An Early Morning Egg Hunt and a Vlog!!!

*** Welcome to INFERTILITY FRIDAY!! Supporting a friend thru secondary infertility and beyond. If your new, catch up HERE***

* A quick vlog the morning of!!!!*

"Your beautiful. Even without any make-up on, your the most beautiful woman to me."

waiting to go into the clinic

I stopped applying my lipstick and just listened. A part of me felt as if I shouldn't be here, like I was the 3rd wheel of a very intimate moment between husband and wife.

Here I was, sitting in the back of Michelle's mini-van at 6 in the morning, listening to her husband whisper sweet everythings into her ear.

The sun was still sleeping and even the nurses hadn't shown up to the fertility clinic yet...

But here we sat. Early. and I was privileged to tag along as Michelle and John took one step further to hold their baby!

Today was Egg retrieval day! It was finally here and Michelle was NERVOUS! The night before, we all gathered on her couch as we chatted her nerves away.

And today was the day!

I hardly slept the night before, I was SO anxious I would not hear my alarm and oversleep, that I woke up too early and I was half asleep...

But I applied double the make-up and wore a new cute outfit to counter-act the delirium.

Michelle wasn't allowed ANY products and as I was spraying perfume in the van, she mentioned she felt so B-L-A-H...

Thats when her husband chimed in and reminded her what his version of beauty was.

( Um please don't ask me WHY I was spraying perfume at 6 am... I hardly slept REMEMBER?!!)

In the elevator on the way up

Anyway, After cracking jokes in the waiting room and discussing how she can be the next octo-mom, she was quickly whisked away to the procedure room to start the process.

Nurse Lindsay said from start to finish it would take about 1.5 hours. Easy peasy. 20 minute prep, 20 minute procedure and about 20 minute recovery...

General anesthesia would be administered.

So we waited. And waited and waited...

What seemed like forever and a day went by before the nurse came back for John..

" WAIT!! Can I come??"

Because no other procedures were going on that day, so I was allowed back there as well.

The nurse chatted as John and I walked into the back..

"Michelle did great, she was a bit nervous and didn't want the medicine we gave her... she tried to get out of it but she did good..."

I laughed... knowing Michelle, that translated to:

"Get the H&** away from me with your friggin meds and needles. I don't want your dang drugs!!!"

Yup, that sounds about right.

As she opened the door, there she lay, drugged out of her head, sleeping soundly. John went over to her and kissed her face. I, of course, started taking pictures.

Lindsay assured us everything looked perfect. It went beautifully and the Dr. was able to retrieve 12 eggs!!!

12!! So far, she beats octo-mom...SCORE!

The baby team. Nurse Lindsay and Dr.

John and I kept cracking jokes back and forth over Michelle as she lay, still out cold from the meds.

But pretty soon she woke up. And by up, I mean feisty.

"Why is your phone going off?"

"Wheres my hat! I need my hat on."

"How are my bangs?"

- " SHHH Michelle..."

Please comment on that hat she insisted on wearing please...

But she just kept on rambling...

" Put my HAT ON!"

"Did I shave?"

"GiGi, Did you shave??"

" SHUSH MICHELLE..."

" Who's next to me?"

"What is she here for? What is she having done?"

"MICHELLE...SHUT UP!"

" I feel like laughing.."

Oh God... Please don't let her start laughing.

How many drugs did they give her??

" I have to pee..."

Just lay there and smile Michelle...

Luckily, with each weird request, she began to regain consciousness and the Dr. was able to come over and congratulate her on the most perfect egg retrieval possible.

I bid them farewell and let them have their privacy as I headed home.

Sometimes 3 is a crowd.
It was time for them to have their moment.

I was honored to have been there on the day her babies would be conceived. The day those mass of cells would take their first journey towards LIFE...

The next day the phone rang... Out of the 12, 8 little babies were fertilized and were growing. Their journey would begin. Its going to be a tough road for them. Statistically, not all 8 will survive. They will continue to grow for a few days and they will be checked to see how they are doing.

