For these boys I prayed

Depending on where you are in the world, today or tomorrow is Blake and Cody's birthday.  If you don't know the story of how God blessed us with our family, it's one of my favorite to brag on the faithfulness of God!

This is a story that begins even before Dougie and I got married almost 24 years ago.  I had always wanted a lot of children.  When we got married, we waited for children so that I could finish my degree.  However, we both agreed that a large family would be great!  I prayed and prayed for God to give us many children.  I also prayed OFTEN for Him to give us twins!  Yes...I prayed for twins...regularly!

In the fall of 1991, we learned that God was blessing us with our first child.  We didn't know and didn't want to know if our blessing would be a boy or girl.  We were simply thankful to be given this amazing gift.  It wasn't twins, but we couldn't have been any more excited!  A couple of weeks later, my sister, Becky found out that she was expecting, too...

and...

wait for it...

she was having twins!

Have you ever had that moment when you let disappointment and jealousy over someone else getting what you prayed for rule your life?  Oh, I was happy for her!  And please don't misunderstand me...I was thrilled to be blessed with one baby!  However, I questioned God.  Why would he give HER twins when I was the one that longed for them?!  Why had he not answered my pleas?

Nine months later (well there about), Brooke was born on June 9.  Oh what a jewel!  She was (and still is) the prettiest baby ever.  She filled me with more joy than I could have imagined!  Nine days later, Becky had Austin and Alex.  Truly, all of them are miracles!  How can anyone look at a baby and not believe in miracles?!

At the time, we lived in a tiny apartment behind my parents and Becky and her family lived next door to them.  When the boys were able to come home, Becky and I spent our days at one or the other house taking care of three babies.  I still smile to think about all three of them lined up in the floor of our little living room or propped up in the recliner at her house so we could take MORE pictures!  Brooke was a big baby.  They were tiny!  It made for some great pictures!  Man...taking care of three babies was hard, exhausting work!

God never took away my desire to have twins.  However, let's just say that I didn't pray for twins quite as often! ;)

Fast forward to the fall of 1993.  It was November.  I had just found out about a week earlier that we were pregnant again.  We were so excited.  Lots of things were happening in our lives.  Brooke was a wonderful little toddler!  We were getting ready to build our house.  And now, another baby!

The morning Doug and a family friend was due to dig the foundation of our house, I woke up not feeling well at all.  Not only was I feeling worse than I had in the week before (my body has always told me almost immediately when I'm pregnant), but there were other signs and symptoms that something was wrong. 

I called my doctor, and he wanted me to come in for an ultrasound.  A close friend agreed to take me to the appointment.  As she drove, she prayed for me.  As she drove, I prayed.  Please God, don't take this baby from us! 

As I said, I was very early along.  The ultrasound tech had to do an internal ultrasound in order to see anything.  She kept the screen where I couldn't see it.  At one point, she looked very perplexed.  She looked at me and I could feel myself hold my breath.  I could tell she had seen something on the screen that she didn't expect.  But what?  Oh please God don't take this baby from us!

Then came her question...

"Is there a history of multiple births in your family?"

(A much later ultrasound.)

WHAT?  Did you say MULTIPLE?  Well, yes.  My sister has twins.  Doug's family is full of twins!  Yes, there is a history!

She turned the screen to me.  All that was on it were two itty bitty flashes.  She said, "You're having twins!"  WHAT?  Oh my!  Deep breath!  Really?  Are you sure?  She assured me that those itty bitty flashes were two little hearts!  Wow!  I was speechless!  Then...

OH MY WORD!  We have to change the house!  Wait...Dougie doesn't even know yet.  You know that's not really something I wanted to tell him on the phone. 

As we pulled into the lot where they were digging the foundation, I could see them already digging.  Dougie came over to the car.  I handed him pictures and told him we were going to have TWO BABIES!  (He turned a pale greenish color at first!)  The digging stopped.  The plans were changed.  And our life has never been the same!

