Food Management: Let's Get it Done for Less!

Let’s just be real with ourselves at first: many times the stress of life and mothering and being a wife, working, etc. makes dealing with food and money a more difficult process than it needs to be. Also, many times we compromise our desire to save money due because of a lack of time, our desire to consume things our bodies don't even need, or our inability to set spending goals and keep them. However, we should understand that eating is a part of life that we should enjoy and that we can feel good about spending money on when we are doing so in a way that is not harmful to ourselves or others. 

With that being said, I have a list of tips that are not only practical tips like meal planning or budgeting, but also tips that target reasons why we overspend. These tips are all just food for thought. I hope they work for you as they have worked for me as I have been transitioning into eating mostly organic, balanced diet for my nursing self, baby and husband.

1. Make a list of things that you consume that you do not need. After doing so, eliminate at least 50% of those products from your shopping list until you have learned to live without them and then eliminate more of them until they are not there anymore. Do a mental check every so often to make sure you haven’t added a new item to your do not need list to replace an old one that you stopped buying. Note, I am not saying that you have to eliminate all of your favorite snacks, but am suggesting that you do eliminate food that is not good for you and costing you a lot of money—some examples: sodas, flavored beverages, excessive dessert items. 
2. Identify a negative eating or food shopping habit that you have and work at trying to eliminate this behavior from your life. A few examples of this could be eating while emotional, shopping while hungry or switching the type of food that you are eating to jump on the newest “health” trend. Doing any of these will make you have spikes in your spending on food. How you may ask? If you eat while you are emotional, then you may find that you like to have comfort food items and are purchasing those things that may not be necessary to eat and therefore are spending more money.
3. Meal planning will look different for everyone. Though it is seems like the solution for someone else to give you the exact meals and shopping list for what to make each week, unless you are the kind of person that likes to follow directions to a T and are willing to eat these meals that you may or may not like or be your style, than doing so will only be a short-lived venture that may make you never want to plan meals for yourself. With that being said, I suggest you design your own meal plans following a general guideline for healthy eating that saves time and money. Here is the guideline:
1. Include things in your meal plan that you like to eat and cook
1. One way to do this is to write down as many of these meals as possible and then rotate them on a calendar.
2. If you feel that your current meals are costing you too much money and/or time, then try this model:
1. 1st day: 1-2 whole chicken fryers depending on how large your family is: you want leftovers with the chicken. You can cook these in a dutch oven, large pot on low or a slow cooker Throw in potatoes, onions, carrots and sweet potatoes with the chicken while it cooks so as to have your side dishes before. Make bone broth from the bones.
2. 2nd day: Soup from bone broth
3. 3rd day: Ground beef dish (green beans and ground beef, ground beef and chard, ground beef tacos, meat sauce and spaghetti)
4. 4th day: chicken dish using any remaining chicken
5. 5th day: panned oven dish like casserole, lasagna, etc.
6. 6th day: pasta dish
7. 7th day: quick dinner (frozen meatballs, TJs frozen dinner, raviolis)
8. Make enough to have leftovers for at least the working person’s lunch (you, your husband), but more the better
4. Expense tracking is key to budgeting. You can set your budget realistically by tracking your expenses and getting an average of what you really spend over a couple of months OR by setting a goal dollar amount to spend and watch how much you spend each week and stop spending after reaching your goal. The fact of the matter is that many times we buy foods in bulk (like spices or pasta sauce, pasta etc.) and they go into our weekly expense, but we don’t use it all in a week, like something like milk. We can have a separate goal for bulk items or include it all in one category if we want to take that into account mathematically. To keep it simple, I just lump it all together, but I don’t buy too many of the things I would buy in bulk so as not to overspend. The key is being aware of how much you are spending and only buying what you really need. Many of us could live off of our pantries for a couple weeks without shopping! Reducing that concept will help us save money. Only buying what we plan to consume in a short amount of time is another way to look at that. 
5. Consider making your own foods like yogurt, salsa, granola, etc. It will save you money but does take some time.
6. When tracking expenses, record all groceries separate from household and baby products to get an idea of how much you are really spending on each and to get used to viewing those things as separate items. I budget $300 a month on groceries, $50 a month on baby (includes diapers and random small baby purchases not including baby food because I either made my baby food or she now eats what we eat at age 1), $200 on household and miscellaneous costs (like car needs, etc.) and $150 a month on eating out.
7. Save money by buying only certain items in bulk that you know you eat all the time. Buy organic items in bulk when possible, and shop for organic items at the farmers market—you will always find in season items there and for good prices. The vendors will sometimes give you free items as you come regularly and definitely will give you some type of deal. 
8. Reduce costs of household products by using things that are reusable, like Norwex cleaning cloths that allow you to clean without chemicals and without paper towels. Ask me more about this if interested. I sell these products and would love to demo them for you, help you learn how you can earn some for free, etc.