In the meantime, Michelle continues shots. This time in her behind!

Getting ready to carry those babies.

We text back and forth and think and pray for those little babies fighting hard for life. As a mom, I just want to squeeze them and cuddle them. 

Im sure Michelle feels the same. A huge mommy-grin comes across her face whenever she talks to me about her babies...

The safest place for them to be is with their momma...

and in just a few days, that will happen...

And prayerfully,

in 9 months, they will meet.

And she will hold them...

And I will remember this day. The day their soul was formed!

If you can remember, please pray that those babies grow and enough remain to be implanted in Michelle and grow!

Thanks my friends...

XoXo,

GiGi

Children of The Corn.

Remember when I mentioned that we were planting our lil old garden from seed?? Well, somewhere between me stuffing my face with corned beef and the 70 degree day we had this past weekend, the seeds turned into sprouts and are outgrowing their little home.

They are currently on the landing of the stairway. 

Behind Faith they reside...

Surrounded by family and prayer!

*wink*

With bright sun and away from lil miss Penelope's prying hands.

For the record, I caught her plucking the thyme out leaf by leaf... This was AFTER she dumped her Rice Krispies. 

Yup, that's my P.!

The corn looks the cutest. All tall and strong. Ready to be rubbed with butter and roasted on my grill...

I know, I know... All in due time.

But Molly is excited and so am I. Especially since I bought one of every type of hot pepper to make our own HOT SAUCE!!! 

YEOW!

Tonight, we will be re-potting the pumpkins and corn into bigger pots so they have room to EXPAND!

I also just placed a HUGE online homeschooling order. I have been stalking the mail since. It should be arriving tomorrow... While I'm at co-op all day, and then having the in-laws over to dinner. You know, when I have NO time to sort thru them and roll around with them and smell their new smell. It wouldn't come TODAY, when I am HOME ALL DAY, doing nothing but schooling and cleaning...

But I am excited either way.

I'm also excited for tomorrow's infertility Friday post. Have you been following Michelle's journey?? Well you SHOULD!! If you need to catch up then start here!

Then co-op is tomorrow, after a long break.... And then DATE DAY with my man! He surprised me late Monday night and told me we are headed out THIS Saturday.... Gosh, I love that man!

My hubby... with much less facial hair!!

I'm also still bouncing off the walls with excitement over my last minute decision to attend 2 to 1!! An amazing weekend, with amazing mommy bloggers and NEW friends...

I'm excited.

Im hoping I don't scare too many people away. I never did fit into the "normal" homeschooling circle.

 I'm loud, bouncy and a bit nuts...

with acrylic french tip nails and short (er) skirts.

And don't forget the perfume..

My God... The perfume!!

But my heart lines up with Titus 2 like no other.

If they judge this book by its cover, their socks will be blown off.

Ha!

But I still have SO many things to prep for before I'm gone...

Busy busy busy we are... How 'bout you?

XoXo,

GiGi

Im Going... Are You???

Its late. Hubby just bought us tickets to the 2 to 1 Conference and my head is still spinning!!

Im so excited to meet some really sweet Bloggy friends that I have been conversing online with for MONTHS!!!

And some for years...

This April.

Titus 2:1...

How Ironic?

Titus 2... The chapter that has always struck me with such awe...

THIS is where my heart is...

This is where I belong.

And now I am going.

So, will I see you there?

Will I get to meet you? Let me know??

The hubby and #7 will be joining me.

In our big white van.

I'll be the one with the HUGE flower in my hair.

XOXO

GiGI

In Pictures...

This past weekend was one of those GOOD weekends. The kind where you collapse into bed utterly exhausted from the day but with great memories. The kids are sleeping soundly from all the excitement and your bed never felt so good.

That described this past weekend in a nutshell. Besides the weather being beyond gorgeous, I had lots of notes on my calendar...