Now, our twins, Blake and Cody, have just graduated from high school and are headed to college.  If you were wondering why I started the post with the statement "depending on where you are in the world", it's because currently Blake is serving in the Philippines at Gentile Hands orphanage being the hands and feet of our Lord.  That means for the first time ever, Blake and Cody will celebrate their 18th birthday tomorrow apart. 

It has caused me to think on lots of things.  But mostly, it has just been a reminder of God's faithfulness in our family's life.  I prayed for these boys long before they were ever born, but GOD knew His plans for them even before time began!  As I've prayed for them (as I pray for all four of our children) over the years, God has been gracious and merciful to them and to us.  He has protected them from things that should have killed them.  He has healed their bodies.  But most of all, He has saved their souls.  They are young men on fire for the Lord!  Blake has plans to serve somewhere in the foreign mission field.  Cody has plans to serve as a pastor.  While they have plans, the thing that speaks most to my heart is that they long to be obedient to the call God places on their lives.

For now, this momma that prayed so regularly for twins will continue to pray for our twins as they follow God's directions for their lives!

Happy Birthday, Blake and Cody!  I love you both!




Blessings,
Cindy

Our MIracle Son (One of them anyway) Part 2

If you haven't read part 1, please go here first to read about the miraculous beginning of Cody's life.

Cody was an energetic, loving toddler!  He adored the Lion King and Spider Man.  He carried a little Simba action figure with him everywhere he went.  EVERYWHERE!  When he liked something you knew it!  When he didn't like something, you knew that, too!  He hated getting his hair cut and having his nails clipped.  He would scream to the top of his lungs, "IT HURTS!!!  MOMMY, IT HURTS!"  No amount of consoling would change his feelings on the matter, either.  He was a passionate child.

Fast forward to the spring semester of first grade.  At this time, Blake and Cody were 6.  (Dale was 5.  That means Brooke was 8.)  Needless to say, our house was always buzzing. 

We live out in the country on ten acres with a wonderful creek that meanders around our property.  There are lots of trees!  There are many things for young boys to get into.  Our boys were climbing trees by the time they could walk...or at least it seemed that way.

It was the week of Spring Break.  At the time, I worked for a private preschool that was on the same schedule as the public schools.  We were all home for Spring Break.  This particular day (the Monday of break) was a beautiful day...perfect temperature, sun shining.  It was a great day for the kids to be outside playing.  The boys often roamed around behind our house while we would go in and out to check on them.

Late that afternoon, one of the boys (I don't remember if it was Blake or Dale) came running into the house and said that Cody had fallen out of a tree.  We raced out the back door and Cody was limping toward the back deck.  Just the relief that he was up and walking flooded over us.  However, when we got him in the house he couldn't breathe and was crying because he was hurting.  He couldn't tell us exactly how he was hurting.  He knew his foot hurt, but he basically was hurting all over. 

My parents rushed up to our house.  I was trying to soothe Cody and at the same time telling Doug that we needed to go to the hospital.  Doug (being the man that he is) said something like, "Oh, he'll be alright!  After all, he walked to the house."  Doug went outside to see where he fell.  When he came back in he told us that Cody had fallen 12 feet out of the tree and another 6 feet into the creekbed.  My tiny little boy had fallen 18 feet!  My mother and I had decided we would go to the hospital with or without Doug.  It ended up that Doug and I took him to Kosair hospital and my parents stayed with our other children.

The staff at Kosair immediately took him to a trauma room.  They ran x-ray after x-ray after x-ray.  He had broken his foot right at the growth plate.  He would have to put no weight on it for some time.  At that point, we were once again relieved and thankful that his injury, while serious, was so much less than it could have been.  The doctors decided that Cody should stay overnight for observation. 