This is my basic plan and my family has been blessed by my stewardship of the food and finances in our home. I am still learning and want to grow in what I do as well. I also realize that we like change in life, so I am up for trying new things as well and learning from others. Would love to hear from you all!

One may think, "why pray?"...

One may think, "why pray?" After all, life happens: circumstances are not perfect but we can overcome, human bodies all fail, we all face hardships and experience good times. Nothing new under the sun. God knows everything that is happening. He knows when we face a difficult situation. He knows when we are suffering. He knows everything. So why pray about those things? What difference do prayers really make?

One thing we can see when we read the Bible is that Jesus prayed and that He also asked His disciples to pray (Matthew 26:38). Jesus recommends pray for different situations as well, such as in setting the child free of the mute spirit in Mark 9:29.

Let's look at it from God's perspective for a minute. When He created the earth, He created man in His image and likeness and told them to rule over the earth and subdue it. He gave man authority here. Man even named the animals, thus co-creating this world with God. Man was a co-worker with God in overseeing this world. Man had a say in how things would go here on earth.

After Jesus' death and resurrection, all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). With that authority, Jesus commissions his disciples to go into the world and make disciples and any who believe, signs will follow them (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16: 17-18). In other words, He gave spiritual authority back to men that believe in Him.

Putting these things two things together, that God originally intended for man to rule on the earth with Him and have a say in how things go on this earth and that Jesus, having all authority, gave authority to believers, these two things are grounds for why we should pray: BECAUSE GOD INTENDED FOR US TO MAKE AN IMPACT WITH OUR PRAYERS! :)

When we talk to God about what is going on, when we make declarations of His truth over our situations, when we command things to come into existence or situations to change, there is power in our words that are in agreement with the Lord, his heart, ways and truth. God desires for us to pray; things that happen on earth are not just going to go a certain way because that is the way that they are going to go. Situations can be changed. We can co-work with God to change lives, events and history.

Some may think, I don't know what to pray or how to pray. Well, Jesus taught some things on how to pray in Luke 18 and Matthew 6 that we can look and learn from. But know this: we should not worry to much about how to pray; just pray. What do I mean by just pray? Start by just talking to your Father in Heaven, your Creator, the One that knows us inside out. We can talk to Him just as you talk to our parents, spouse, or best friend.

Also, spending time with God reading and thinking about His word or talking to Him in pray and getting familiar with His Holy Spirit's voice is essential to developing a fulfilling prayer life (whether it is prayer time or throughout the day talking to God). The Scriptures tell us things that the Holy Spirit will tell us: teach us all things, comfort us and remind us of His truth (1 John 2:27, John 14:26). God will help us to know His heart so that we can pray in agreement with Him. 

Praying is one way that we can fulfill God's will for our lives as His co-ruling creation.