So It would just be easier to share my weekend in pictures:

It started bright and early Saturday morning... and by early, I mean 5:30 A.M! I was so nervous I was going to miss my alarm and be late for Michelle's egg retrieval, that I woke up too early...

Singing the tune to "Puff The Magic Dragon..." Don't ask me why, but I was...

In the elevator at the crack of crack Saturday morning to go hunting for EGGS!

By the time I pulled back into the driveway, it seemed like HOURS had gone by, when actually it was barely 9 A.M!

Little did I know, my little cousin Tom had drove up from Atlanta and surprised me as I walked thru the door...

I had not seen him in over 5 years, so his face was nice to see. He graduates from Vet school this May and will practice in exotic animals...

Not cats and dogs... although he DID comment on Link the Cat...

Link is now on a STRICT regimen of diet and exercise

Sowing the Cuz the best of the city

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my City. For 9 years out of the almost 17 years of my marriage, I have called South Carolina my home and thats how it TRULY feels. I may have been born a full blooded NY'er, but my heart is fully for the south. I was SO happy to show him why I LOVE the area I live in...

We walked over the bridges and saw the Falls.

We let the kids run on the rocks by the rivers edge and play with the ducks...

It was quite a windy day, but just perfect out. Many city-dwellers also had the same idea...

My P. and I

Then we went to Red Robin for a late lunch. 

After we came home and put the babies down for a nap, we all reclined on the couches and relaxed a bit before round 3 started.

WING NIGHT!

For those of you that DON'T know, Wing night happens at my house every Saturday night. It was born about 2 years ago, when my cousin Neal was coming out of some very difficult times in his life. He worked a lot and just needed to blow off some steam.

We would gather around the table, discuss our week and hang out.

It immediately became a tradition and even has a small following on FB. Everyone knows WING NIGHT...

We crack jokes, tell stories about when we grew up and always... ALWAYS somehow ends up being a HUGE theology discussion. Its awesome. This past Saturday, the faith of Moses was studied, whether or not Lots wife really turned into a pillar of salt and the "violence" in the Old Testament,

In case anyone is wondering, My cousin is a Pastor and we never debate. We all would die for our faith and firmly believe... we just love to have our own study sessions.

Anywho... We ended WAY too late which resulted in oversleeping for church the next day...

**head hangs in shame**

But in my defense, I needed the sleep after being up for over 19 hours straight...

Upon waking to the sunshine, I brewed my coffee and sat outside in my screen porch to have some one on one...

I am in Deuteronomy. Moses is just about to see Joshua and Caleb off into the promised Land. I LOVE re-reading the Old Testament and seeing Gods hand in all that was done...

I underlined some key verses and was reminded on how God never leaves me... EVER!

Then we took the kids to Lowes to pick up more seed packets. Ours are growing so beautifully. I will show you this week how much they sprouted since we planted them. But we needed some more squash and peppers to add to the group.

Then we ate some hot dogs real quick before heading to Grandpas house for a ST. PATRICKS DAY FEAST!

I have never had Corned beef and cabbage before (crazy I KNOW!!) so I was really excited to try.

It was DELICIOUS and I ate ALL my T-W-O plate fulls like a good girl.

The kids ran all around the yard and Caleb cried a LOT! He is teething so bad... poor thing.

Babys never get a break.

But now everyone is sleeping and I am watching the Bible series. I just LOVE this show. What a great testimony for so many people.

I know some are not happy about it, but I just wish they would be happy. Everyone complains that this world is so evil...

So FINALLY Hollywood puts out this Bible mini-series. Its not perfect but God can STILL use it for HIS good.

Isn't this what your constantly crying about???

So just be happy and WATCH IT!

Its amazing...

And thats exactly what Im going to do..

What did YOU do this weekend??

XoXo,

GiGI

When Rivers Flow Thru The Desert...