That night, Cody would cry out in extreme pain everytime he moved.  Something wasn't right and this Momma knew it!  It really makes no sense that I thought something else was wrong when the doctors were saying there wasn't anything else.  After all, Cody was going to hurt; he had fallen hard and a long distance.  The only explanation is that God prompted me to know something more was wrong.  I pestered and complained to the attending physician until he finally relented and said they would do a scan of Cody's spine from top to bottom.  He said to me, "I'm only doing this to prove to you that nothing is wrong."  I said, "Great!  I hope you are right!"  Grrrr!  That still gets under my skin when I think about it.  Anyway, I digress.

Becky, my sister had come to visit Cody and told Doug and me to go get something to eat.  We went downstairs to McD's and came right back to Cody's room.  We weren't gone 20 minutes.  Becky met us at the door and told us that the doctor had come in and told her that Cody had to lay flat on his back and couldn't move.  The scan showed that he had broken his back.  I can't even type this without crying.  A broken back?!  What would that mean?  What will they need to do?  How can we control his pain?  If he moves, will he end up being paralyzed?  Oh so many questions. 

Of course, we were praying through all this, but the urgency became even more intense.  Cody had to lay flat on his back for several days in that hospital bed until they could make a custom turtle-style back brace.  He had so many prayer warriors interceding for him.

We spent a full week at Kosair's.  Cody would come home in the back brace, wheelchair, and a walker.  He could not get up at all without the brace.  He could not put any weight on his foot so he had to be in the wheelchair.  The walker was for moving small distances around the house.  We moved his bed into the living room to care for him 24/7.  Cody finished his first grade year home-bound.  He spent from April through the end of July in the brace and the wheelchair.

It wasn't until we were past the initial shock of his injuries that we realized how God had protected him the day he fell from the tree.  Cody probably didn't weigh 35 pounds at the time.  (Our boys have always been tiny.  That is until they started getting taller and taller.)  He fell 18 feet into a rocky creekbed hitting branches on his way down.  He walked to the house on a broken foot and with a broken back.  BUT GOD protected him!  Cody could have just as easily been killed that day.  Beyond the initial fall, Cody could have been paralyzed because of a delay in the diagnosis of the broken back.  BUT GOD had other plans for Cody.

For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11 

Part 3--coming soon.

Blessings,

Cindy

Our Miracle Son (one of them anyway)--Part 1

The events of this past week have found me pondering on the life of our 'middle' son.  Really, Cody shares the first son position with his twin brother.  It just happens that Cody was born 2 minutes after Blake, thus the middle son title.  As I thought about Cody's life...from the time in my womb until now at almost 18 years old, I realized more than ever that God's hand has been upon him in mighty ways and know that God has wonderful plans for his future.  Let's back up to the winter of 1993 or a little before.

I had always wanted twins and had prayed and prayed that God would bless me with twins!  When I was pregnant with our daughter in the winter of 1991-92, my sister was also pregnant.  I knew I was having 1 precious baby and I was so thankful!  Then, my sister found out that she was having twins!  While it didn't decrease my thankfulness for our baby on the way, I must admit that my heart sank!  I thought some not-so-nice thoughts.  After all, I HAD PRAYED FOR TWINS!  I wanted twins.  I really thought she got pregnant just because I was pregnant!  (Yes--I'm the spoiled baby of our family!)  Oh my, the battle that waged within me about the twins!  Once our beautiful babies were born, I helped daily with Alex and Austin, while we also cared for Brooke.  Those were some difficult but amazing days!

Fast forward two years to the winter of 1993...November to be exact so really the fall, I suppose.  I had recently found out that I was pregant again!  What a blessing!  We always knew we wanted a large family.  Doug and I were so excited!  So much was going on in our lives at the time.  We had bought land several years earlier and the time had come to start building our house.  The night before the foundation was to be dug, I started bleeding.  I was devastated even before knowing what was causing it.  I worried and fretted all night.  I called the doctor and he told me to wait until the morning and see what happened and then go straight to his office.  We already had plans for Dougie and a family friend to start digging for the foundation, so he couldn't go with me.  A dear friend from church said she would go with me.  We waited and she was such an encouragement and comfort.  At this point, I was only a few weeks pregnant.  (I always knew almost at conception.  I was blessed with morning, mid-morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night, and even middle of the night sickness!) 