One thing I would like non-Christians to know....Though there are many

As I walked down the street in Old Town to go get some lunch, the Lord spoke to me about a young guy waiting for the bus. So I went to talk with Him. I shared the word I got for Him, which was semi hard to do because of the nature of the word. I then shared that their is hope in Jesus. He mentioned that he was not Christian but that His parents were religious. When I asked him what religion, he said Christian. He also said he was glad I shared that with him because felt hopeless. After talking, he said that in time he may just be a Christian. I asked to pray for him, and he said ok, however would not disclose his real name, as he was afraid to share his identity.

This conversation struck something in my mind: his worldview of Christianity came from his home. So what did he see in his home that made him think of Christianity as a religion, as something he didn't want to be a part of now? What from our conversation made him think about coming around later?

Ever since I have been a Christian, I always felt uncomfortable with calling Christianity a religion and Christians religious people. This may go along with my misconception of the word religion and what it means. Because of this misconception, people undermine  what Christian life really is about.

So what is the misconception? What do you think of when you think of the word "RELIGION"?

I feel that for many people, the word religion is associated with the word church. What they have seen church looks like, or even what church goers look like, is what they view as religion. For me, when I think of the word "religion," I get a sense of stiff and rigid. The word gives me a distant feel and reminds me of rituals and systematic events. I also think of a gathering of people in a building where there is music and no one saying anything, just sitting there quietly with nice clothes on. Where do I get this viewpoint from? It is really hard to say. Perhaps my view of the anti-social gathering comes from childhood. But the other things that I think of when I think of religion, it is really hard for me to say where I get that idea. I can only assume it came from a series of things that I have been exposed to throughout my life that were "religious." All of these things I experienced before actually meeting Jesus personally. That is actually how I viewed what Christians were doing. But when I went to a Christian gathering after meeting Jesus, I did not get the same feeling at all. 

If we look to the Bible we can see from Apostle Paul's example that he had the wrong view of Christianity before he encountered the true and living God. He hated Christians and thought they were actually going against God. For more on this, read the Bible in Acts starting at the end of chapter 7 to the end of chapter 9. Most people don't have this particular perspective on Christianity. Instead, they view it a religion of do's, don'ts and restrictions--something that will take away their freedom or make them have a boring life. But this is the wrong view too, at least in my experience and every Christian that I have even met, which is a good number of them.

So, what is it about meeting Jesus that makes the difference in the way I view Christianity? After I had an encounter with the Living God, going to a gathering wasn't about the social event itself, but rather it was about getting to spend time with, talk to and know God. Encountering Jesus made God real and personal to me, not distant. I could no longer view Christianity as a religion, though it is according to the real denotation of the word. I could no longer connote Christianity with religion in the same way that I did. And that is because there hasn't been a day that has gone by that my life as a Christian has been uninteresting, dry, rigid, anti-social, systematic, etc. Instead, it has been alive, fresh, exciting, adventurous, suspenseful, invigorating, peaceful and free. 

Most importantly Christian life has been a life of learning. I have been way more open to be taught and to learn than ever before. Furthermore, I cannot say that I know everything. There are some things I can say I know for sure, such as God is real, His Son Jesus is real, Jesus came to save and not condemn, He saved me from the power and penalty of sin, He loves me, He is faithful, His Holy Spirit is living in me and works on the earth through His people and His word is truth. These are the only things I can think of at the moment that I can say for certain that I know. Outside of this, there are many grey areas that I am learning more and more about each day. I know the things that I know not only because they are written about in the Bible, but because they have been confirmed to me in my real life through experience and because of this, I believe that anyone else can have the same opportunity to know these same things for certain. 

BUT, as for the other things in the grey areas, like what church should look like, what actions we should take in our day to day lives to confirm our faith and give identify ourselves as Christians, those I say I don't know everything about. I can learn some things from the Bible about these things, but because the church exists among people, I can expect for either misinterpretation, or varied interpretation thus leading to varied expressions of faith. 

Because of this, the thing I would love a non-Christian to know through this blog post is that Christians don't know everything and what you see from an outside perspective that may make it seem religious, there is way more to it than that. Though sometimes out of our immaturity, a Christian may say things with absoluteness in their tone of voice, we still do not know everything. Therefore, one person should not just get their view of a whole "religion" without doing 2 things: 1. looking into it themselves by going to events, talking with people, allowing others to pray for them, reading the Bible, etc. and 2. seeking to encounter the true and living God personally by asking Him to do so. 