*** Welcome to INFERTILITY FRIDAY- Supporting a friend thru secondary infertility and beyond. If your new, catch up HERE***

Nurse Cindy injecting the timed HCG-3/14/13

" I will make rivers flow on Barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs..."

Isaiah 41:18

Dawn, my cousin-in-love, first introduced me to this verse back in the winter of 2010. A few months earlier, their ENTIRE extended family began the migration process out of Pennsylvania. All for different reasons, and with those reasons came many struggles. Adversity struck on every corner, but their faith never wavered. They held on to Jesus for dear life and weathered the storm. Now, Three years later, they are able to see how GOD created Streams of life in their Desert.... even though during the storm they often wondered:

"WHY GOD?"

I think she tweeted the verse, and after I saw it, I highlighted and starred it in my bible to forever remember. I was born and raised in the church, and thru all my years studying the bible, this verse never stood out as it did THAT particular day.

Today, that verse remains on the forefront of my life. When new challenges are put before me and all I want to do is run away, I remind GOD that he PROMISED to make rivers flow....

Three years ago (almost to the day.) Two acquaintances met on the playground of my local Zoo. I was pregnant with my little miracle Penelope and she was just coming out of a devastating loss. Looking back on that sunny southern day, we never were to guess that she was stepping into her Desert.

A place where her hopes would shrivel up and her dream would die. A place only "others" are supposed to go to....

3/2010 meeting after MANY years...

This Saturday marks the halfway point of Michelle's IVF journey.

IVF

The "thing" she always thought she would NEVER ever be able to do. Financially it was laughable. Emotionally it was too draining and spiritually.... well, it requires the faith of someone MUCH more faithful than her.... or so she thought.

Nurse Cindy mixing her 49th injection since 3/1/13

But God made a way. Each and every time.

" Is anything too hard for The Lord?" Genesis 18:14

This Saturday, early in the morning, I will accompany her to her retrieval. I have joked around and called her the great egg layer... but for 20 minutes THIS Saturday, the Dr will perform another miracle of science. They will retrieve eggs from Michelle's ovaries and immediately they will begin the process of the Invetro Fertilization...

A few days later, she will have them transferred back into her, into their home where they will grow....

Such a miraculous process getting some help by modern science.

I'm aware of the huge controversy surrounding IVF and I'm not here debating what is right or wrong...

Nor do I care too.

In Michelle's case, God has made himself clear and evident with each and every step... Just like science has helped SUSTAIN life and HEAL life that would have otherwise prematurely died due to illness... It is helping to CREATE life. 

Lord knows we NEED medicine. If not for science, I would have died months ago, leaving 7 kids motherless...

I'm so excited to have seen FIRSTHAND how God has made a way, when there seemed like no other way. How He has sent angels along her path to remind her that He was STILL with her...

And I know one day, she will share this journey with her child and he will wrap her arms around his mother and say...

"Thank You mom... Thank You for never giving up on me."

XoXo,

GiGi

As I Wake Up....

 

 

My brain is constantly going. Thought after thought after thought...

Most of the time, the thoughts are all coming at once. Fighting to get to the head of my brain... away from the back where about 25,000 OTHER thoughts get lost.

The second my eyes open, they begin. To-do list, who needs to focus on what today in schooling, whats for dinner, Who do I need to call, Who I need to write back in e-mail, don't forget to check vacation quotes for this person, that person for this time.

Thank God my iphone holds half my notes. At night, when I finally crawl into bed, ( somewhere past 11 pm) I lay down and fill in my calendar on my phone... update to-do's.

I try always to end my day and begin my day with prayer. Unplug for the night and put the ipad and iphone to bed. Pray as I turn over to go to sleep and before I even dare remove those nice warm down covers... pray again.

This morning was especially Crazy. My brain was working overtime. With such a busy weekend ahead, Today was my LAST down day before the craziness started...which makes my mind go NUTS!

Its the LAST day to organize. My LAST day to plan and my LAST day to make sure I have EVERYTHING I need to JUMP into the craziness that awaits.

