And She Said "YES!"

Over the spring and summer months, a beautiful relationship has been blossoming between my sister and a Godly young man from our church. I've wanted to blog a few pictures, but they forbade such "until engagement" (both of them being some of the only ones in the family to also boycott Facebook and other online methods of communication!). They prefer old-fashioned letters and phone calls and in-person communication... another reason why they are so nicely suited to each other! :)

The day has finally arrived... and I can shout their news through the cyber world!

I must say... it's a strange feeling to have your little sister in love and getting married... first.
But I couldn't be any happier for her. I haven't been able to stop grinning all day!

I'm sure I'll cry and cry when she's finally married and gone... Jemima has been my confidante and best friend ever since we were little girls. She's always admired me, but I've admired her more for her virtue and goodness and love that comes so naturally, while I have to fight and struggle constantly to have a sweet and good heart! Her goodness puts me to shame almost daily, but at least I have something I can aspire to be like... my little sister.

So, yes, I'll be sad someday that Jemima isn't at the sink waiting to hear my stories and tell me her's when I come home each day, but for now, I'm just completely happy for her and them. Joshua is a wonderful guy and Jemima is nearly an angel... I think they'll have a bit of heaven on earth in their home.

I'll just have to go visit often, I guess. I'm so grateful that Jemima didn't fall in love with someone who lives in New Brunswick or Italy or something. If that was the case, I'd probably be crying now!

"Look, guys! I got her!!"

Hurrying back to the house... eight pairs of sisters eyes watching and giggling!

Engaged... at last!

The ring... of course

The ecstatic couple with their two youngest matchmaking sisters,
Joanna (L) and Hannah (R) who have been dreaming of
such a day for a long time. :)

If You Have Not Chosen

If you have not chosen the kingdom of God,

it will make in the end no difference

what you have chosen instead.

~William Law

Tadpole

Ellie's 2 year old, Thaddeus, gained an affectionate nickname while living here ~ Tadpole.
We love our little "Tadpole" to pieces. :)

Weddings!

Some of my very dearest friends have married in recent weeks. And another is getting married in October. I'm so happy for all of them, and I'm loving watching them settle into their cozy little newly-wed homes and start their families. :)

Meanwhile, I hug my remaining single friends a little tighter, and wonder who's next...

Ah, yes... The pictures?
Well, Ruth usually documents every wedding we attend with a few hundred pictures. But... Unfortunately, the camera batteries died at Aneysa's wedding, and Liz was sick, so at the last minute my sisters didn't get to attend Allison's wedding. Thus, I'm waiting for generous friends to share their wedding pictures with me.

I'll post a few (and a better tribute to my married friends) whenever I get them!

Lord, Why Was I A Guest?

How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
Lord, why was I a guest?

Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there's room;
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?

'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly forced us in
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart, and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

-- Isaac Watts

Send "How Sweet And Aweful Is The Place" ringtones to your Cell

Ellie's Visit

Ellie with my sisters and me...

I've been living life instead of blogging. That includes lots of midwife-stuff... but also loving on the four darling babies who have been living in we girls' bedroom, along with their mommy, Ellie.
Somehow, Ellie was adopted into the family years ago, the day we met her. She's one of the favorite non-biological sisters who we claim.... The past month has been delightful, but it's time for her to go home and settle back into regular life with her hubby. We're going to be saying goodbye early tomorrow morning. Perhaps, when that traumatic moment of kissing our four babies goodbye is in the past, I will have time to post a few more pictures of recent days around our house...

Someone asked me how our family was doing, and I replied, "Um, in a nutshell, we're happily going crazy, trying to love a zillion people!"

:) I like it. People matter. Life is good. Love is worth a lot. :)

The Desire to Be Wise

O Christ...
Make us strong to overcome
The desire to be wise
And to be reputed wise
By others as ignorant as ourselves.
We turn from our wisdom
As well as from out folly
And flee to Thee,
The wisdom of God
And the power of God.

~ A. W. Tozer

The Letter

It arrived today. For real. And... it said that I passed the final NARM exam and am now a Certified Professional Midwife.

For me, the news is so big that it's hard to believe. It's so surreal. Maybe it will sink it the next time someone in Wal-Mart or at the gas station asks me what I do and I proudly say, "I'm a midwife!"

I'm happy. I'm blessed. I'm thrilled to tears.

And to think that being a CPM wouldn't really have meant a thing in Missouri two years ago...
I'm so grateful to Senator Loudon and the hundreds of other people who came together and legalized Certified Professional Midwives in Missouri!

I can think of so many twists and turns in the path to becoming a midwife that I have taken in the last 10 years. I'm so grateful for all of it - the fun stuff, the good stuff I'll never forget, the hard stuff, the horrible stuff, the exhausting stuff. Somehow, all mixed together, it made me who I am.

People often say most excitedly, "Oh, you're becoming a midwife?! That must be soo fun! I can't imagine how much I would love to deliver babies and be with the mothers on that special day!"
Or else they say, "Oh, my! I could never handle that!"

Really, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There are wonderful parts and there are really hard parts.

Someone recently asked me, "What scares you more than about anything in the life you live?" I said without hesitation, "Shoulder dystocia!" On the other hand, I can think of a thousand things that I love about being involved in the lives of pregnant women who are learning and loving nurturing the tiny bits of life growing within them.

Some days I love it. Some days I'm so burnt out and hope desperately that my phone won't ring again for at least 20 minutes. But all together, it's so worth it in spite of the hard parts.

Would one choose not to experience motherhood and birth because of the pain and hardships and utter exhaustion? I would hope not.

It is through giving and loving and stretching more than you ever thought possible, and yes, sometimes hurting, that the soul expands and that life is made rich. Love, life - anything worthwhile is costly. But so worth it. Midwifery is that way.

I could go on and on, but I won't bore you... til another day, anyway!