Brief Note about Discipling

When Jesus called his disciples, to most He just said follow me. They didn't know they were his disciples. They didn't sign up for a discipling class and they didn't meet with Him to be discipled. They just knew they wanted to be with God, so they left everything and followed Him. They spent time with Him continually from that point on. (should have been posted several weeks ago...)

More Than Turning the Other Cheek

I found myself hurt by two people in the last couple of days for the same reason: the way they responded to something that I did or said that may have offended. I had no intention to hurt or offend them in any way, and perhaps didn't even realize that doing so would have been a possibility. As I see others reactions towards me that hurt for one reason or another, I find myself wanting to shut people out and not trust others. I don't want to get close to them, don't want to help them, don't want to share my life with them, don't want them to know me. 

Then when my husband asked me, why don't you want to do one of these things, the Lord spoke to me: it is because I am not responding rightly to what they did either. How the Lord wants me to respond is with love, grace and forgiveness. My response should not be with a wall of self-protection or some other action that I may take out of my self-focused and/or insecure mindset, that is not in line with my identity in Christ nor the truth of His Word. Instead, I should do more than turn the other cheek. 

Jesus said this in the following order: Luke 6: ²⁷ “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also..." Before even turning the other cheek, He tells us to do everything out of love to those who hate us, curse us and spitefully use us (or mistreat us in other versions). Then He adds to allow them to keep making blows at you if they so wish to do so. And then He adds even more....And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. Don't just love them in your heart, but give to them. Serve them, love them, give to them, bless them. 

Wouldn't I want someone to do this to me?~hmmm. When someone treats me with love when I do not treat them that way, it is not only humbling, but I can really see the love they have for me and the love that God has for me as well. Wouldn't I want someone else to experience that through my actions towards them? This is the question that I have to ask myself before I respond the way that I am used to responding, which is not only out of my flesh, but is also not in the way that Jesus would nor the way that I would want to respond. After all...³² “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lendto those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Amen.

The Birth of Hope: A Testimony to God Showing Up in Labor and Delivery

Before coming to Santa Barbara, I hadn't had much time to prepare myself mentally or spiritually for giving birth. I had been working full time, taking classes in the evenings, and preparing to move. It was intense; especially because I was 8 months pregnant when we moved here in February. Before moving, we had been discussing whether we should try to move before the baby or after the baby and 100% of 30 to 40 women said BEFORE! YOU NEED TO MOVE BEFORE! Now we see why... :)

After God directed us to Isla Vista Church in our new hometown, the blessings began through meeting Holly, the pastor’s wife. She schooled me on everything I needed to know about giving birth: how I could have the apartment ready for baby and a provision of resources including a connection with two doulas and some baby items. Both doulas were a great blessing to me, as they supported me in prayer and with wisdom, counsel and support. But most importantly, Holly was used by God to build up my faith for this experience. It started with her testimony of one of her births and lending me a book called Supernatural Childbirth. This book really built up my faith to believe God to be present at my childbirth and to trust in Him through the whole thing--even when things were becoming complicated with the doctors. Furthermore, I was able to pray boldly for help during the labor process and for a fast delivery. My husband also made bold declarations of faith for the labor and delivery, which ended up coming true. God is good!