Its like a hen house up in there... thoughts fighting and talking over each other just to get themselves heard.

I can just see them pecking each other and hair pulling....

My ADD kicked in and as I feebly tried to place soild thoughts together for my morning prayer, I must have slowly started to doze off and my prayer somehow turned into a blog post... in PRAYER form. Or vice versa...

 

Y'all.... I was PRAYING a blog post to God??

 

Does anyone see a problem with this??

Anybody know what Im talking about???

 

* Its about this time in my post I will shamefully admit that the above action was NOT the first time this happened...oh no no no no***

Its happened more than once to me, and I have said numerous times before... Thank GOD for HIS grace because LORD KNOWS I need LOTS of it...

So I got up, made my coffee and let the warmth quiet my thoughts for a moment...

The kids already began trampling down the stairs. Half comatose and wrapped in blankets. I let them sleep in on Thursdays. Wednesday nights are spent at church and by the time we come home, unwind and we wrestle them to bed, its late.

***I'd like to now take this time to publicly thank all those wonderful teachers who hype up our children with sugar at 8 pm at night ***

Just kidding, its all good. 

But anyway, here I sit, in the not so stillness and not so quiet of the morning...

Caffeinated.

 

And ready to start the day...

 

My thoughts have calmed down a bit and some have already left after being accomplished. New thoughts will take their place. I will conquer my to-do lists that I wrote at midnight LAST night and make new ones for tomorrow.

 

Noah will continue his reading lessons, Molly will practice her math and a grocery list will be formed before noon.

 

Disney Vacations will be booked for a couple of my clients and I will be SO happy for them.

 

And through the day I will tame my thoughts with prayer... snippets of prayer for friends, family, my business and guidance to help me stay on track..

But Golly-G-Wiz...

I wish my thoughts would give me a break for just a second in the morning....

What about you??

What goes on when YOU wake up?

XoXo,

GiGi

Well, Don't Leave Me Hanging....

Yesterday's post is still hanging around today. I was overwhelmed with the response of other women's "soundtracks." And I was happy that we can all just be stinkin honest!!! 

Thank YOU for taking the time to be true!

I fell asleep praying over my home last night ( as I shamefully, always do) and woke up with an excitement in my heart. It was ignited even further when God answered a prayer about something I have been praying about for a while. It was in the form of an email... the first one of the morning. WHat JOY!!!!!  ( I can't reveal THAT just yet, but stay tuned...). And although the day was filled with distractions, frustrations and fights, I managed to keep our soundtrack up above and beyond what it was last week.

The weather helped IMMENSELY, and I managed to soak in lots of vitamin D as well as walk some energy off.

God is good and faithful. He gives us what we need WHEN we need it... Not a bit sooner. Working on changing the temperature of your home is HARD but I'm committed. Consciously, changing it day by day. Not looking any further than today...

So, how was your day today? Was it better? Was it worse? How has God been helping you with this challenge? I would love to chat about it. Leave a comment... And if you recently left one, check back.... I'm getting MUCH better at answering them. 

XoXo,

GiGi

Can YOU Answer This Question???

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you saw that I posted a question asking...

" What would the soundtrack of your home sound like?"

Purring and praise or nails on a chalkboard?

Its a question I have been praying about since I came home from church Sunday afternoon. After my stint with distraction, our Pastor spoke straight at my heart. It was quite uncomfortable if I do say so myself.

He asked the moms how our home would sound if caught on tape? Constant yelling, griping and complaining... or would it bring forth praise?

would it Give life to those that are in it? Or suck the life out of you?

I wanted to just shrivel down in my seat, I was SO convicted it HURT! I was just thinking how I needed to bring forth total change in our Little Red House and NOW THIS???

HELLO?!?! Isn't God supposed to read our thoughts? Didn't he KNOW I already had this covered? Why did he have to bring the pastor into it and get me all weird?

I glanced over at hubby and wondered what he was thinking of it. Actually, I KNEW what he was thinking and I was just waiting....