The doctor had decided to go ahead and do an ultrasound to see what was going on.  The technician doing the ultrasound was so sweet.  She started the procedure and turned the screen to look at it closely.  This scared me to death!  Then, she looked at me with a perplexed expression.  She turned the screen to me and asked..."Is there a history of multiple births in your or your husband's family?"  By this time, my friend's eyes were as big as saucers!  I said,  "Actually, yes.  My sister just had twins about 1 1/2 years ago."  The technician went on to point out two teeny tiny blips on the screen.  I was so early on that all that was visible were two amazing beautiful, awe-inspiring, blips on the screen.  There were TWO heartbeats!  I WAS EXPECTING TWINS! 

We rushed to the property where Doug was working and shared the news!  He turned as pale as a person can turn.  I thought he might pass out!  Then, the digging of the foundation stopped!  We needed to add more room.  :)  Isn't God's timing perfect?!

Fast forward a few months into the pregnancy.  Expecting twins in 1994 meant that I was privileged to have multiple ultrasounds unlike with Brooke when I had only 1.   During an ultrasound appointment, the technician abruptly left the room.  When she came back, she had a doctor with her.  Once again, my heart sank!  The doctor explained to me that Baby B (Cody) had something wrong with one of his kidneys.  He explained that I needed to follow-up with my OB/GYN and also consult with our pediatrician.  He then went on to strongly suggest that after those consultations, we come back to the hospital to have selective reduction counseling because of all that the kidney 'malformation' could mean. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE TO REDUCE MY TWINS TO ONE?  YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE TO END THE LIFE OF THIS BABY THAT I HAD PRAYED ABOUT FOR SO LONG?



(Ultrasound later in pregnancy...2 heads)

Well, I did talk to my OB/GYN and told him point blank that the only choice to be made is leaving this baby in my God's hands and trusting that God has a plan for him!  Thankfully, my doctor completely agreed!

We continued through the pregnancy, having ultrasound after ultrasound.  Each time, the kidney problem seemed to either stay the same or be a little worse.  Doug and I took the concern to our church family at the time.  Our church family prayed over my sons, even while I was pregnant.  When Blake and Cody were born, they immediately started doing tests on Cody's kidneys and other things, as well.  Both babies seemed perfectly healthy, except Cody's kidney still wasn't quite developed the way they said it should be.  All those "birth defects" the doctors were concerned about...NONE!





(Cody on left; Blake on right)

Again, we took our concerns to our church family.  This time, the church prayed over Cody.  I still get chills when I remember that day.  God's power that flowed through those believers was overwhelming!  At Cody's next check-up, his kidney showed no signs of any malformation!

These were the first things God did for Cody.  Psalms 139:13 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb."  God was at work in the life of Cody even before time began.  God also had big plans for Cody as he grew.

Part 2 coming soon.

Even in the valley...

GOD IS GOOD!

Have you ever wondered why you or your family has to go through hard times...sickness...violence...times of many tears and many questions?  While I'm not focusing on the why's of our challenges, there have been times this last week that I just stopped and cried out to God because I just don't understand.

I don't understand why Brooke has become sick again with what appears to be issues with her heart after many years without any complications.  I don't understand why my migraines had reappeared full force.  I don't understand why Dougie is struggling at work in so many ways.  I really don't understand why God allowed Blake to be attacked in a parking lot by a complete stranger.  I don't understand!