So on March 19, two days after my due date. My mom arrived from out of town, so we took her out to see some of Santa Barbara before we wouldn't have that chance. We ate a hearty Italian pasta dinner and walked around downtown. Little did we know what was about to happen, and in retrospect, it happened so fast we almost had to ask the restaurant if they delivered! Right before my mom arrived on the 19th, I started feeling very mild contractions about every 15 minutes or so. I had felt these every 12 hours since Saturday night, March 16, so I didn't think much of it--just the beginning of birth pangs. I knew something was coming but didn't know when. By the time we get home the contractions become more regular--every 12 minutes. I called Abby, my new friend and doula who would be there to support Matt and I through the labor. She came over and checked me out and said that I have some time and to just take it easy, but call her if they got any closer (like 5 minutes apart). So she went home; it was around 10:30pm. As Matt was timing them, he thought it was weird they seemed to be getting closer and closer so quickly- he was wondering if these were real contractions or not! But sure enough, the contractions continued and by 12:30 am they were about 2 minutes apart. I called Abby again, she came over and checked me out and suggested we head to the hospital. We got there by 1:30 am. And here is when the fun begins!

Matt said, “As we get to the hospital, we drove around to the emergency room, as they told us to go to there first. Upon entering the emergency room, we saw sick people everywhere! Matt thought it was funny that he got to write under reason for visit, “having a baby,” but was thinking, “oh great, what a perfect place to be right before we have this baby-around people sick enough to come to the emergency room in the middle of the night!!” So we huddled in the corner for what seemed like an eternity (an eternity interrupted by Victoria’s contractions every two minutes), while we waited for them to call us up to the delivery center.”

Finally, they called my name and they brought us into one of the checking rooms where you are monitored for about 15 min to evaluate your contractions and check how far along you are. When the nurse checked me, she informed me that I was only dilated to 1 cm, which was not dilated enough for admittance. Interestingly, the nurse put me on my back to be monitored. She told me later I should be more on my side--being on my back was so not what I wanted to do (most painful position at that present time). So it made the monitoring process take longer and also started a conversation between the nurse and I about staying there to wait for the next time I could be evaluated for admittance or just going home until I was further along. If you are not ready to be admitted, you can wait for an hour and they will check you again. I asked what her opinion was of what I should do. Because she thought that I didn’t want to be monitored, she suggested I go home until I was really ready to come back. However, in reality, I had no problem with monitoring, just lying on my back to do it—what a miscommunication! It caused me to make a wrong choice, so I thought, which was to go home and come back when I was further along.

As we were trying to leave the hospital, we got lost inside. The hospital was a maze and coming in through the emergency room didn’t help because we had to go out a different way. While walking out, I would have to pause every two minutes for the contractions. By the time we made it to the car, a lot of time had passed. It had been more than an hour, which was how long I needed before I could be re-evaluated for admission. I tried to get in the car and go home, but I was torn as things quickly got more intense. I saw no point to leaving—it was a 15 minute drive back home and then another 15 minutes back to the hospital. How much laboring did I want to do at home? How do I know when to come back? My contractions were already pretty strong! So here I am, conflicted in heart about my decision to leave. I feared the hospital staff thinking I was crazy for coming back so soon, I feared not being dilated enough for admission. It was difficult, and I started to cry. In my heart, I heard the Lord say “go”. Then I said to Him, “go where Lord?” At that very moment, Matthew said, “we are going inside, come on!” I was so relieved, yet slightly burdened because I didn’t know what was going to happen.

I went back in through the emergency room and they took me back upstairs to the birth center. This time, there were no evaluation rooms ready, so they put me in a labor room to evaluate me. I was also able to get a different nurse as this happened. She helped me get through a contraction, which was comforting, then said to me, “you know how this works, you were just here. If you are not dilated to at least 3, we cannot admit you.” I said, I know, but it has been an hour and I am allowed to be checked again for re-admittance. At that time she asked me about my birth plan. If I was going to get an epidural, they could consider admitting me earlier so that they could administer the drug. However, I told her that my plan was to go natural if possible. She asked me why I wanted to go natural and I told her that it was because the epidural scared me and I would rather less risk with all the complications. She looked me in the eyes and said, “If you want to have a natural birth, then you do not need to take any medication. You can have the birth that you want to have and nothing will stop you.” When she looked at me and said this, I felt that God was speaking to me through her. She said it with such boldness and confidence, it was almost as if she spoke that in faith over my life. At that moment I picked up some faith. Then the nurse turned away for a minute right before she checked me for the dilation level, mentioning again we need to be dilated to at least 3 cm before they admit us. Matthew turns and prays, “WE COMMAND YOU CERVIX TO DILATE RIGHT NOW TO 3 CM in JESUS’ NAME!” in a quiet yet forceful manner. The nurse turns back to me, tells me to lay back and started to check me. She said, “looks like you are almost a 3, ehh, let me help you a little here.” She pushed a little and said, “You are at a 3, I am going to recommend you be admitted” Praise the Lord! It was like music to my ears. I actually was able to stay right there in that room, labor room #3, where Hope would be born 4 hours later.

