Reason to Rejoice

So, I am sure from the title of this post you are just dying (no pun intended) read this blog post today!! It is a deep and not-so-fun subject which is part of what I am going to talk about. This may be a different perspective on death than what most have but I hope it will make you think. I work with and around death a lot. I work at a hospital where people are supposed to get well but, unfortunately, that is not always the case and people do sometimes die there. Since I am a social worker, I work very closely with the families of the deceased during their initial grief period. I can tell you that people ALL react differently to death. Most of the time the reactions can be pinpointed to cultural differences but you never really know how the death of a loved one will affect someone, whether expected or not. I have worked deaths of children, elderly cancer patients, those on hospice, and with young men and women who have just lost their babies to stillbirth and neonatal death. ...

**Let me start off by saying that I am a child of God. I am forgiven for ALL my sins-past and present. I am aware that Satan will use his people to discourage me and bring me back to a place of guilt, shame, and secrecy but I have a God that is bigger than all of that! I am using my past failures to bring honor and glory to God by helping other women surrender their secrets and find freedom in Christ. If you have something ugly to say to me or about my blog please at least give me a chance to thank you for commenting - tell me who you are! Anonymous comments are for cowards! "If God is for us then who can be against us?" Romans 8:31 Okay, got that off my chest...ahem... This week started off poorly and never really got better! Monday I decided that Hannah was sicker than she was on Saturday when I took her to the doctor for her stuffy nose and then cough. I called the pedi's office and they didn't have any morning openings so they instructed me to go to the ER s...

So, I am not doing great on my goals for 2012 but I have 11 months to get on track, right?! :) Let's see, I have not blogged 3 times a week and I have not even begun reading anything! :( BOO! I will get better! I am actually in the process of getting a blog makeover so it will look all pretty soon! :) I started back to work and I am so glad to be back! Hannah is doing...okay. She has ceased sleeping through the night...lucky me. I am actually at a loss as to what to do. I get frustrated and anxious even thinking about it. She was doing so well and now I am not sure if it is because she is at the point where she wants to stop being swaddled, because she has a stuffy nose, or because she is going through a growth spurt...or perhaps...all three?! I don't want to let her cry because I am not sure if she still feels bad because of her little stuffy nose. If things are better by the weekend I am going to go with toughing it out...I don't know what else to do. I h...

I am 11 weeks old today!!!!  And took a GOOD nap in my bed! :)

How do I feel right now? Let's see...I have a sassy 5 year old that thinks she is 12, an almost 3 year old that is a sweet sweet mommy's girl, and a newborn 2 month old that is by far my most difficult baby to date! I am exhausted, thrilled, humbled daily, frustrated, and above all, honored that God would entrust these little ones to me! There have been so many times when I have made the comment that I do not deserve these little blessings and I am SO glad that God does not give us what we deserve because frankly, we deserve nothing. I love my kids beyond anything I could have ever imagined. But...being a parent is hard. It is hard to know what the "right" thing is for them. I get so worked up sometimes trying to figure out how to be the perfect mommy. Truth is I never will be and I just pray that I don't mess them up too much! ;) Next week, I return to work. I was able to work right up until the day I delivered which I never thought was possible!!! Since I was ...