Joshua Charles

Born September 21, 2009 at 11:51 a.m.

8 pounds 3 ounces, 21 inches long

These are for Nanny and Grandpa since they aren't on Facebook. I love you guys and can't wait for you to meet your newest great grand baby.

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The only word I can think of is

Wow. Read it. Grab a box of tissue and read her whole blog. You will be blessed.

Pray!

I've written about Tricia and Nate Lawrenson before.

Tricia has CF and has been in the hospital at Duke for over three months waiting for a lung transplant. In January, she gave birth to their miracle, micro preemie baby Gwyneth. Without a lung transplant, Tricia will probably not live longer than a few more months.

A few minutes ago, Nate posted that they got the go ahead and are prepping Tricia for surgery. Please join me in lifting this family up in prayer.

I'm amazed

A few days ago I stumbled upon the story of the Stanfield family. I've spent hours reading their blog, crying and praying for them. I truly don't even have the words to express how I'm feeling right now, I just know that I want faith like this.

Thankfulness

Most of you know that in addition to being an attorney, my husband buys and flips properties to support our family. It's been a while since he's done this. The real estate market is slower than it was last year and the year before that and we've had a project or two that didn't go as well as we'd hoped.

At the end of the summer Brad found a two family house that was part of an estate sale. We were able to buy it at a very low price. The margins were so good that it seemed that it would be impossible not to make money. Without boring you with too many of the details, there was an issue with the properties title that was discovered just before the closing. We weren't sure if we should still buy it. As an attorney, my husband knew that it wasn't that big of a deal. However, a potential buyer might not see it that way.

For the first time since we've been doing this, Brad and I sat down and prayed together about the property. We prayed for wisdom and that God would bring the right buyer and that we would be able to sell it quickly. I prayed and have been praying that we would sell it on the first day. We bought the property.

We converted the building into condos and put the first unit on the market in October. At the first open house, Brad received a near full price offer on the unit that was not even renovated. The unit did not have walls and someone bought it! A week later, the completed unit went under agreement.

God's hand in this is so clear to me. Our prayers were so specific and they have been specifically answered. The real estate market is still slow. There are a lot of condos for sale in the area. One of our buyers looked at 11 units in one afternoon and chose ours. That's God. Nobody can convince me otherwise.

I'm thankful and I'm humbled. Far to often I try to do it all on my own. I don't ask for wisdom or guidance. I don't ask for strength and I fail. Over and over, I fail. More than the money that we will make, I needed this reminder that God is BIG. He's watching, he's paying attention, he's in control and he wants to give us good things. I'm not just talking about money... rest and joy, patience and contentment are all there for the asking.

Please Pray for Janessa

This babies uncle goes to our church. I'm sharing the story so that as many people as possible can be lifting them up in prayer.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

We had some hard news this week concerning our unborn baby girl. We wantedto share it with you so that you can pray for us. We'll let our little oneshare her story, so you can get to know her too!Thanks for praying for us! ~Jon and Amy Lyttle

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Janessa Lyttle. I am just over20 weeks old now. That is my gestational age, as I am not born yet. Mymommy is Amy and my daddy is Jon. I have a big brother, Evan (15 months),who you might know. I am still in my mommy's belly, but I already needyour prayers. You see, I have a few very serious physical "defects," as thedoctors call them. I believe God made me the way I am, and He doesn't makeany mistakes, ever! But, since we aren't in Heaven yet, there are certainthings that help us stay healthy and able to live on earth. My problemswill make this very difficult for me, and so I need you to pray for me andfor my little body. Of course, Mommy, Daddy and Evan need your prayers tooas they wait on God's timing and for grace to see them through the hardtimes ahead. My name, Janessa, means "God is Gracious", and we all believethat is true! We serve a great God, and we want Him to receive the gloryfor whatever He decides to do!""On Thursday, October 25th, my mommy and daddy and Evan got to see me forthe first time via ultrasound pictures. My mom and dad thought I lookedjust perfect to them. I even gave them a wave, and showed a bit ofpersonality by not cooperating with the ultrasound tech. However, when theymet with the Dr. afterwards for an appointment, she let them know that I hadmultiple birth defects. She gave them a list of things that were wrong withmy body, and then said we should go see a Maternal-Fetal Medicine doctor,on Friday, who would re-do the ultrasound, review the findings with them,and discuss the future prognosis. Dr. Bayliss, the specialist, was verysweet and compassionate as he explained the problems he found on theultrasound. He said that he saw a problem with the brain calledHydrocephalus (fluid in the brain) and Lobar Holoprosencephaly (a brainmalformation). I also have a congenital heart defect called a HypoplasticRight Ventrical (the chamber that pumps blood to the lungs isunderdeveloped). I also only have 2 vessels in the umbilical cord, insteadof the usual 3. Unfortunately, the combination of these problems points toa chromosomal abnormality- possibly Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18, which are bothLethal syndromes, meaning I would not be able to live very long, even if Idid make it through delivery. My mommy had a Amniocentesis done on Fridayand they will do a complete chromosomal defect test on that to see if theycan, by chance, rule out the Trisomy 13 or 18. If so, it may be possiblethat I would have Down's Syndrome, which has a higher rate of survival. Inthat case, all stops would be pulled to make sure my mommy and I get thebest care possible up to my birth and afterwards. One bright spot in theirday was finding out I was a girl!"

"Mommy and Daddy would ask you to pray specifically for me in the followingways:1) Pray for a miracle- that I, Janessa, would be born alive so that Mommy,Daddy, my big brother, and the rest of my family can meet me. My due dateis March 10th. (I'm halfway there already!)2) Pray for healing- we know all things are possible with our God!!3) Pray for wisdom for the doctors and counselor to know how to prepare usfor the future.4) Pray for grace for each moment."

"Thank you so much for supporting my family during this time. I really hopeI get to meet you someday- if not here, then in Heaven. I know that yourprayers for healing will be answered- in Heaven I will have a complete,perfect body even if I don't get one here. All tears will be wiped away,but I have a feeling that we'll be able to remember what we went through,but we won't be sad because we will fully understand what God was doing. ToGod be the glory!"