Well, maybe it’s not quite so snowy any more, but we had a decent snow here earlier this week while we had 3 of our nephews. They were dying to get out and play in the snow, so Becky went and dug out a couple of sleds to play around with. Maybe there wasn’t quite enough to sled with, but they had a lot of fun anyway.

Today we’re seeing only the second day that we’ll get above freezing temperatures. I’m ready!

While we’re trying to stay warm and cozy in the house during all this cold, spending time with our nephews, we continue to imagine and be excited about one day having our own child to get out in the snow with, teach, love and raise. We’re getting closer to reaching our financial need to do our IVF procedure, but we’re still not quite there.

Anything that you could give would be so greatly appreciated, and will help us get closer to meeting our goal. As always, we appreciate your prayers as well. Without God’s hand in all of this, it would never succeed.

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Exodus 14:13

God gave Israel a great promise that day. They saw what He could do. I’m thankful this verse still holds true today for us too if we will just believe it.

This verse has been on my mind again for the past few days. It comes from a Sunday School lesson that Jonathan did in our class last summer. He actually was not teaching on this verse but it was one that he skimmed over in part of his lesson, but it jumped out at me that day. I can’t even remember what his lesson was about because I was so fixed on this verse.

During that time I was going through a struggle over being scared and a little overwhelmed of doing IVF. Honestly… I don’t know where that came from because when we first made the decision to do IVF I was just very excited and anxious. Throughout the past year there have been some times that were still a little hard but for the most part it’s just been exciting to see the Lord working for us. He has taken what was impossible and made it possible for us to do this. As I thought about this the other day this verse came back to me again and I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for His unending faithfulness.

The part of this verse that stood out to me so much was  “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day.” I was so scared that what if we do all this… raising the money, the process we will go through leading up to IVF, and then the procedure itself and then it doesn’t work! I was scared of becoming bitter, of failing Him after everything that He has done for us, of ruining my testimony, and still not having a child of our own. All these things that kept me so upset, I realized I didn’t have to if I would just stop trusting in my own self and trust the Lord like He wanted me to. I realized the risk that is involved here, but I’ve also seen what God can do when we just trust… I discovered that day that what I really knew all along, that I don’t have to be afraid of all those things because He is gonna take care of us. His way is best and so if we do all these things and it doesn’t work then He has a reason for it and a better plan in mind. It was then that I was able to just focus on what is ahead and be excited about it. I have peace in knowing that I can just be still and see what HE will do!

I promised myself when we started all of this that I would always tell what He has done for us to anyone that wanted to hear about it. He’s done too much and been too good to keep silent about it! I’m so thankful to be His child. I honestly can’t imagine my life without Him in it. He didn’t have to give me peace through this verse that day, but He knew what I needed and He took care of it. There are so many promises in His Word for us. This just happened to be the one I needed for that day. And since He cannot tell a lie, it is through promises like this that I’m learning I can lean on Him. What a wonderful God we serve!

Please continue to pray for us! We ARE very excited. Seeing how far we have come… I can’t be anything else but excited. We are not done yet though so we are asking that if you have it to give please help us. It may not seem like much to some but $5.00 goes a long way. I don’t know if y’all really know how much of a blessing it has been to us. So many that have helped us financially and to all those that are praying for us. We are SO grateful. May the Lord bless you all in return for what you’ve done for us!

Happy Friday to everyone! Here in East Tennessee we saw some record lows this week. It was the lowest temperature I’ve ever seen – we hit -3 on Tuesday morning! But we’re on a warming trend now, and are supposed to see temperatures in the 50’s tomorrow.

While cold weather brings some beautiful scenes, I’m personally ready for some warmer weather. I’ll have to be patient, though – I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of the cold weather.

Until then, we’re still raising money to have an IVF procedure. We are excited about what the Lord has done for us through your generosity and prayers! We also have some other exciting things we are working on, so stay tuned for those!

In the meantime, if you’re able, we would most sincerely appreciate your help by buying a puzzle piece for just $5. When bought, it is numbered and we keep a record of your name so that someday we can show our child just how many people God used to help bring him or her into this world.

Thank you again for your generosity, and for your prayers!

God has sure been good to us this past year! He’s always good! With your help and generosity, we’ve raised nearly 2/3 of the cost of IVF, making leaps and bounds toward our goal.

Sadly, insurance in Tennessee still will not cover infertility treatments, so we’ll need to continue to raise the money for the procedure, which we hope to have complete in the next few months. With your help, we can meet our goal!

As of today, we have 1,086 puzzle pieces to sell to meet our goal. If this post could reach 1,086 people, and each bought just one piece, we’d be at our goal! Please share this with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media outlet you use. Encourage them to share as well. I know we can get it in front of 1,086 sets of eyes. If we can do that, then just $5 will go a long way!

As always, we covet your prayers as well. Without God’s help, leadership and guidance, this is all for nothing.