One little smirk or poke in the side to me and I was ready to throw him right over the balcony edge...Bible and all.

I mean, I would ALREADY be in church. One throw-over and I could walk right down the stairs and wipe the slate clean right??

I know, I know...

But his words did ring true... I have been going through a *small* season of discontent. A Storm of overwhelmingness and a bit of chaos. The temperature in our home has been running a bit off kilter... I think it was because the gauge (ME) was a bit broken.

God doesn't give us more than we can handle. I get that, but sometimes.... just sometimes I think he forgets and may have added a bit too much to my plate...

Its those days that the soundtrack needs to be smashed into itty-bitty pieces.

Anybody know what I'm talking about here??

Anybody?

And I know that days covered and bathed in prayer turns out better but for some reason, I haven't been doing that as much as I should... and I let the negative eat the positive and the soundtrack just gets all messed up...

But as I sat in that pew and prayed... I made a decision to change it forever... I had already come to the conclusion that something needed to be done and this message was God himself asking ME... Little ol mom of 7.... to PLEASE.... PLEASE... change.

How can I say NO to God??

So thats what I am doing. Im changing my soundtrack.... and even though today is day 1... its much better than last week. I might have had to re-record over a few minutes.... But Gods grace did that for me.

For a Monday, I can't complain. And Tomorrow is Tuesday. A fresh day. A new cd gets put in the player and I pray its better than today.

So, Can you answer that question??? 

If God were to come down from Heaven and play a soundtrack of your home, what would it be like??

Please comment and let me know...

***For those moms that are perfect with soundtracks that sound like angels singing..... feel free to pass the comments by.***

HA!

XoXo,

GiGi

A Little Of This....

The weekend is coming to a close and once again it flew by. Hubby goes back to work tomorrow, schooling begins promptly at 9 a.m and chaos will bring in the day... But I won't think about that now. No I won't. Right now I'm sitting on the floor in the living room while 5 little mouths chop on popcorn and watch "Robots." our Sunday night movie routine. I made a pot of coffee. I need to stay up and prep for tomorrow but not until I take a few minutes, sip my brew and visit with you.

Every Friday is our co-op day. And every Friday we pack up our big 15 passenger with kids and supplies and head 25 minutes south. It's a parent led co-op. No drop off for us!! As parents, we teach, create and love on all the kids. We have worship together and celebrate all kinds of events. Halfway thru we break for lunch and then continue on. I teach a teen bible study class and just adore it. I adore the girls, their ideas and minds, their individuality amazes me and I love forming relationships with them. 

Co-op also gives me a chance to dust off some of my cute clothes in my closet and put them to good use....

The best quick shot I could take without kids photo bombing

 Do you like my professional fashion shots??? Sorry, this is the best I can do. Complete with counter mess and half of my heart meds all over the place....

Keepin it real my friends....

Co-op Outfit of the day

By the end of the day, when we packed up everyone to go back home, they were super hyper. Extra kids tried sneaking in the back of the van to go home with us, sun was shining, windows down and music was up. I was utterly exhausted... Like every Friday afternoon, I crashed on the couch and relaxed.

Saturday was more of the same. Hubby went to his dads house to do man things. You know, hang ceiling fans, fix things and such. I stayed back with my mother in law and chatted while the kids ran around and played. Chinese food was brought home by the men-folk and we feasted on all things wonton! By the end of the day, my teens went back with the grandparents for a sleep over and the littles went to bed... Peace reigned in my house. I caught up on correspondence, read some blogs, cleaned up and went to bed way.too.late. I mean WAY late....

Which Made waking up a new form of torture...but we woke up, and we made sure we went to church even though we may have been 20 minutes late walking in... Which means we lost our seat in the fifth row from the front... Which means we were stuck up in the balcony.... By ourselves. 

