Hallelujah!

"The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad. . . .
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting" - Psalm 126:3,5

After some minor delays, Ella Dawn was born this afternoon at 3:23pm, weighing slightly over 7lbs. And as of this evening her first surgery is complete and the doctors are "very happy with the outcome." Praise the Lord!!!

Ella is now in the NICU and her mom is recovering from the C-Section. Continue to pray for healing for both of them. Ella will still need further surgeries, at least one more very soon, but we rejoice for all the Lord has brought them through thus far - with great faith for Ella's future.

One thing I have learned from Ella Dawn is the amazing power prayer has in our lives. Not only in God's answers to the prayers themselves, but in its simple ability to draw us closer to God. In begging for the life of a tiny baby girl, we knit ourselves together with one purpose and bind ourselves up in God's perfect will, trusting in Him with all that we have.

I know, personally, as I spent time early this morning lifting up Ella and her family, tears flowed down my face as prayer for this little one became a session of praise to God, who is faithful no matter the outcome. And beginning my day in such a breath-taking way could only make it better.

Now that my mornings involve trying to sleep in any amount I can to make up for lost slumber through the night, then sitting a toddler down for a breakfast of Cheerios, a banana and milk and sitting myself down to try to eat a bowl of cereal over the head of a nursing infant, while hoping to maybe squeeze in a workout and a shower somewhere in that schedule, my prayer and Bible Study time have taken a hard hit. And, let's be truthful, even before my routine was entirely dismantled, my time with the Lord was rarely what it was today: a simple raw honesty with our God, pouring out my heart's cry, repeatedly placing my faith and trust in His ability to overcome all situations. That is what has been missing. This is where I have failed - until today I forgot to even yearn for such a time. Settling only for a reading and study of God's Word, satisfying as that may be, could never be a replacement for the deep communion I felt with Him today.

But now that I see what I've been missing - how could I NOT make that time every morning?!

And on a slightly lighter note, I asked myself this morning as my prayer time began with darkness out our windows and ended with the meagerest of the morning light poking through, I know the Proverbs 31 woman rises while it's still dark to prepare for the day - but do you think it counts if we wake when it's still dark and then stumble back into bed an hour later? Here's hoping for yes.