specifically, please let us know.