Church Outfit of the day

Hubby loves the balcony. I don't. I feel alone! I don't get to wave to all my friends. Or chat real quick during greeting time. AND I don't pay attention as well. I get distracted by the smallest things. Today wasn't any different, but then something our guest speaker said caught my attention and I was glued to every word. It was like he had a glimpse into our life the past few weeks and God was gently guiding me back to where I/our house needed to be. 

During my distraction moment

It made me so thankful that we did push ourselves and make it to church today, even if we were bone tired and delirious from lack of sleep. God blessed us with a timely word that still remains in my heart and a challenge that can ONLY be met with HIS help.

After dinner, we took the 5 little ones on a walk to our park. The air was perfect. We could smell summer on the horizon and knew we were past the cold days of winter.... FINALLY! Time for walks, bike-rides and windows open.

Add caption

My Sunday nap was extra long today and harder than usual to wake up from... And right now, at 9:02 p.m, my bed is calling my name and I just might answer.

Welcome to daylight savings time as a mom of 7. Where every.single.second of time and sleep is beyond precious.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I just wanted to catch y'all up on minor happenings in our little red house. Hubby and I are about to settle in the recliners and watch the BIBLE series on our DVR. We have yet to see them and are so excited to seethe word ALIVE and on television.... So happy it's hitting top ratings. It goes to show you how much power that "old book" still has....

How are y'all enjoying the mini series???

XoXo,

GiGi

Because Of Queen Esther.

***WELCOME TO INFERTILITY FRIDAYS: SUPPORTING A FRIEND THRU SECONDARY INFERTILITY AND BEYOND. If your new.... catch up HERE ***

Im Linking up over at Casey's... Check it out

I had about 10 really valid reasons as to WHY I should not go to bible study last night. We were studying Beth Moore's " Esther." I enjoyed it but leaving my house a mess at the end of the day makes me twitch. I was tired, 10 tons of laundry STILL needed to be folded and put away, my house was messy... does anyone know what I'm talking about here?

But knowing my kids would hang me from our front tree if I stayed home, I packed everyone in the big white van and headed out...With a tired attitude!

It only took about 10 minutes into the video to realize I had another "God appointment." Beth Moore spoke on topics that shook me to the core... a topic that strikes most women.... FEAR! My hand couldn't write fast enough as I tried to write down every sentence that came out of that womans mouth. My head nodded as if it were a bobble head and I had to bite my tongue from constantly saying "Amen..Amen..Amen.."

Fear is something I battle viciously... and sometimes over the most stupidest things... It also made me SO MAD that Michelle wasn't sitting RIGHT NEXT to me... listening to these words. After the week that she had, she needed to hear How Queen Esther OVERCAME HERSELF and forever left a biblical example of VALOR! 

ONE day's worth of medicine

Last Friday ( after I posted week 2) began her VERY first morning injection. Her medicinal schedule starts off slow, then begins to increase over time, hitting a peak and then decreasing based on counts.

7 a.m was the big moment and our texts began....

That early morning text

"FRICK!!!"

I whispered to hubby that I would be right back, slipped on my slipper boots, grabbed my steaming mug of coffee and headed over. I might never forgive her for letting my neighbor drive by my house just as my bed-head self was walking across the lawn, but I'm sure she can make it up to me by naming her child after me.. hee hee...

I walked in to a girl filled with fear... afraid of a tiny 12 gauge needle sitting on the counter, deciding her fate.

She's not afraid of needles. Its whats inside that send shivers up her spine. almost Deadly reactions in her past had left scars that are now affecting her future...

Her husband and I joined forces with encouraging words, pep talks, countdowns... nothing seemed to work. John even offered to do the injection for her ( despite his strong urge to vomit and pass out..)

Before long, she was headed to work, the needle STILL sitting on the counter. Fear had won. No baby.

But at 10:05 am my phone chimed..

"INJECTION DONE!"

I couldn't believe what I was reading. Really?? Could it be? She had John bring it up to work for her and in the customer bathroom of her place of employment, another woman joined her village of support.

