a step back

These two notes were brought to my attention this morning with the new updates to Facebook. So, I thought I would move them over to the ole bloggity blog. Reading these two blurbs has refreshed my love and appreciation for my godly, hard-working husband and has made me ever so thankful that the hard days of itty bitty twinkies are long gone.

Monday 8.1.11 - a reason to celebrate
I woke up this morning next to the man of my dreams. He is better than the best husband I could've ever imagined, and now I am witnessing him step into the roll of dad and am amazed. His love for me and his love for our girls is only an outpouring of his love for our amazing God. I couldn't imagine making it through this past week without him and am blessed to celebrate making it through two years of marriage with him today! Steve Risinger, I love you. Happy Anniversary. :)

Sunday 8.7.11 - monitor conquered. almost.

Last Monday afternoon Steve and I received the best anniversary gift ever. Our 'littlest little' (as we love to refer to Eisley now) got to come home with us! However, this joyous occasion was marked with stress and heartache because we were sent home with an apnea monitor that to our dismay was constantly going off. We were doing good if we made it a solid hour without hearing the alarm sound multiple consecutive times. Friday morning we found that the amber colored data light was lit notifying us to take the monitor to have her info downloaded. So, I headed to the OSF sleep lab only to discover (to our dismay and also soon to our joy!) that our monitor had been given to us with the wrong settings for her breaths-per-minute! The sweet ladies in the sleep lab corrected all the settings and told me that we should not be concerned about any episodes because 99 percent of the alarms were false. Since that glorious correction, we have only heard an alarm sound 4-5 times, and it is Sunday! Praise the Lord. Fears have ceased. Sleep (ok at least 15 minutes of it!) have been restored. We have almost made a complete turn around with the monitor situation. And we are well on our way into week three of their tiny lives working hard at a consistent schedule to get these twinks to sleep through the night sooner than later! They are eating and pooping and sleeping and even doing a pretty good job of holding those heads up!!!

Steve (aka: I like it when you call me Big Poppa) spent last week working half days (on very little sleep and lots of coffee) while I spent my days loving on these little munchkins (on very little sleep and lots of coffee) while trying to do as little as possible around the house to heal properly, only being enabled to do so with the help of my mom. What a great and perfect gift that she took care of Steve and I so that we could best take care of our little ones. And again, we want to send out our greatest thanks to our friends and family who have prayed for, loved on, and fed us in these past weeks. Never have we witnessed the provision of our Great God in a more tangible way.

my itty bitty ladies

creatures of comfort

In the wake of a longer season of suffering than I’ve experienced in years, I am earnestly (and frequently) reflecting on a quote from Randy Alcorn’s book Safely Home that simply says this:

Real gold fears no fire.

     Oh! The implications of those words for the children of God. Have you been trusting Him through your light and momentary affliction? Do you consider yourself worthy to be called to suffer for His name and glory?
     Through this season I’ve seen friends suffering the absence of life due to physical and eternal distances, the emotional and physical stresses of sleepless nights, families being tried as marriages are attacked, and even myself suffering from the consequences of my sin and bitterness. I found myself not rejoicing in this suffering and burden bearing nor delighting in my reproof, but pleading with God for comfort. I wanted it all to end promptly. I especially longed for closure before I actually had to reach out and trust God in trusting someone else to see this ugliness.
     BUT of course that was not what God had in store. You see, something amazing starts to take shape when life seems to be out of my control and falling apart. My clouded eyes and calloused heart begin to see more clearly and become softened to behold God’s sufficiency and grandeur. And it takes place only by way of clinging, in faith, to the words, person, people, and purposes of Christ. Why do we believe that sometimes it is OK to suffer and walk our lives alone? I believe it’s pride, believing in self-sufficiency rather than Christ’s sufficiency.
     Oh, brothers and sisters! Are you clinging to someone who is just a hobby or shopping buddy during your season of suffering, or are you clinging to someone who will bring scripture to bear on your life? Are you believing the Word of God and acting on it no matter how you feel? Or are you giving up and giving in? What God says, He will do. Go on. Reach out. Don't be deceived into thinking that health in the Body and its members is defined by a lack of issues. Health means that when issues arise (cause they will), the body can and will battle the attack without becoming ill and overwhelmed. Praise God that He is victorious before us, dwelling in us, and reigning over us! He WILL bring a good result. I will trust Him. I will worship. I will follow.
     I want to leave you with one last quote to ponder from Thomas á Kempis who wrote, "Jesus now has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who desire tribulation. He finds many companions of His table, but few of His abstinence. All desire to rejoice with Him but few are willing to endure anything for Him or with Him. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many revere His miracles, but few follow the humiliation of His cross."