O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Psalm 16:8-11 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. This was one of my favorite chapters, and it caused me to really do some self evaluation. How closely am I walking with God? At times why do I exchange this great gift from God for something of this world. For me, it is control. I want to be in control of all that is going on in my life, and when things are not going according to plan, like with Magdalena's sickness, I am forced to remember that God's power is greater than mine. His plan is better than mine, and I will not always see his reasoning in every situation. I have to completely let go of everything to fully...

This weekend was filled with a lot of fun happenings. We did the usual on Friday night, which we both always enjoy, pizza and movie night. I am getting A LOT better at making pizzas! We also tried a new recipe thanks to a friend! This Garlic Pizz a was good, but a lot of work compared to my other pizza because the dough was crazy sticky. We decided that we would give it one more try to see if we can make it happen more easily before we give up on it though. Our movie for the night was Despicable Me , which made us laugh the entire time! Noah is so tired from school and work that he fell asleep towards the end of it, but it was not because of the movie! On Saturday we went to Barnes and Noble to get a free cup of coffee. We "had" to listen to the Nook Color demonstration, and then, partook in a delicious cup of Starbucks coffee. This was torturous for me, especially since I want a Nook so badly! Then, we were off for haircuts! I had not had one since last May, and ...

Please watch this interview with Nancy Guthrie. God is using her to give us sweet reminders of why we are here on earth. http://vimeo.com/19982404

I am SO happy to announce that the March of Dimes shirts are ready to be sold!! We are so thankful to Marshall Ramsey for his awesome drawing!! Proceeds will go to the March of Dimes! Any additional amount given will go directly to the March of Dimes. Here is the information: Cost: $16 (add $2.50 if the shirt is shipped) Sizes Available : Kids XS- XL, Adult XS - 6X Payment: Credit Card/ paypal (see side of blog under the title "Buying a MOD t-shirt".Click "Donate") or check   If you are mailing a check, please include whatsize(s) you would like and where you would like the shirt(s) shipped. Sales: These shirts must be pre-ordered, which can be done now through March 15 ONLY SHIRTS PAID FOR WILL BE ORDERED Pick-up: March 31 Receive by Mail: April 8 Color is not accurate. It is a Carolina Blue. Click here for an example.

Walt has not been wanting to eat his vegetables, but here you can see that he is actually enjoying it! He loves to dip his chicken while saying "dip dip", so I tried the same concept with the broccoli. He ate a lot of broccoli because he was able to dip it in ketchup. We were so happy! You can even see him smiling in this picture! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

We had such beautiful weather this weekend! We were able to go to my niece's soccer game where she played like a superstar, and Walt walked around hoping to get in the game with the ball. He is at such a fun age, and it definitely keeps me on my toes! Yesterday we pulled out the fire pit again to roast marshmallows and hot dogs while the kids ran around and played, and I can't believe that I am already sunburned! I sat outside reading a book for a long while in a sleeveless top and it happened. Unbelievable! But I had to share this fun picture because Walt is just being so cute! I was introducing him to sidewalk chalk. He enjoyed it, but there were so many neighborhood kids outside that were much more entertaining to him!

Grace Elizabeth lacks just a few weeks from meeting her parents face to face. In October, at 22 weeks pregnant, Grace was diagnosed with Occipital Encephalocele. Please pray for the doctors as they do special procedures, and for Grace's family as they care for Grace and make decisions. Also, pray for Grace's momma healing because she will undergo a C-section. To read more about the special baby, their blog address is http://giftsfromgrace.blogspot.com/ . Here is Grace at 20 weeks and 1 day when she was diagnosed Here is Grace at their 35 week doctor's visit

Psalm 13 How long, O Lord ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord , because he has dealt bountifully with me. I love it when God allows me to remember what I have previously read so that I can keep His word in my heart. So often I think that I forget it too fast, although I wish not to lose it. I am reading Heart Aflame - Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms , and Calvin says, "that the Psalmist does not as yet feel how much he has profited by praying but depending upon the hope of deliverance , which the faithful promise of God enabled h...