Then, in my quiet time, God speaks through His Word to me...words of comfort, assurance, and love.  As I'm listening to one of my favorite bands this week, God speaks to me through their lyrics.  At just the right time and just the right place, God sent just the right people to minister to my family and to me.  It was through all this that I realized I don't have to understand why.  What I have to understand is that even in the valley, God is good!  He is working all things for the good of His children.  No matter what, we're called to praise Him.  No matter what we are called to live out our lives for Him.

So, what do I have to praise God for when I have one child sick and one child hurt?  Let me share with you.

I am married to a wonderful, Christian man who loves and supports us through good times and bad!  Dougie is a true blessing!

Protection for Brooke!

Blake's injuries are minor compared to what they could have been!

I have a group of prayer warrior sisters in Christ praying for me daily!

I had 3 days without migraines this week!

Marsha was near to minister to Brooke's needs when I wasn't there!

Marsha opened up her home to Brooke!

Texts, facebook messages and phone calls from sisters in Christ to encourage and let me know they are praying for Brooke.

A fellow teacher...actually 3...offering their time to cover my class so I could get to Brooke!

A parent of a student and fellow teacher offering to take my class an extra 50 minutes on her planning so I could catch up!

God intervening and stopping the attack on Blake!

Cody and Dale reacting exactly the way God wanted them to react!

A police officer being on the scene quickly!

My boys' witness stands firm because they stood firm in the Lord!

A mom of my boys' friend driving by and stopping to help!

Witnessing Blake's quick forgiveness!

Being able to pray with Blake in the hospital!

Clear catscan of his brain and face!

The boys' good friends!

Through everything this week, having opportunities to share how the Lord has worked with people who aren't yet Christ followers!

A phone call from Cathy at the exact right time when I needed it most!

Psalm 27!

A visit from Blake's friend bringing him a card full of hugs!

I'm sure I've left something out.  You get the point, right?  Satan has been attacking our family! 

BUT GOD!

God knows.  He cares.  He is in control.  He is and will continue to work all things to our good.

I appreciate and am so thankful for everyone's prayers!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Blessings,

Cindy



Disappointments

I will write two different posts this morning. It has been a week of roller coaster emotions here. I felt led to write this post, but I also want to share some other thoughts with you in a different post. Thanks for reading.

A difficult lesson to learn is that people will disappoint you. If you allow yourself to get close to people, to get to know people, to open up your heart to trust people, at some point in your life someone will disappoint you. It may be with something they say and sometimes it is with something they do. Even when you think you know a person, that person can surprise you by doing something that you think is completely out of their character. Unfortunately this can be done to us by anyone...a friend, a parent, a brother or sister, a teacher, a doctor, anyone...absolutely anyone we've allowed ourselves to get close to or to trust in our lives. And, it happens to ALL of us; none of us are immune to this type of disappointment to some degree. When this happens, it hurts! As a parent, this is one of the saddest lessons to watch your children learn. Oh, they learn it in little bits with friends along the way, but when a BIG dose of this lesson has to be swallowed it is so heartbreaking. Then, you have to remember that our hope is not in these other people...it is not in ourselves.

Our hope is in God....the ONE and ONLY...that created us and loves us. Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds us that God is always with us and He will "never leave us nor forsake us". God can and does take even what we see as our worst situations and turn them for His Good and ours. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." So, although with our human eyes and minds, we can't see beyond the hurt and pain of today and the disappointment from the actions of the other person, God sees and has already worked out how it all is part of His plan. Beyond clinging to that, we also have to cling to Abba Father--our great big Heavenly Daddy. We should run to Him for comfort and peace in the midst of the storm. We should pour out our hearts to Him. Finally, and maybe most importantly, we should pray and pray and pray for the person who disappointed us. It's possible, or even probable, that they need to either be drawn to God or God needs to continue to do a work in their lives that He had already begun. "Pray without ceasing;" 1 Thes. 5:17.

Please pray with me for Brooke who is dealing with this very type of situation this week. Actually, our entire family is dealing with it in some way. However, it is just 'closer to home' for her.

Cindy