Walking the difficult journey, but not alone.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the comments, notes in the mail, texts, phone calls, etc. you gave/sent us after our precious loss last week. You really showed us what it means to "come alongside" those who are in the middle of walking a difficult journey. You inspired me to reach out more to people as their "difficult journeys" in life come along. It is just nice to have your struggle acknowledged, even if the "right" (which is such a relative term) words may not be there.  Your thoughtfulness truly touched Mitch and I. Although our hearts are still heavy and the road to healing still seems long ahead of us, we are certain that the Lord can make anything glorify Him. Anything. I hope that maybe there is some girl reading this blog who may have felt heartache similar to mine (a miscarriage or infertility, you name it...) who can feel reassured that God IS trustworthy and that He IS working good on your behalf. I have to keep trusting and I encourage you to trust too, no matter how hopeless the still, quiet moments in your soul may seem.

I have been recovering physically from my procedure last week. Just staying here on the range, doing our normal routine with a bit of modification. The vacuum didn't get run like I would like it to and we have sat on the couch quite a bit more than we usually do, but I have felt God's presence even more in our little house and that is all I hope for. Having now lost a baby both before and after carrying and giving birth to a healthy baby, I can honestly say the feeling of loss is identical. The despair and disappointment feels exactly the same. However, the fact that there is a sweet, very busy toddler running around at my feet 14 hours out of the day changes things a bit. I stay busy during the day and don't have time to sit and think about my sadness. That makes the quiet evenings after bedtime a little more difficult. And I often times look at Scarlett and think even more about what we lost... a baby that would have one day been 2 and wild and fun and sweet just like his/her big sister. I try not to let my mind go there. What I try to do is have a heightened sense of thankfulness for what I have been given. I emphasize the word try because let me just say I can throw one knock-out pity party for myself! (Please tell me I am not alone in this, sisters!) 

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I am SO incredibly thankful for my sweet, sweet days that are filled with this precious girl.... 

 We have been spending lots of time soaking in the warm days on the porch swing, or "big wing" as she calls it. 

Her latest and greatest interest... Play-Doh. Oh, I knew these days would come! We have already made "garbage colored" play-doh many times... you know when you mix all of it together and come out with this puke colored play-doh? Yea, we've got it by the gallon. 

She was cracking me up because I asked her what animal she had and she put it right up to the camera lens... 

 Oh the  messy simple joys in life like play-doh. 

On a completely different note... here is what our indoor thermostat is reading at tonight. Our AC conveniently went out last night. SJ and I glistened an awful lot today... if you know what I mean. I called first thing this morning, but the company we use has a full schedule through the weekend. Yikes!  Oh well, there are much worse things in life. 

Goodness, this post is turning out to be rather long...  Just wanted to slip one more thing in. Mitch graduates THIS weekend! I am so proud of him. I am really looking forward to celebrating his BIG accomplishment. I cannot believe he will be Dr. Owen in a matter of days. He had to go stag to his class' Senior Banquet last Friday night... I thought he looked so handsome. 

And he even brought home some "hardware"... way to go babe.

Thanks again for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Who knew the internet could make way for such sweet friendship?