Two More Pictures

Good evening, friends! I just got home from the hospital and wanted to post my latest pictures. I think that some of my family and some of Calvin and Mary's friends from Florida check the blog for updates, so please bear with me. These girls have become my latest obsession...ummm...I mean hobby!

This first picture is little Norah. You'll notice the IV is out of the top of her head. It makes a world of difference! It is a lot easier to get her out of the incubator and hold without the IV. The purpose of the IV was to supplement her fluid intake, but by this morning, she and Ashley had both increased their feeding amounts to a level where they could take the IVs out. However, they were more "spitty" today - please pray that they don't need the IV again, but that their stomachs would adjust to the food and be able to manage it. They weren't spitting full meals and I know babies "spit," but it would be nice to continue on in this stage of life without IVs.

Norah is all about her hands. She has long skinny fingers that have to wrap around everything! When we bundle her up in her blanket, inevitably she puts her hands to her face. Her fingers stretch and poke - she often puts the back of her hand to her forehead, palm face up, as if to say, (insert Zsa Zsa Gabor voice here) "Darling, is it warm in here?" When she grabs my finger, she squeezes so tightly that her little knuckles turn white! She is so strong!





This second picture is Uncle Squish and Ashley. When Ashley is asleep, she is a limp rag doll - arms flopping down at her sides, eyes rolling to the back of her head. She is easy to swaddle and loves to be snuggled. Christopher was all elbows and hands until I scooted her up into the crook of his elbow, and then he felt a little better about the whole thing. It was so precious to see my twins and Chris hold Ashley today - there is a sense of awe and wonder that comes from holding your sibling's child!

Mary and Cal are doing well - they are sleeping at home, and this is wonderful for Mary. She sleeps about 5 hours and then pumps and then sleeps another 2 or 3. If the girls stay in the hospital for a few more weeks, Mary will be well rested by the time they get home. She is moving around well and smiles and giggles easily - Mary is very happy and can't wait to have the girls home. She doesn't complain, though, because she knows that the girls need what they are getting at the moment.

Calvin is sweet and gentle with the girls - talks to them in a quiet, sing-song voice. Occasionally the girls let out a little squeak - like a tiny baby mouse. Once they develop stronger lungs, I have assured Calvin that he'll miss the squeaky days! Can't wait...

Thank you all for your prayers - they are really doing so well! We are so blessed and I can't help but thank the Lord when I sit with them and study their precious faces...

Have a good night!

Husbands and Friends

"...and the wives must see to it that they respect their husbands." Eph. 5:33

Women love to talk.

There's no denying it.

Yesterday at church Dave finished up his Resolutions series with a charge to husbands and wives. He challenged us to change our perspective on marriage and see that marriage is not all about us and our happiness. It's all about Jesus. Marriage is a visible picture of Jesus and His love for the church, therefore our marriages should reflect His commitment to us, as well as ours to Him.

Dave went on to give specific instructions to wives and then to husbands, but my mind stayed on the wives part, particularly the "fan" instruction. You see, wives need to be their husband's biggest fan. Let me put it this way, gals, do you want someone else to cheer your husband on through life? Because if you don't do it, someone else will.

It seems so easy to be critical of those we're closest to. I think we appreciate the good in our family, but we only verbalize what needs to be improved. We think we're helping them be a better person, more responsible, more interesting, more well-rounded. But what happens is we become negative communicators and when only negativity is shared, the person receiving the criticism tends to find the mute button.

Gals, do you feel like your husband doesn't even listen to you anymore? Maybe he has you on mute.

But let's go one step further. One of the questions Dave asked was, Wives, how do you speak about your husband to your friends? This is a great question, maybe one you should ask your friends and see what they say.

We do love to talk, don't we? How do we speak of our husbands? I am not saying that we should lie and make up something nice. What I am saying is that if we are not complimentary of our husbands, if we aren't his biggest fan because we see great things in him, if we do not respect him, then we need to take a step back and look harder.

If God's word says that we are to take steps to respect our husband - we are to "see to it" that we respect him, this implies effort. Study your husband. Seek out his strengths. Appreciate the good he does and speak of that, rather than making fun of him and putting him down constantly.

