still pregnant!

As I watch the calendar countdown to Caleb's first birthday, I can not believe that I was still pregnant at this time last year....It felt like forever between my "due dates" and Caleb's birth day last year and this year it seems just as long.  Looking back, I really can't believe how overdue he really was!  I'm thankful we were able to go as long as we did, that he got the "growing time" he needed and that the Lord kept him safely those extra weeks in my womb and brought him safely into the world. 

As I was reading my bible this morning, I came across a note tucked inside that I haven't seen in a year.  It was from Steve on January 22, 2010.  It was a note of encouragement to me as I struggled those last weeks of pregnancy.  He was encouraging me that "God's mercy is brand new every morning", he was encouraging me to "rest in God's perfect timing" and he wrote thanking me "from the bottom of my heart for carrying our child as long as you have...let's not give up now, stay strong and know that I love you.  Love, Steve (your very thankful husband)."  He also wrote for me to read Lam. 3:21-32.  I re-read it this morning and was again encouraged by the words.  May they encourage you this morning (or evening) too:

"But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.  The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord....For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though he cause grief he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love."

We look forward to celebrating God's faithfulness in Caleb's birth and his faithfulness to us and to Caleb this first year.  As we look back over this year, we are overwhelmed by a sense of God's Faithfulness.