Encouraged and A Christmas Gift

I just want to say thank you to all of you who have sent encouraging comments to me via email or this blog.  I have never felt so uplifted as I have this past week.  And I have to tell you, I think your prayers are working.  For the past 9 months I haven't allowed myself to wallow in self-pity and despair.  But this past week I completely swam in it.  I was so depressed.  The weight of the stress that I was living with was about to break me.  Last night, even, I went to bed at 6pm and woke up 6 times throughout the night with an upset stomach.

But this morning the Lord answered my prayers and I awoke with a renewed sense of hope and peace.  Lucy has been eating better the past 2 days.  I don't know if its enough to keep us free from a G-tube, but its progress.  Even if she ends up needing help, I can say that we all did our best to clear the hurdles.  That sweet little girl has tried her hardest to eat.  God love her.

So, thank you all.  Thank you for your sweet and caring words.  Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you, once again, for loving a little girl that you may never meet this side of heaven.  I may not respond to your comments, but I promise I read them.  Every single one of them. 

And here is a bit of encouragement for you.  If you have not spent all of your Christmas budget and are looking for the perfect gift for those "hard-to-shop-for" relatives and friends, let me suggest Compassion International.   Compassion International "exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults."

My girls were given the task of going through the gift catalog and picking out what they would like to give.  We are doing these gifts in honor of special people in our lives.  They chose several items and I narrowed down our list to a grouping that fit our budget.  I was able to print our some great cards detailing what the girls chose that I wrapped and presented as gifts.  My grandparents seemed pretty honored to have a goat bought in their honor!  I only wish our family could do more. 

I am encouraged today by you, my dear blog friends, and by my God. I don't know what our doctor appointment will bring tomorrow, but I do know that my God has it under control.  As my friend Sarah D. would say "he's got this."  Yes, yes He does.