Yesterday Walt came back closely to his normal form. His happy-go-lucky self has not returned completely, but yesterday he was pretty happy! The weather was beautiful so went for a couple of good walks, and he enjoyed just playing outside a little. The great news for all of us is that Walt is back to sleeping through the night, a sure sign that the flu is leaving the house!

Please pray for Baby Alyssa and her family as they provide special care for her. Here is what Alyssa's mommy, Heather, writes: "We live in Utah. My husband, Jake, and I have 3 children: Andelin, 5, Austin, 3 and Alyssa, 3 months. We were unaware of Alyssa’s diagnosis until the day she was born. On Tuesday, October 26th, we went in to the hospital and Provo planning to have our baby. An ultrasound changed everything and within an hour we were rushed up to Primary Children's for another ultrasound due to complications with our baby's heart. Once there it was determined that baby most likely had a chromosomal abnormality in addition to the heart problems and was no longer growing and it was ti me for her to come out by c-section. They sent us over to the U of U hospital and I gave birth to little Alyssa Maree at 9:20 pm. She was 4 lbs 1 oz and 16 1/4 inches long. She was immediately admitted to the NICU. The next day was a scary day b/c she would stop breathing every few ...

Noah spent who knows how long creating this Valentines Day on a budget breakfast for me. It was too cute! And, no, he did not use the cricut to create these letters. Each one individually drawn and cut out. Happy Valentines Day!

Walt goes back and forth between miserable and almost content. We have watched A LOT of Baby Einstein today. I made him a little pallet with his blanket and pillow, which he enjoyed. Although he is not eating and drinking as he normally would, he will nibble a little here and there while drinking his juice. We are using a lot of antibacterial wipes and spray to get the germs out of the house! And God blessed us with a beautiful day, so we opened up the doors to get some fresh air running through the house. It was even warm enough to sit on the back porch in our rocking porch. God gave us a beautiful sun today! Yay! Walt eating his little popsicle

Walt is a sweet, easy-going little man, but when he doesn't feel well it can break your heart. He frowned so hard that he gave me the eyebrow raised look that Magdalena used to give me. After his symptoms of cough, congestion, and fever worsened, we called the doctor who told us to go into a clinic for a doctor to hear his chest. Pneumonia is going around, and he wanted to be sure that it wasn't it. Thankfully, it wasn't, but he does have the flu. So along with medicine, he is eating lots of Popsicles and drinking juice. He was a trooper unlike his mommy. When he gets sick enough to where I have to go to the doctor, my worst fear is brought to the surface. It sounds irrational because it is, but my fear is that I will have say goodbye to another child. Giving Walt and this fear to God is so hard, but in order for me to truly live I must do that. This situation definitely brought it to the surface for Noah to see too. I think that he thought I was about to lose it...

Walt is really becoming more of my little man every day! He says thank you, all done, ball, hat, sock, shoe, nose, eye, and much more. He is walking like crazy and loves every minute of it. He enjoys it so much that he just walks in circles around the house! Below are pictures of him using his fork. He was too cute! He would dip his meet in catchup and say "dip dip", and then, he would eat it using his fork.

Last year we raised 13,000 dollars. We can beat that with your help! It isn't just one large donation, but it consists of many, many small donations by people who live all over the world. Every penny counts. www.marchforbabies.org/julieroberts All donations are tax deductible. Pause blog music at the bottom of the page before watching video.

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It was difficult to try to put just a few of these on here, so I put a lot of them! We just these pictures a month before she was born, and just seeing them brought back so many memories. Andrea, our NILMDTS photographer was so sweet enough to get individual shots of Magdalena with her cousins. We did this just in case they got to meet her face to face. They understood that she was sick, but they were almost too young to understand what was really happening. God continues to bless us with their innocence. Mimi crocheted this blanket for Magdalena, and it was also in her baby announcement picture. Sweet, young Laura It surprises me how young Caroline was when Magdalena was born, and she still warms my heart with her memories of Magdalena. My mom was made to be a grandmother. She loves them so much. You can tell in these pictures that she was really fighting back some tears. Landon was born just a few months before Magdalena.