Baby Grace

Hi Friends-

Many of you have been praying for my friends Ginger and Adam Hayes ever since I posted the blog about their pregnancy. I wanted to give you an update today.

Ginger went in for a planned c-section this morning at 10am. She delivered Grace without any problems for her. Grace lived for about an hour in both of her parents' arms.

I spoke with Ginger last night and she said that she and her family had spent most of the night in prayer with friends and their pastor. She said they were at peace going into today's delivery. Gin wanted a longer time with her today, but I know she is very grateful for the time she was able to hold her precious gift.

The family has planned for the funeral to be either Saturday or Monday depending on when Ginger is released from the hospital.

Please keep this family in your prayers as they celebrate the life as well as grieve the loss of their daughter.

Trying to Crawl

Karis is having a really great time moving across the floor. I can't believe she is getting so big. We don't know what we are going to do when she actually starts crawling. She is already getting into things she is not supposed to, like my computer cord. She likes crawling towards me and her Daddy and all things shiny. Christmas should be a lot of fun!!

Gotcha Day

Karis's Gotcha Day went really well. We began the day by having a good breakfast of formula and cereal and then we went to visit some friends at North Greenville University. We went back to our friends home and Karis took a nap while Mom and Dad ate lunch. We then got into the car and went to the court house at 2pm and waited until 3pm for the judge to hear our case. While waiting, we talked with the Guardian et litem and he played with Karis. He commented many times that she seemed to be a very happy baby. Mom and Dad signed a load of paper work and then we walked into the court room. The judge heard both mine and Page's answers to our lawyer's questions and was about to award us custody when he remembered that he had forgotten to allow the Guardian et litem to "earn his money". The guardian was a rather funny man and said that "who was he to tell a Marriage and Family Therapist whether she was doing a good job or not." The judge then declared that Page and I were the legal guardians and that the adoption was granted.

Both Page and I were a little choked up at that weight of the decision that was just granted to us. Most parents do not have parenthood granted to them because once a person becomes pregnant, that person is then a parent. With us it was a little different. We were chosen for this child by God and we were given the opportunity to be obedient to God by choosing Karis before she was even born. However, that obedience did not make us her parents immediately. We were very aware of the fact that our adoption was not final until the judge gave us those rights and priveledges. We were very aware that something could go wrong and she would no longer be in our home. God taught me a lesson through this process. Our children are not ours but Gods. He allows us the awesome opportunity to raise them and love them, but we are never promised tomorrow with them. We are to raise them each day as though it were the last. We may only have the few months prior to delivery, a few months after, years, or even a life time. Only God knows.

I encourage each of you parents to fight the good fight when it comes to being parents. Page and I may be new at this, but we are very aware of the fight that Satan puts up for our children. We must be willing to take the time and energy it takes to graciously raise our children for however long God allows them to remain in our home.