His grace is sufficient

thank you to all who prayed for us and our trek to the hospital this morning. jim prayed with me before i got the baby up, and my mom prayed for us en route, and both were tremendous blessings.

dylan was such a trooper!

i nursed her last at midnight, got her up at 7 and took her to the hospital. we went to radiology around 8 where she had to drink a delicious bottle of barium sulfate so they could take x-ray images. she didn't like the machines much but was a champ about the thick, nasty barium bottle and having to wait until 9:45 to nurse. she was patient beyond belief. God is so good!

then dylan got blood taken in both arms and didn't even cry. that is nothing less than the all-sufficient grace of God. she just sat calmly, wide-eyed, soaking up the nurses, their tags, jewelry, and "flair." she slept in the car, we came home and nursed, and we both slept for a blissful two hours, (more than making up for the time between 4-5:45 am when neither of us slept!)

"...there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" ( 2 cor 12:7-10).

unlike paul, i cannot say that i delight in hardship, persecution, or difficulty. i am a far more reluctant sufferer, more acquainted with silent resentment or out-loud complaint, as if i, unlike my Lord, ought somehow to be exempt from suffering. how incredible that even in my sinfulness and self-absorption, God still rests his power upon me and lavishes his grace and mercy as well. i mean, of course he does--that is the whole point of grace--that we don't earn it by good behavior. i pray, Lord, that my response to your grace would be humility, delight, and grace overflowing into the lives of those around me. Forgive me, Jesus, for my wallowing and whining.

as for the tests--we won't know anything until the doctor sends his report to the pediatrician. the tech said that there weren't any big red flags. there were signs of reflux, but she said that shouldn't have caused the kind of vomiting dylan experienced. hopefully we'll know more soon, but if everything checks out, we still might not know. we'll keep you posted. thanks for all the prayers--they were tangibly felt!