Cassie- who gave Michelle her VERY first injection... in the bathroom!

See, It really does take a village to navigate thru this life. It ain't easy and without those people to uplift you and support you when you can't support yourself, defeat comes quick.

36 years of fear was just overcome with one tiny prick. She overcame herself and entered into a new chapter of her life... and I was PROUD!

Friday night rolled around and I found myself at her house for her evening injection. John and the kids were off at a dance and the house was silent. There on her counter lay her night injection... and just like that, right before my eyes she loaded that sucker up and stuck herself... halfway. Then she did that 2 more times before finally hitting the mark on the 4th try...

I think I peed myself laughing so hard as she stood there wondering why she was bleeding so bad... and started counting her prick marks..

"1, 2 oh wait, heres another one... FOUR. HOW DID I STICK MYSELF FOUR TIMES..."

But the medicine was in and she was on a roll. Sunday night, 2 more injections were added to the list which made it a grand total of 2 injections in the morning and 2 at night.

Nurse Cindy learning how to properly mix the meds... and John trying to learn....

Nurse Cindy, a friend and former neighbor of Michelle came over to help mix one of the injections for her and has since shown up every night since then to mix and release. She is a great nurse... we met over 4 years ago on a very grim day. She made me smile as I was wheeled into surgery to say goodbye to my 14 week old baby... 2 years later, we met again as Michelle's neighbor... such a small little town this place is... and what an even better friend. Every night, five minutes to eight, she pulls up in front of the house, just in time to give Michelle her proper dose.... well, PROPER isn't exactly the word... It was just discovered TONIGHT that she was given Michelle only HALF the dose she needed... but more on that NEXT week. 

Nurse not-so-gentle who went digging for gold in Michelles arm

Nurse Cindy is definitely a part of this very unique and eclectic village.... which leaves me to the most colorful person who shows support in the most loving way.

My Aunt Diana. My Aunt Diana and Uncle Joe live 5 houses down from me. They provide wisdom and prayer at a moments notice... not to mention good good home cooking. They also watch Michelles kids while she works....

And Yesterday, Aunt Diana accompanied Michelle to her Drs visit. More blood work and more ultrasounds took up her morning and Aunt Diana was there to see her through.

Time for a SONO... Its-A- FOLLICLE or 2 or 8....

 Medicines need adjusting, eggs need to grow faster and prayers need to continue to rise. Her egg retrieval date is quickly closing in. The halfway point. The place she never thought she would be able to get through... But what happens after the retrieval is truly in Gods hands.

Michelle and my Aunt Diana

So, what does this all have to do with a Jewish Queen??

Oh, A lot my friend. You see, The Queen was facing quite a dilemma ( Esther 4: 9-11) One that made her look death in the face. Like Michelle, her small body was rocked with fear.... Her "what if's" took over and the statistics of the outcome were quite clear...

But who did Esther turn to for her crisis?

First, of course, she cried out to The Lord... But then she immediately knew what had to be done...

Her and Mordecai gathered "her people..."

HER VILLAGE...

And together, with prayer, support and faith they journeyed together...

She OVERCAME the most frequent command in the bible....

She OVERCAME FEAR...(Esther 4:12-17)

And this past week... these simple 7 days that just past, Michelle did the same...

And because of it, she changed her storyline and changed her world.

God never ceases to amaze me.... He has such an awesome and supernatural way of interweaving every area of my life together to teach me a lesson... THRU someone else...and in that process, someone else's faith grew... and within that, someone else had an answered prayer. NO ONE would be able to orchestrate such a story but our almighty God!!

A God that holds every star in the sky,  cares about me SO much to forever send me small reminders that HE is ALWAYS there...

God never promises us that a life devoted to him means that we will escape life's troubles.... Many times the faithful are put through the fires.... but HE, in His grace and mercy, lets us grab the hand of a friend who is willing to walk thru that fiery furnace with us...

XoXo,

GiGi