we're back!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted, but whew, it has been such a busy couple of weeks! Mom came into town two weeks ago and then I had to report into work all last week to fill in for one of the partners of the company I do freelance design for. God has been so great, as always, and Noah is getting very big in my belly! Nathan and I registered last weekend for our baby showers. We had the best time, and Nathan designated himself as King of the Scanner Gun! Oh boys! We registered at Babies R Us, Target and Baby Depot (part of Burlington). We found his furniture also, and we are really starting to plan his room, so we can get it going at the end of May. Check out what we registered for on those websites, and then find ours by my name.

His room is going to be a "Sophisticated Safari". Sophisticated, meaning no cute baby safari animals, no baby pastel colors . . . simply that, simple sophistication. I know, I am picky!! Neutral browns and tans, blacks, whites, with a splash of a subdued kiwi green. I will post various components we plan to get for his room.

He has been moving like crazy, and it is the most surreal feeling ever! Nathan actually felt him for only the second time two nights ago. It is a very funny story:
So, we had just read to Noah about Joseph in his Children's Bible, and Nathan was talking to him and then proceeded to lay his head gently on my belly with his ear resting right over my belly button. He was wondering what it sounded like "in there"! Well, as he was telling Noah how much he loves him, Noah gave him a swift kick right on his ear!!! It was so substantial that Nathan not only felt it, he HEARD it!!! How cool is that?! Noah loves his daddy and wanted him to know that!

Just knowing that God is so perfectly knitting Noah together in my womb is the most amazing reality for me right now. The Lord is currently wiring him together with such substantial detail, not overlooking any tiny tiny part of his precious little being. I love that God is instilling Noah's talents and special gifts right now as I type this. Psalm 139 comes to mind, and God has really impressed this passage on my heart, as our precious baby is growing inside of me. I love carrying this child, and I love that God is the MASTER CREATOR. He is teaching me so much throughout this pregnancy about his amazing glory and mysterious ways. It has been so exciting to share the love of Jesus with Noah since we first knew of him. We have been reading him Children's Bible stories, and it is our prayer that he will grow up clinging to the love of the Lord and bring Glory to God's name all of his life.

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

We should all absorb that today, knowing that God, our Creator, wrote each of our lives before we ever even existed! Let's live on purpose for Christ and give him every day of our lives to direct our paths in his righteous plan for each of our lives! He is alive and living and longs for our fervent worship and relationship with Him. It is AMAZING. Bless you today precious family and friends.