Why do we speak negatively of our spouses? Do we think it will gain us some sympathy? Do we think it will make us look more like suffering saints?

I know why we do it - because we're sinners and so are they.

Big deal.

Make the choice to be obedient to God's instructions and see what happens. Be your husband's biggest fan, to him personally and to your friends. Put effort into studying him and knowing him and put a hold on the negativity.

Finally, don't do it so that you can be happy. Do it because as wives, we are to reflect the church's relationship to Jesus Christ. What sort of church would we be if we spoke harshly of Jesus on a regular basis?

Guess who got to hold the twins???

Okay, yes! The answer is me! But first, I love this picture. This is my son, the father of the twins. If you look closely you can see the little feet in his hands...yes, he is changing a diaper! The incubator makes this quite a challenge, but he's up to it - notice the intensity on his face! I am just loving this...



This is Ashley - I had a good hour with her. We chatted about a lot of things - I told her all about the beautiful room that her parents had painted and decorated for her, all about her pet dog, Riley, whose life is never going back to normal, and all about her aunts and uncles. I like this picture because I think I look like my mom in it.



Look at her beautiful face...so precious!




This is Norah - again, I think we got a good hour together. She has a kung fu grip that I have trouble describing. I tried to pry her little fingers off her pacifier and I could hardly do it...she likes to grab the leads and wires. She has the IV in her head, I think because her little hands are so bruised from struggling to find a vein - she is a lot like her mother with that.




This is Norah as well. Can you see the bruises on her hands from the IVs? As sad as the bruises are, they help me tell the girls apart in pictures! (Kind of pathetic, don't you think?) Still, such a beautiful face...look at those little lips!

Keep praying for the girls - they still have a few hurdles to overcome but they improve each day. I think they may get the top off their space ships tomorrow. We'll see how they handle regular air. The nurses told Mary to bring warm clothes for them tomorrow, so we'll have fun playing dress up...

So much fun - what a blessing! I hope you enjoyed the pictures...

Every Good Thing...

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of you Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Matthew 5:44,45

This is Ashley, taking her pacifier for the first time - looks peaceful, doesn't she?

As I stood, staring at my granddaughters through the glass of what Dave calls their personal space ships, I kept thanking the Lord in my heart for these precious little girls.

"Thank you, Lord. We are so blessed."

Later, the nurse told me that every year the staff prays over each room in the neonatal unit. She said although they have state of the art equipment, they cannot save these little lives without the help of God. Then she said she has seen miracles happen nearly every day.

This got me thinking - sometimes when we talk about God's blessing, I think that our unbelieving audience inwardly roll their eyes and think, "Well, I have the same good fortune, but it's not from God." If it's not from God, who is it from?

For example, I am sure that many of the babies who have come through this unit were not from Christian families, and since the road to life is narrow and few find it, many of these children may never know God personally. So why did they survive their early arrival? Who is blessing them? If God blesses His children with good things, who blesses the enemies of God with good things?

Well, the answer is in God's Word. From the verses above we can be sure that every (100% word!) good thing given is from God - that includes saving the life of a preemie who will never know God's grace eternally. We also see that we are called to love our enemies because God is our example, and He shows love to all by shining His sun on them and sending rain on them. (I love the fact that it is HIS sun!)

I can hear you now: "Kristen, the sun shines on everyone. God couldn't make the sun shine or rain fall only on believers!" Really? Why don't you ask the Israelites whether or not they had daylight while the Egyptians were in complete darkness?

My point is this - God blesses the unbeliever. He blesses them with healing, wisdom, success, good health, and loving families. I think sometimes we get this "us" and "them" mentality - that God is only good to us and not to them. When we do this, we struggle to understand why good things happen to bad people, right?

Bottom line, II Peter 3:9 tells us that God wishes that none would perish - sending rebellious man to hell was not His intent in creating man and though His holiness demands justice, He graciously shows love to His enemies by blessing them while they are on the earth.

Yes, I am blessed, and because God has opened my eyes and saved me, I know the truth behind my blessing. God is the source of every good thing, and whether or not my audience can understand this fact, I will continually give credit where credit is due.

Equal time - below is Norah with her pacifier...so darling!