Grace

The other night Matt and I were laying on the floor with Finn and doing devotions together. We have this thing where one of us will read from the Bible and the other will pray. I think we both prefer the reading out loud part, so it is the best way to keep it fair :). It was my turn to read and as I did, Finn was talking and jabbering on like crazy. When I stopped to laugh at him, he would just smile away. Then I would begin reading again and his jabbering continued. It was then Matt's turn to pray and as soon as he started talking, Finn joined right in and cooed in time with his daddy. It was adorable and one of those moments when I was able to just pause and think, "Wow, life is good".

Life is good because of God's blessings, plain and simple. I am blown away sometimes at his graciousness to me and the many ways that He shows me He loves me.

When I was pregnant with Finn, I had a list of things that I prayed for every day. Obviously I prayed for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. But there were a couple things I prayed for that were a little less generic.

For most of my last trimester, I dealt with some early signs of preeclampsia. I had high blood pressure (sometimes ridiculously so) and lots and lots of swelling (ugggggghhh). I knew how dangerous preeclampsia could be, so from the moment those symptoms popped up, I prayed that I would not be diagnosed with it. Even though there were a couple of scares with my high blood pressure, each time the doctor assured me that I did not have preeclampsia. This continued until the day that Finn was born. While we were still in the hospital after his birth, the on call doctor came in to check on me and she informed me that it was a wonderful thing that my water had broken when it did because my test results taken that night showed positive for the beginning stages of preeclampsia. Basically, if my water hadn't broken when it did, my pregnancy and delivery could have become much more complicated and dangerous. I believe fully that this was an answer to prayer.

The second thing that I prayed for was a little more personal. I really wanted the experience of going into labor on my own. I knew a lot of friends and family that had to be induced for various reasons and I simply had a strong desire to go into labor on my own. The excitement of labor just starting out of nowhere was too much for this drama queen to want to pass up :). Ironically, it was the day that we made the appointment for our induction that my water broke. My doctor thought that I was crazy for not scheduling the induction sooner because my swelling was so out of control, but I clung to hope that Finners would come on his own. And come he did, later that night!

I guess I shared all this just as a personal testament to God's goodness. I am well aware that He did not have to answer these meager requests but He did because, for whatever reason, He loves me and thereby He loves to bless me. Isaiah 30:18 says that "God longs to be gracious to you". He delights in showing His love - to all of us, in ways that we don't even see all the time.

Now that Finn is here (in my arms drifting off to sleep as I type!) I am reminded of God's love and graciousness much more often. And I look forward to Finn interrupting a thousand more family devotions with his cooing, laughing, talking, questions, input, and all-around sweetness!