"But they that wait upon the lord...

...shall renew their strength, ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run , and not be weary ; and they shall walk , and not faint."-Isaiah 40:31 (KJV). God spoke to me through this verse at Bible Study this morning.

As most of you that read this (or know me) know, Andy and I have been struggling with infertility and trying to conceive for about a year and a half now. In recent months we have been debating our treatment options and trying to decide how far to go with treatments. Ever since I was told in January by the RE (Reproductive Encrinologist) our next step would be IVF (In-vitro fertilization), we have somewhat taken a 'break' other than some more natural treatment I've been trying (through an herbalist/acupuncturist and changing my diet). I've also found myself praying a lot more and asking God where he wants us to go with this treatment and what I should do next. Since God knows his plans for Andy and I, I feel that I need to lift this all up to him and let him make the decision on what steps to take. As easy as I make this sound, I've been struggling for months to do just that, but I'm finally starting to feel a little more peace and am trying to just let go.

Anyways...back to Bible study. So I am participating in the Beth Moore study of the book of Esther. Today was session five and the entire focus of Beth Moore's video section was in regards to 'timing.' She talked about the importance of knowing: when it's time, when it's time to WAIT, when it's time to wait for someone and when the meantime is GOD's time. Wow..what a message God had for me through Beth today! I realized that I've been trying to bring a child into this world in MY time, not God's time. He has a plan for me and my family and he will renew my strength through the struggles I am dealing with.

Beth also talked about the American culture and the way it trains us to be impatient. With all the technology and advancements we have, we don't want to wait for anything, but God hasn't intended for us to live our lives this way. We aren't on this earth to float through easily and get what WE want whenever we want it; we are here to fulfill a specific plan that God has in store for us. And sometimes this means we are meant to WAIT for something to happen. Beth made a very good point: if we cannot wait upon the Lord, we will not fulfill our destiny/greatest purpose.

I just want to praise God for bringing me this message today and reminding me that He is in control of my destiny. I hope that this puts my mind at ease and helps me through my struggles with infertility. Beth closed her lesson today with a message I will now leave you with: "Don't wait upon the EVENT, wait upon the LORD, the longer we wait, the more we renew our strength." So, here's to me renewing my strength and waiting upon the LORD for my time to start a family.

Cricut, Crafting and Cardmaking

My latest addiction is my Cricut and card making!! It's such a great hobby..and something I can do on my days off when I'm trying to stay up late without making too much noise :) For those of you that haven't heard of a Cricut, it's an electronic die-cutting machine that is used to cut out shapes, words, etc to be used on scrapbook pages and cards. I had never made homemade cards before or put a lot of effort into my scrapbook pages; but after getting some inspiration from fellow scrapbooking friends as well as a couple websites and magazines, I've come to realize how much better I could be making my pages!!! It makes me want to go through all my past scrapbooks and start over..but I don't think I'm that ambitious yet! Maybe once I have all my pictures done and I'm looking for a new project.

I got into card making once I realized how much faster they were then scrapbook pages, that and I don't feel like I have to be so worried about the small details. So...if anyone's up for a scrapbook/card making get together let me know..I'd be happy to host one! (that is, if you're willing to accomodate my crazy schedule!)

Some of my recent creations:

Thunderbirds Hockey!!

Last night we had an awesome double date with Keren and Steve. We met at The Ram at Kent Station for dinner where we unfortunately had to wait quite a while to be seated, but once we finally were we had some delicious food and good conversation. After dinner we hopped in the car for a quick ride over to the new Showare Center to watch the Thunderbirds Hockey game!!! It was a blast!!! Andy and I hadn't been to a hockey game in at least 4-5 years and had forgotten how much fun they were. Unfortunately there's only a week left in the season because we'd love to see another game. Hopefully we start going to games earlier in the season next year and hit up several more...I'm already looking forward to it. Here are a few highlights of our night in pictures: