The Ranch

This post is long overdue!

Some friends of ours are full time "house parents" in the boy's house at a local children's home. It's actually not just a wonderful home, but also an amazing ranch and hands-on school for children from crisis families.

"Seamark Ranch, a non-denominational, Christ-centered children’s home and school is committed to sharing the Gospel, hope, healing, and a brighter future with children from families in crisis"

Seamark's Website

A while back, they invited our whole small group out for dinner and a fabulous night at the ranch. The kids enjoyed meeting and feeding chickens, donkeys, and horses, all of which are raised and cared for by the children who live on the ranch. For dinner we ate giant fresh carrots and potatoes that had been grown there - delicious! It was a really cool enlightening night. What a huge and amazing work is being done there!

What they do there is incredible. Our friends, the house parents, are not only raising 2 girls of their own, but also 8 (? - it was 8 last time I checked) boys! I find myself struggling all the time to raise my own children faithfully - God's way. What an awesome calling it is to bring other's children into your family, to raise them, and to introduce them to the faith. HUGE!

Speaking of raising children, we have been hit hard by the terrible two's (also known simply as sin) in the last week. It has sort of blown me away because Anabelle has always been an easy and sweet girl, but oh my the tides have turned. Just tonight alone (not counting the many offenses from earlier today) she bit Evie on the shoulder breaking a blood vessel, and then presented me with a clean plate - proof of a fully consumed dinner - only for me to find her entire meal scattered about the floor after she had been given dessert and put to bed. How did she get away with that you're probably asking? I guess because I was being a spacey mess and forgot that I CANNOT TRUST HER. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me - right? Now is the time when I need all of you to give me the "CONSISTENCY" speech. Trust me, the child gets PLENTY of grace, I need to work on the consistency! Help!

One more thing... I received very sad news that a young man ,who my brothers and I knew as children, passed away unexpectedly last week. Please keep the family of Ben Speer in your prayers, he was 22.

Baby Henry's Picture

Katie shared a beautiful picture of Henry and wrote the sweetest post on her blog. So many of you have been so sweet to pray for my cousin and family lately. I so appreciate and treasure all of you! I just knew you would want to see who you've been praying for - my precious baby cousin Henry, I couldn't be prouder of him!
Click below for...
Katie's Blog

Home with Jesus

Hey Everyone,
I just got this text message from Aunt Janie a few minutes ago...

"Henry is now home with Jesus. He's the sweetest little baby. Please continue to pray for Katie."

"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.""
Matthew 19:14

Praise God for Henry's precious little life!
Love,
Megan
For The White Family

Birthday!

Henry is here, he is breathing, he is alive! Praise Jesus!!!

UPDATE: I have a little more information than I did a few minutes ago...Henry was born at 10:29 PM, he weighs 3 lbs 4 oz

Katie and Henry Part III

I've just heard that Katie is going to need to have a cesarean, please, please pray that she will be able to deliver with only local anesthetics! I know that there is NOTHING more important to her right now than to be awake and enjoy her time with sweet baby Henry! Let's cover them in prayer together!
Love,
Megan
For The White Family

Katie and Henry Part II

Hey Everyone,
Katie's parents just arrived at the hospital a little while ago. It sounds like it has been a long day, but it's such a relief that my aunt and uncle are with her now. Katie is about half way dilated, but they are going to break her water soon, so of course things should progress more quickly after that. Please pray, not only for a safe delivery, but for peace and comfort for both Katie and William tonight. Thanks again for your prayers!
Love,
Megan
For The White Family

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:26-28

Katie and Henry Part I

I will be updating Katie's blog for her during the next few days, so I will just be copying and pasting those posts to my own blog...

Hey Everyone,
I wanted to let all of you know that Katie went into labor on her own very early this morning (around 2:00 AM I think). She has been at the hospital since about 4:00 AM. Her labor got off to a productive start, but has since slowed down, so she has been given Pitocin to help her along. William did make it home safely last night (just in time - thank you God!) and her parents are en route from Alabama, please pray that they make it in time! I will be updating Katie's blog anytime that I get an update. Thank you so much for your support, and of course your prayers!
Love,
Megan (Katie's cousin)
For The White Family

Katie and Henry

Hello Friends,
Many of you have been so sweet and faithful to me in constantly asking about and praying for my cousin and baby Henry. I wanted to take a little time to update you on the latest news. Katie is going to be induced this coming Monday morning. Henry is 29 weeks, but the fluid swelling around his brain has caused his head to swell steadily nearing full term size, and it is expected to continue to swell at this same pace. To delay his delivery would require a procedure, in addition to a cesarean, to remove the fluids. This procedure would likely kill him before birth. I am not good with medical terminology, but I'm explaining this to the best of my ability and understanding. It is important to Katie and William (to our whole family!) that Henry be born comfortably, safely, alive. Monday's induction should allow simply that. Katie and William have been advised by thier doctors, that they will have only a little time with Henry before he leaves to be with our Father (this was the same prognoses for a full term delivery as well). I ask that you please keep them all in your prayers over the next few days, especially on Monday, but in the very hard following weeks as well. Here are a few specific things that you can be praying for...
- That William makes it home safely tonight (he is returning home early from duty in Iraq)
- That Katie's induction goes smoothly
- For a safe delivery
- That Katie and William will have sufficient time to spend with Henry (is any amount of time sufficient?)
- That Henry's passing will be peaceful
- That God will grant peace and understanding to Maisie (who is three)
- That God would provide Liam (who is two) comfort in a situation he is too little to understand
- That God would provide comfort and peace to Katie and William (as adults, we don't understand either!)
Lastly...
Please, please continue to pray for Katie over the coming weeks and months. As mothers, we know well the yearning to hold and craddle our newborns. Katie will experience all of the same feelings and longings after delivery that we have all been through, but unlike most of us, she will be faced with loneliness. I ask that you would be willing to lift her up in prayer at any random time when God might place her on your hearts. God IS NOT random, and He will lead us to cover her in prayer just when she needs it most!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is YOUR faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

An Unexpected Trip to the OB

Ever since Evie was born prematurely, I've been pretty sure that I would be a little phobic throughout my second pregnancy. I made it 9 weeks and 3 days before I had my first major bout of worry. A couple of days ago, I started to experience a change very similar to what my body went through about a week before Evie was born, after doing some reading I started to wonder if perhaps I have an incompetent cervix. I was not diagnosed with this when Ev was born (because it was too late to tell) but I've always known it was a possibility. I finally called my OB's office this afternoon and expressed my concern, after which they insisted that I come in right away for a sonogram. I did not want to overreact and be crazy, but I just knew in my head that something was not right. It turns out that I do not have an incompetent cervix (at least I don't show the signs yet) but I do have a large cyst in my right ovary that is causing discomfort and pressure. Apparently this is not extremely uncommon in early pregnancy (although I've never heard of it) it occurs in about 1 in every 1,000 pregnancies and should dissipate on it's own around week 12. There is not much danger, it's just a little unpleasant. My doctor even explained that the cyst is actually able to serve some purpose by supplying extra progesterone, the hormone that prevents early miscarriage. I found a good web article explaining this type of cyst (which actually was not listed in What to Expect When You're Expecting - that's a first!) click on http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5335,00.html. I'm reassured knowing that it is not the problem that I had originally anticipated, but please keep the baby and me in your prayers. On the bright side, we got to have a bonus ultrasound in which the baby actually looks like a baby - yay! Enjoy the pictures!

(Click pictures to make them bigger)