Words To Live By

As of late I have been living life with two sayings floating around in my head. Just little bits of wisdom to hold on to when things get a bit rocky.

#1: It is what it is

The past few weeks have been challenging with Aubrey in terms of her hypotonia. She seems to be growing by leaps and bounds, and is getting heavier and heavier everyday! Because she still isn't mobile this means that I get to bend down, lift her up, and carry her around all day. She is 24 pounds and counting, so it takes a toll. On top of that she has been resisting her physical therapy with such vigor that I think she would be content to just lay on the floor and roll around until she's 18! Seriously...she is so stubborn (hmmm, who does she get that from?). If she put half as much effort into doing her physical therapy as she does into resisting it she'd be running circles around us all!

But. It is what it is. I have a child with a disability. There, I said it. There is no use in denying it.

Is it hard? You bet. It's hard for her, and for us. Is it scary? Heck yeah! There are so many unknowns. Is there anything I can do to change it? No. All we can do is continue to love her, work hard at physical therapy, provide opportunities for her, and teach her about the important things in life.

More importantly...would I change it if I could? No. We love Bree just the way she is. And I am so thankful that Heavenly Father saw fit to allow Matt and I the chance to raise her.

#2: Faith proceeds the miracle

Aubrey is teething right now, and hasn't been sleeping well. Which means I haven't either:) Surprisingly, it hasn't bothered me as much as it usually would though. I've really been enjoying going to her, and rocking her in my arms while she falls asleep again. Last night when I picked her up out of her crib she wrapped her little arms around my neck and gave a little squeeze. It was so sweet. But, I digress.

Last night when I came back to bed after getting Aubrey down again, I couldn't fall asleep. I laid awake stewing and worrying. What more could we do to help her? Does she need speech therapy? When should we start occupational therapy? Can we afford for me to see a chiropractor every month? When will she start crawling?

I said out loud "we just need a miracle". Then the thought "faith proceeds the miracle" popped into my head. Coincidence? I think not. But what does that mean?

Instantly I thought of my mother (the most faithful woman I know). Our family has definitely gone through some trying times in the past. One of my siblings, in particular, has had more struggles than most. Without going into much detail I'll just say that this sibling made some really bad choices that led to a lot of pain and suffering (for my sibling, and for us all). During a particularly dark period of time my mother began fasting. And she fasted every Sunday. I don't know exactly how long she did this, but I'm pretty sure it was at least a couple years. I'm sure she felt like giving up. I'm sure she felt hopeless at times.

But guess what? The miracle came.

I don't know quite yet what this means for Matt and I. But I do know this. Faith proceeds the miracle. And faith without works is dead.

We have work to do!