Thursday, December 31, 2009

2010 Wishes...


Attend more of this to fill my soul


See more of this


Get better at this


Go to Guatemala and love on these ninos

Do WAY more of this


Assist a few more of these into the world


not have to worry about this


Take time to slow down (and smell the Tulips) :)

Chill with these amazing people


Snuggle more of these

What about You?


Monday, December 28, 2009

The beauty of my body is not measured by the size of the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it tells. I have a belly and hips that say, "We grew a child in here," and breasts that say, "We nourished life." My hands, with bitten nails and a writer's callus, say, "We create amazing things."
- Sarah, from I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women in Their Own Words

Today I witnessed/assisted a beautiful, peaceful birth. I felt so blessed to be able to attend a in-real-life birth instead of just reading about it an watching videos and TV shows of births. It was fantastic!

It began last night at 9pm with a phone call from my favorite Midwife. With the possibility of an opportunity to attend a home water birth of a 3rd child. At 11 labor was picking up and I got the call to head to their home.

We waited all night with little progress, (napping, laughing, and chatting) until 8am this morning when things began picking up. (fetal heart tones, BP, pulse, checks, herbal baths)

Baby Boy entered this world at 3:47 pm, blue as a smurf, cord wrapped around his neck and torso and despite some completions determining gestational age, is a healthy, pink, 42 week old.

So awesome!

I cannot even write about how I feel about this amazing event, words are not enough! I absolutely love the team of fabulous midwife/doulas I spent the night with. I just want to remember the details forever like:

freezing
camels and llamas
wrong ultrasounds
13lb babies
pancake placenta
2 sweet little girls becoming big sisters
cute little face delivered

My jobs:
Boiling water ("Baby can't come until the water is boiled")
charting vitals
setting up
carrying stuff
warm receiving blanket hander
BP cuff warmer
dish washer loader
Big-sisters-to-be retriever

Awesome awesome awesome.... Lord you are awesome




Saturday, December 12, 2009

In LOVE...

With This

Intense



Silly


Sweet


little guy
<3>

I am amazed by the awesomeness of God as I sit listening a to lullaby CD, watching this sweet little guy sleep peacefully on the baby monitor. I am in awe of his sweet personality. I feel so blessed to have the awesome responsibility to care for little Trygger. To be a part of his life. His life holds so much in store for him. He has AMAZING parents, genuine, compassionate, lifetime learner parents who have been such an influence on my life and continue to be.

I cannot help but get a bit excited and antsy for the life I long for to begin as I sit in this cozy house in my favorite city, surrounded by books of the faith, with a tiny cloth diapered baby upstairs and a big 'ol dog by my feet. This is what I was created to do, to love babies, to care for them, to live deeply...

For now, though, I will close the computer, pull out the text books and begin to study for exam week, striving to be content with where I am now in the journey... Growing in the Soil of Hope


Saturday, December 05, 2009

Guatemala

I am excited to share with you that I have been given the opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams by traveling with a group of women from the college to Guatemala, to work at Fundaninos Orphanage, just outside of Guatemala City. Each year during Spring Break, Hope College organizes several mission trips both in the US and abroad, this year I took a leap of faith and decided to sign up. As many of you know In 2005 I traveled to Pasig City, Philippines with a group from my church. I wrote in my journal about the trip:

I remember the stillness the most, the immense peace in the midst of the endless noise, the plane ride- long and lonely, the people always smiling, their large dark eyes seeming to see right through you. For two incredible weeks I was a World Traveler, Teacher, Dancer, Singer, Worshiper, Prayer Warrior, Daughter, Cousin, Friend, Skeptic, Photographer, Public Speaker, Exhorter, Listener, Peace Keeper, Celebrity, Scholar, Missionary.

There is nothing quite like jumping on a plane, flying around the world, working knee deep in sewage and turpentine, breathing in dense, diesel fumes, holding tiny malnourished infants, eating fish eyes and yes, even balut (eggs with chick embryos inside), singing to the Lord in a language not your own, and being surrounded by people who thank you endlessly. It is so hard to describe in words how amazing those two weeks were for my soul. Webster’s doesn’t have the right words to encapsulate the emotion, the complete paradox of it all, the vast beauty amidst the squalor, skyscrapers surrounded by squatter shacks, six story malls surrounded by children selling flowers for food, palm trees and tropical paradise engulfed with grime .That was the Philippines, those were the people who have touched my life forever, changed who I am and who I will become. I am different now; one cannot possibly stay the same after an experience of that magnitude. In fact I sincerely believe that my mission trip to the Philippines was a rescue mission for my soul.

I am looking forward to experiencing this life changing trip to Guatemala. The Fundaninos website states that this nonprofit institution’s main concern is to maintain the assistance programs for care and protection of Guatemalan children in need of help. Many of these children are fleeing abusive and neglectful homes and are placed temporarily at Fundaninos until their birth families are able to stabilize and provide the children with safe and stable homes. Others will spend the rest of their childhood at the orphanage. As a Psychology major with interest in child and family services this trip will be a great learning experience for me as well as a blessing to the institution. We will be traveling to Guatemala March 19-27, 2010.

I am asking that you would all join me in prayer during this time of preparation for the trip and while we do the Lord’s work in Guatemala. As with the Philippines trip, I am looking forward to being a witness to the power of prayer during these next few months and in the aftermath of the trip. I am asking that you would pray for us as a group to become a strong team in order to do the most good while in Guatemala, as well as for our preparations with our weekly meetings and fundraising. I was blessed to receive a stipend for the trip in the amount of $600, but still need to raise $900 dollars for the trip for a grand total of $1500. Also, if you feel led, any financial support would be appreciated
(Paypal courtneykay313@gmail.com)