Some things

*As obnoxious as it sounds and feels, I am starting to struggle with infertility survivors who go on to become pregnant with #2+ without trying.  My feelings have been bubbling deep for months now, and they are only getting stronger.  It isn't nearly as difficult as before we had Maryanne, but I would love to be able to have another baby (greedy?), and given how long it took last time, I am so insecure about if it will ever happen again.  And of course everyone I tell that to has some story about someone who had an awful time conceiving baby #1 but then baby #2 was easy peasy, and that just doesn't help me feel better at all.  Blech.  It's hard not to feel guilty for feeling this way.

*Speaking of infertility, I would like your advice, especially any of you who are still waiting and still reading.  One of my best friends started trying a year after we did, so by now they have been trying for about the same time (or maybe a little longer?) than we did before we conceived.  We were very close before I got pregnant, and we kept in touch really frequently while I was pregnant, and we always promised each other that whoever got off the "infertility train" first wouldn't leave the other person out of anything, e.g. baby pictures, celebrations, updates.  Fast forward to this past spring, and communication from her has just about dropped to nothing.  (She did thoughtfully send Maryanne a birthday gift, but all my texts/emails to thank her have gone unanswered...)  She has a busy job, and I try to convince myself that she is just busy with that, but I can't help but feel my heart ache that it's getting too tough for her to keep up with me.  What do I do?  I don't want to leave her out, because I never wanted to be left out and neither did she, and it's not like I'm mobbing her with texts and emails and calls- maybe once every two/three weeks, but I don't want to keep trying to contact her if she honestly needs time and/or space.  I would love to hear how she's doing, and Maryanne and I pray for her every night that God would bless them with a baby.  Should I include a family picture of us in their Christmas card?  My head says yes, based on our previous conversations, but my heart stings and hesitates....

*I have lost 25 lbs since September, and I am SO excited about it.  I have not done any specific diet (other than eat more veggies/fruits/salads just because they have less calories than other alternatives), but I have made a commitment to exercise while Maryanne is napping, and two words:  PORTION CONTROL.  I am back to the size I was 10+ years ago, and it feels awesome.

*I can't believe that it's already (almost) December.  Where did this year go???  Thanks to those of you who are still reading- I know I haven't been very good about posting, but I still read all y'all blogroll buddies (on my phone mostly) :)

Aaaand a response

I was not surprised to get a dissenting comment on my last post....but I maintain my position:

Hi Leah, I'm sorry that you consider yourself a former reader.  I don't claim to know everything or be right all the time or say that one party is more Christian than the other (both parties honor various Christian concepts in my opinion), but what my post was about and what I do know is that Obama supports giving women the right to murder their babies, even supporting partial birth abortion.  In my heart, I cannot understand why people who call themselves Christians give Obama a pass on this stance of his because he also wants to help the poor.  Did Jesus want to help the poor or want to see everyone with God-given dignity?  Of course, and I agree with you that we should all endeavor to help those less fortunate than ourselves. 

But would Jesus think it was fine for someone to kill someone else?  Not a chance, not ever.  And I think it's a tragedy for our nation to place any modern social concern above the safety of its people.  When babies are allowed to be killed, they are no longer safe.  None of us are safe when all of a sudden it is okay for one citizen to kill another for whatever reason. 

That is why it's a tragedy.

The Guise

I know I've been gone for more than a month again (drat!), and I don't normally post on controversial things, but in light of the national tragedy that happened yesterday, I feel compelled to post this today.

I'm just starting making my way through Scripture again (this will be my second time to work through the whole Bible) with the help of my devotional Bible, and this morning's passage and reflection struck me hard.  Today's reading is Gen 3:1-7.  Yep, the serpent in the garden and the yummy (forbidden) fruit and the woman who ate it anyway.

Here is part of the reflection, written by Kathy Troccoli:

"'Did God really say it?'..How often am I tempted to listen to those words.  God most definitely has spoken...He means what he says.  Does what He says.  Never pulls a fast one.  And still we question or disregard His heart.  I, for one, have indulged in the rationalizing, the putting a stamp of okay on something that God has said is unholy.  We need only look around today to see the effects of Satan's questions.  Moral and spiritual decay.  A rightness placed on what is so obviously wrong.  A label of old-fashioned...attached to laws that are still the same in God's eyes...So we are left believing the lies of the enemy and with the consequences of our choices.  And it all takes place under the guise of love and honesty, goodness and fairness, open-mindness and tolerance.  The serpent may come to you today and say, "Did God really say that?" Your answer must be "yes".  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ."

Did God really say that killing is wrong?  Among other things, it breaks my heart that my country just re-elected someone with an abysmal record on the defense of life, from conception to natural death.  How many millions of babies have been killed under the guise of open-mindedness and tolerance, i.e. the guise that it is okay for a woman to choose to kill her baby, a baby created in the image and likeness of God?!!  How much more does it sting for those of us who long(ed) to conceive such a cherished blessing.

Today let us pray for our country and it's leaders, that they will turn back to God and lead with principles that respect the blessing of human life. 

If you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; if you say, "Look, we did not know this"-- does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it?  And will He not repay all according to their deeds?

(Proverbs 24: 11-12)