It has officially been forever and a day since I have written a blog entry. I have tons to update you on.
First: Turning 2 !!!!
Can you believe that Dani Marie turned 2 years old? It blows my mind! People always say that kids grow so fast, in the blink of an eye, etc. I never believed it or paid much attention to it until now! It's the truth. I feel like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the NICU. We celebrated with an Elmo party. It was a blast! Elmo made an appearance! She loved him and hugged on him all day.
Dance Class
It's no secret that I'm not much of a dancer. The Lord blessed our baby girl with other musical genes. She loves to entertain!!! She constantly sings and dances. We have to literally hold her down to remove her tap shoes every week after dance class. She takes lessons at Tip Toe Dance Studio. Her teachers are always laughing and talking about the things she does in class. I'm so proud she has found something she loves.
Attitude
Remember all the blogs about how she was such a little fighter? She was determined to prove the doctors wrong? She was dead-set on excelling as a preemie? Well.....that little stubborn streak did not go ANYWHERE!
This girl is going to be the death of me. She does not take kindly to being told "No". Our current battle is potty training.
I bought a package of super cute Elmo panties. After much research and consulting with other mothers, I attempted to motivate Dani.......
"Dani, do you see Elmo on these big girl panties? We don't want to tinkle on these, because that would be like Elmo was crying. Elmo doesn't need to cry."
To which she responds....
"Oh, no! Elmo sad. Elmo, it's ok!!!"
And goes on playing
So, I purchase an Elmo Potty doll. It's all fancy and talks. Elmo says, "Can you help me get to the potty?" He has a miniature potty.
I showed Dani the doll and the play potty. I modeled helping Elmo to use the potty. I showed Dani where her potty was.
Two days later.....
Dani is playing with the Elmo doll. He asked to go to the potty. She runs to the back of the house, and by the time I get to the bathroom she has Elmo fully submerged in her training potty.
She looks up at me with those big blue eyes and says....
"It's ok, Melmo. Him had to potty. Him has Dani's potty."
Well, I guess we will keep working on this. To be continued......
There have been lots of changes in our lives over the past several months. I guess you could say Dani and I have been handed a few sour lemons. I have learned so much about life, myself, and God recently. There are some things in this world that we can be certain of. One of those things is disappointment. This world is full of sin. That's just a cold hard fact. It's the world we live in. There is no way around it, but there is protection from it. People must daily guard their hearts against the devil, and if they fail to do that he will gain a foothold. I have seen it happen to people I love dearly.
I have also learned what true strength is. I spent twenty-nine years believing that being tough was being strong. The Lord has certainly changed that way of thinking recently. I see now that sometimes the strongest thing you can do is forgive. The most powerful attribute a person can have is a forgiving heart. When people hurt you, it's easy to hurt back. The human thing to do is fight back.
Holding on to hurt and anger creates bitterness and steals joy. I have learned to ask God to give me strength....the strength to forgive. The strength to love unconditionally, and He has. He continues to give me strength in daily doses.
The saying goes....When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. It's silly I guess, but when I have a rough day or when life seems hard, when my human nature tries to grab hold of my heart, I take a minute and have a big glass of lemonade. I actually purchased Minute Maid Lemonade. It's just a literal reminder that God can truly use ALL things, even the hurtful ones, to bring Him glory. I'm so thankful for Dani Marie. I'm thankful that she only came to me through years of struggle and pain. I used to read about how sometimes the struggles and trials are actually a big part of God's blessings. I will always believe that because of the pain and journey to become a mother I am now able to truly appreciate and soak up every moment of my precious miracle. I can honestly say that I see infertility as a blessing. It was a vessel through which God delivered my life's greatest gift.
I'm also now thankful even more so for that time of waiting. It showed me that God's greatness is shown best through weakness. He tells us in his Word, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
I'm certainly no expert, and I have hard days. Days where I question and want to scream, but all those lemons have made me who I am. I know that God uses each one to continually work on me. He is showing me that He is far from finished with me. I have seen so intimately that it is in the darkest moments, when human flesh hurts us that we can rest in his power. He means what He says. His grace is sufficient for me and for you. I tell my students that sometimes we use big fancy words for simple meanings. Sufficient simply means just what we need. It's just exactly what we need. If we were always on the mountain top, if we never felt betrayal or hurt, if we were given what we longed for right when we wanted it, sure we would seem happy. There is a difference in being happy and having joy. I will take joy any day. Happiness and pleasure come from the outside world, but joy comes from Jesus. It comes in the storm. In the heart of the struggles, when you finally find the strength to lift your head.... that's when we find true Joy; joy that comes in resting in the power and grace of our King.
We could simply see the lemons as just that.... sour lemons.
Or we can enjoy lemonade while we rest in the comfort of His faithfulness.
And what's better than a cold glass of good ol' lemonade this time of year?
Love you all!
Here is a picture of the tiny miracle.....who isn't so tiny anymore!!!
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