On Thanksgiving and other things...

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all! We have had an eventful last few weeks since my last post. I entered a grueling two weeks of constant nausea and morning sickness following my last post. I barely made it through each counseling session with the kids, but through constant prayer for God's strength and moments of relief, I have made it through that bad stretch of morning sickness. I still battle it now but it seems to be more manageable through constant snacking and taking rest breaks.

The first of our wonderful holidays guests are here. Matt's parents arrived Monday, and Matt and I met them down at the Los Angeles airport. We then spent the next two days touring Los Angeles and San Diego. It was a lot of fun seeing those parts of California that were new to all of us! We went to the San Diego zoo and enjoyed the world famous experience. The pictures posted are all from that zoo adventure. It has been wonderful to have family around for the holiday. It makes it truly feel like a holiday. We were back at our home for the Thanksgiving feast of steak and bake potatoes. We were all exhausted from our trip and decided to have a quick and good meal we could all chip in to make. I woke up with green bean casserole on my mind--which is weird because I normally don't wake up with any food on my mind these days except the prayer that I will be able to squeeze some measly crackers down my throat. So I proudly sauntered out of bed and announced I wanted green bean casserole along with our steak dinner that night. Well, the ingredients were purchased, the casserole prepared and baked, and come dinner time, a healthy portion doled out onto my plate. What then, you ask? I could barely stand to look at the stuff! Ahhh, the finecky stomach of the first trimester. I slinked into my bed to rest off the nausea in sheer embarassment over my "green bean" failure! I think Matt and his parents laughed or perhaps they were annoyed but were gracious enough not to show it!

Without a moment to spare on this western trip, Matt and his parents were off to tour San Fransisco on Friday. They stayed the night in a fancy hotel, rode a street car, drove over the golden gate, visited Fisherman's wharf, and ate at our all time favorite Chinese Restaurant. I decided to stay back and rest. The San Diego/LA trip took it out of me. Speaking of taking it out of me, I have found these last few weeks of pregnancy to be quite the learning experience for me. I feel the Lord changing me and sanctifying me in ways so deep and good that I hardly know how to express it. It has been hard having my body belong to someone else. This new little person is causing my body to lose it's sense of independence, stamina, hunger, etc. So far pregnancy has taken so much from me. I cannot go one hour without feeling so gross, and that is hard for me. I adore food. I am a huge foodie, and pregnancy has caused me to despise the smell of my kitchen (even when nothing is cooking I can't stand to be in there). My body is already starting to change and some clothes are beginning to be too tight. So where does the sanctification part come in? Well as I think about these inconveniences and the stolen sense of control over my time, body, emotions I am lead to think that this is merely just the beginning of a long road of giving of myself for my child. Sure, I am called to do this in my marriage but it takes on a different reality with child bearing. Once this child is born I will be caring for the constant needs of that child. I will have to "steal" moments to tend to myself. That is such a hard reality for me!!! I am big on personal space, independence, control. Yet, deep down inside I feel this joyful sense that God is refining me, and the experience of motherhood is yet another one of His tools. It's that sense of the old, sinful, self-serving part of me being torn away and the new self becoming more glorious.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the shots!