Think on Such Things

Moses spent 5 weeks in the NICU after he was born. The NICU is a very sad, hard place to be after you have given birth. You walk into this wing of the hospital and see all these sick babies. Some not so sick, some hooked up to every sort of machinery. Some with parents holding them and visiting. Some who never seemed to have anyone at their bedside. Moms crying. Families holding each other. A very sad place. For us, it was a place where we got to bond with our son and start this journey of medical treatment that still hasn't ended for him. It seems as though God wants us to have a presence in the medical community of Winston-Salem. It started with me in the hospital and has continued with Moses. He stayed in the NICU because he was not eating. He just didn't have the energy to eat a bottle. He would only take 10 or so ml in about 30 minutes. For a little perspective, it took him 30 minutes to drink 2 teaspoons. So, he had to have a feeding tube. Many tests, many, many tests...

So, it's been over a year since I've written a blog and oh what a year it has been! In August of last year, we sold our only car to go without for 7 months. Not the most fun thing to go through a real winter without a car. However it was amazing to know that we got rid of over thousands of dollars of debt in one day. In November of last year, we found out that we were having our second child. He was born on July 2nd. Moses Elijah Stone. Doesn't that have a great ring to it? Jesus blessed that baby with a ton of hair! His daddy is a little jealous :) I'll tell you more about his story in a little bit. March proved to be a tough time of self examination and repentance in Dan and I's marriage. We needed and still need to see how much we are in desperate need of Jesus because we are huge sinners. May I went into the hospital for 6 weeks because of preterm labor and severe polyhydramnios. It's where you retain a lot of extra amniotic fluid. At 29 weeks, my bo...

So, we've been in North Carolina for a little over a month now and we are absolutely loving it! We so clearly recognize that God desired for us to be here. Since moving, He has really shaken us out of a place of apathy and mobilized us for the sake of the gospel. Not that we didn't have purpose when we were back in Phoenix, we just weren't partaking in that purpose as we know see that God would have delighted us to do so. Even now, as I'm writing, I see that repentance should be sought for that lack of obedience in our time in Phoenix. However, God's grace is so sufficient to cover that sin of complacency that I'm convinced is so easy to find ourselves in when living in country. Praise Him for not letting me stay there! I'd like to start giving some brief updates on our family as well. So, I'll start with my precious daughter Hannah. Since we have been here, she has really started to scoot around and test her own freedom. As someone told me before, crawl...

So, we've been in Winston-Salem for a little over two weeks now and we have seen God be good to us in so many ways. First, we had never seen our apartment before we decided to rent it, but it turned out to be awesome and in a great location. Second, we loved having both of our parents here to help us move in and get settled. We would definitely be living out of boxes still if it wasn't for all their help. Thanks Moms and Dads! Next, we have some great neighbors that we are excited to get to know more and share the love of Jesus. One of the downstairs tenants is in college going to med school, so it is fair to say that we never see him. However, he is also excited about working on getting a six pack with Dan. I'm sure that they'll be working out together and eating their eggwhites over a cup of water. The other one lives with his brother and works with underprivileged youth in the downtown area. He has a great heart to love on them and we're excited to partner with h...

So, it's been a while since I've updated my blog. Yes, I know...slacker. Here is the update in a nutshell. We had our baby girl on October 8th. She was heavy and long. She is still heavy and long being in the 95 percentile for her age. She's a true Stone! We still live in Tempe and are still looking to move out to North Carolina in June. I'll write more about those things as the time draws nearer and as I get back into blogging. With having our little Hannah this year, God has given me such a different perspective on this season. Think about it. God came to earth as a little baby. Totally helpless. Totally dependent on someone that He created. He had poopy diapers. He was fed by a woman that He created to function the way that she did. It's all just amazing! What humility He showed by coming to earth. It just shows that this plan of salvation was not made up by any human. I know that I would have done it differently if it were up to me to save man. Thank goodness it...

So, today I went to the hospital. Now, when I talk about the hospital, remember that is my primary physician since I get free healthcare. Oh, the beauty of being Native American. Anyway, like I said yesterday, I haven't been feeling good. Well, woke up several times in the middle of the night because I had to go to the bathroom more often and because it felt like Hiroshima had exploded in my throat. I have never had a worse sore throat in my entire life! What would a pregnant woman think in such a circumstance? Am I going to die and will this hurt the baby. Good news, I'm not dying and the baby is fine. I thought that I might have strep but we'll still have to wait a few days to see if that is true. When I went to the hospital they said that I was really dehydrated. So, they hooked me up to an IV in hopes of stopping the contractions that I was having. Yeah, I know. I was just as shocked to hear that I was having contractions because I wasn't feeling a thing. I must adm...

I'm almost 32 weeks pregnant. I'm tired (can you tell by the picture?). I'm getting sick. I'm uncomfortable. Funny how all this is ushering in what is supposed to be the best change in our life, our little girl. Right now, to be honest, I don't like the change that I've gone through. Sagginess here, bulging there, soar here, weird spot there, oh and so much more. Well, that was my two minutes of complaining. I'm really thankful for the title of this blog, because it gives me perspective in my rants. I shouldn't be thinking on how awful I may think things are. I should be thinking on what is good, pure, right. Good reminder. Well, this picture is f rom when we were in North Carolina a few weeks ago. Have I mentioned yet that we are planning to move there next summer? I probably haven't mentioned it because we just broke the news to the last of our family members about two weeks ago. We are so excited and yet terrified at the same time. God is calling...