Now in the labor room, contractions still every two minutes, the nurse that did my original examination came in the room—she was going to be my labor and delivery nurse. We cleared up our miscommunication from earlier and she started the admission process, though Matt’s heart dropped a little bit to see her again. Meanwhile, contractions are still going on, but the nurse wasn’t really supportive of getting me through them, like the nurse who just checked me and helped me to get to 3. Instead she was just focused on making sure that the admission process was done correctly—all the info was done right in the computers, the hep lock was put in my arm and the monitors were connected right. Actually, the wireless monitors for the room were not working properly for some reason. So that was yet another thing that she had to focus on. In Matt’s words: At this point, Matt wanted to go talk to the charge nurse to see if we could switch out our nurse for delivery and he was super nervous about it, not wanting to be one of those “people. Matt said “I timidly walked out into the hallway and talked in a hushed voice to a nurse who looked like she could have been in charge and asked to speak to the charge nurse. She asked him how come, and he explained in the nicest words possible that we would like to request a change of nurse. But then he was informed that the charge nurse just went on a food break and wouldn’t be back for another 30 minutes. 30 minutes! That seemed like an eternity to us at this point, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

Meanwhile time is passing by, and in all honestly, the pain of labor was getting intense. After one contraction I would pray or confess Scripture, after the next, I would contemplate taking something for the pain. I was flip-flopping in my mind. I heard many stories of people changing their minds in the middle and now here I was facing the same feeling. Regardless of what I was thinking, I could feel God’s presence in the room. I started telling Him that I couldn’t do it, that I just wanted to give up and get this over with already. I then started sharing the same thing with my husband. Matt wanted me to know that he was supportive of any decision that I made. At this point, I started asking the nurse about the epidural. The first time I asked her, there was still time to get it. She told me that it is a possibility, but then she asked me why I didn’t want to take it in the first place. I told her the same thing that I told the other nurse, that it was just not appealing to me at all and if people were doing it naturally for so long, then I should be able to as well. At that point she suggested that if I could hold out until I was dilated to 7, I could take some narcotics to get me through the point where I would have to push. She said it wouldn’t harm the baby and would take the edge off. I was so down for that. She then suggested I get into the labor tub to help ease some of my contractions.

Matt says: “At this point, I requested that Abby, our doula, be called in, since Abby had gone home when we were going to leave the hospital earlier. I had no idea what I was doing the whole time and was just riding on grace from the throne room of God, but still not leaving my side for one minute. Abby came in while we were in the tub, where Victoria was actually falling asleep between contractions. The tub was like a gift from God to her in more than one way--she was able to rest some and ended up dilating quite a bit while she was in there! The nurse also heard me praying fervently and came in and asked, “Are you guys praying?” I affirmed that we were and she said with her slight southern drawl, “you know, I’m so encouraged to hear y’all doing that. Where I was from in Tulsa, everybody prayed at every childbirth; this place can be very discouraging.It seems like everyone is an atheist here” Upon getting out of the tub, the nurse checked Victoria and she was at 8cm! The nurse informed us that it was too late to take the narcotics.”

God had blessed me by making me miss all my chances to get pain relief that I didn't really want anyway. I can see that when I was weak, my God was strong. He came through for us, giving us the desires of our heart, which was a natural and fast childbirth.

