Where We Once Were (2014)

It was only just a little over a year ago, that my friends and I were sitting at Yardhouse and toasting to a new year. We were dressed up, excited, and happy to be out celebrating. We got free "Happy New Year" headbands & hats and the energy was rising in the crowd. “2014 is our year!” I yelled, and as the fireworks shot into the sky, it felt like confirmation that something promising would happen the next upcoming months. And I was right! It wasn’t only a special year for Kevin & me, but a special year for my friends celebrating along with us. My best friend Jamielyne started dating our mutual friend Darrel, and 8 months later, they got engaged! Jason, our college friend, got offered a stable position at a popular fashion company and had his first baby-a FUR baby, a yellow lab named Jedi! And our friend Zach got into Talbot Divinity School! As for Kevin and me? Well, let’s just say that this year was the year of our baby Evangeline!

Here we are celebrating the end of 2013 & beginning of 2014 at Yardhouse!

2013 had been a tough year for me (Was it tougher than 2014? It depends…) Since I was diagnosed with PCOS, an endocrine disorder which is very common among infertile women, my dreams of being a mommy seemed to be shattered and hopeless. I joined online PCOS/infertility support groups and turned to a handful of friends who had the same condition as me. In the same year, I met two amazing friends who also had been told by doctors that they couldn’t have babies yet against all odds, were blessed by God and got pregnant! And trust me, when you meet friends who have gone through that same specific struggle, it’s a sweeter kind of bond… It was a year of ups and downs, but by the end of it, I decided that I didn’t want to focus on the "what could've been's" anymore. If God wanted to make us pregnant, then He would! And in His timing! So in October of 2013 I started to make a few changes in my lifestyle: I would exercise 3-4 times a week (weight gain is one of the symptoms of PCOS because of insulin resistance) and I went on a very strict diet called the Low-Amylose diet (one of the few diets that really work to help lose weight for people with PCOS) I was feeling good, and excited for the next year. Also, I had become a preschool teacher of my own classroom and began to help lead our church’s Children’s Ministry alongside my husband. We were also planning on going on a missions trip to Mexico the next summer so we could serve in an orphanage. Kevin and I have a heart for adoption so going to an orphanage to be parents to those who were parentless was an exciting venture for both of us! Obviously, a lot of those things had to be cut short or not happen at all, because God had other plans…

I’ve written multiple times about how surprised we were to have a baby, but I guess that I’m tying this into the year of Evangeline’s birth because God has been consistently trying to show me how faithful He is. And more so, He is teaching me every day to trust Him with my future, and to come before Him in prayer. I am such a work in progress but I can’t look back upon this time and NOT see His hand over me and my family! In 2013 and in 2014, I felt like the persistent widow in Luke 18…I kept praying and praying for God to bless us (someday) with a child. He answered sooner than we thought! While I was pregnant, I was terrified that we would miscarry (PCOS women have higher rates of miscarriage AND premature delivery…at one point, my gynecologist even said to be ready because it looked like I would miscarry!) By God’s grace, we didn’t miscarry. When we went into premature delivery, not only was I praying for Evangeline’s survival & recovery, but multiple friends and family prayed and interceded for her daily! I cannot even begin to go into how loving, thoughtful and supportive everyone was…and how much it meant to us.

2014 has been the best, most memorable and scariest year of my life! It was a year full of surprises! God answered my prayers, even if it wasn’t in the way I would have preferred…and that’s ok, because He knows what’s best and how to sanctify me!

At the beginning of the year, we were a family of 2…just me and my boo, Kev! ;) But now we end the year with our baby boo, Evangeline ;) Praise the Lord! My heart overflows with thankfulness because we serve a God who is loving, kind & faithful! We are SO blessed!