It was now all or nothing. I entered into the transition phase of active labor. At this point, things were intense and moving so fast. My husband and our doula had been so supportive so far. Especially Matt. He helped me through every contraction from the beginning. At this point, they were getting tough for me to handle. I probably squeezed his hands to the point of crushing them (Matt says he could take it anyday). I also couldn't help but moan; however moaning was not the best thing to do because it wasn't really helping me stay focused through the contraction. It seemed like it was getting too intense for everyone and that nothing could help, but then God came through again through our nurse! Matt says: “And not just in the form of an encouraging word. It was like the Spirit of God came upon her, like it did when Samson slew 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey.” During the next contraction, when I started to moan loudly, the nurse shouted “Victoria! Look at me!” I look right at her big blue eyes and she said “Focus! Breathe! Like this...” And then she made these fast breathing noises that really helped me. I couldn’t help but look at her and breathe like she was telling me to breathe. Actually everyone in the room started breathing like this nurse. It really was like the Spirit of God came upon her in power. She got me through that contraction and as a result, everyone picked up spirit to keep going.

I was dilated to 9 ½ now and the nurses started to prepare for the doctor to come in. Since I was in the hot tub, every half hour was almost another cm. The delivery was going by so fast. My water didn’t even break all the way yet. My body just wanted to push the baby out, but I wasn’t allowed to. The nurses said I had to keep going so that the baby could fit through properly. At this time, I looked at the window and it was starting to get light outside. And at the very same moment, Matt said to me in my ear, “this baby is going to born at dawn.” It was 7am when he said that.

Suddenly, it seemed, seriously only a couple minutes and I was at 10...it was time-I could push Hope out. I did not know what I was doing and pushing was so difficult. The doctor just walked in the room at the right time, wearing what Matt would consider to be a HAZMAT suit, telling me how to push. The doctor was like a military drill sergeant when she instructed me. I was trying to do what she told me, but it was so difficult to physically do what she was telling me to do. After pushing three times, I started to ask God, please let this be the one. One more push went by and no baby. Then God said to me, she is coming on this next one. Matt then said in my ear, “This is the one, she’s coming now.” Sure enough, that push, out came baby Hope Angelina, all 7lb 13oz and 19 ½ inches long with an almost perfect APGAR skin test. Matt tried to later recount what it was like seeing his daughter coming out, but he said rather speechlessly that no words can really describe it-his mind was officially blown away!

God surely delivered this baby! He was there in all the little details of the whole process. This truly blessed my life.

Though I wanted to share this testimony sooner, it has been difficult for me to manage my time since Hope was born. I am glad that I am finishing at this point, because writing it has refreshed my faith that God can help me in the parenting process and for the remainder of the physical healing that my body needs from the delivery. I hope this story blessed you and your faith in God’s love, provision, care and help for all areas of your life.

Matt’s final comments: “God is truly amazing! He wasn’t kidding when He said that He will ‘save’ women through childbearing-this is His promise to be the Deliverer, quite literally in this case. And He is also the provider. If we would have had the baby in Orange County, we would have had to pay at least $2,000 with our insurance down there. However, one month before our baby was due, I just so happened to get a new job at UC Santa Barbara with new health insurance, that gave us a hospital bill of a grand total of $0! Wow! God thinks of everything, even when I was barely able focus on unpacking our apartment, doing my work, trying to learn about childbirth, and being a husband. He really is good!”

Transition and moving on

Transition has taken place. I am now a parent. Of the many things that God has been teaching me through this transition, I also realized today that the only way I will be able to share these things through this blog is by posting right away what God showed me. This is something that has always been difficult for me: to record right away what God shows me, whether trough prayer, a dream, a word, etc. so here goes another try. My obedience comes in as I just write as The Lord told me. Things will come up and hinder me from doing so. It is only harder as I pile up things I wanted to write. So with this transition, I also mark a moving forward with this, with grace in mind, but also with determination to share God's heart for me and others through this blog. Amen!