The Best Surprise

I’m not one who likes surprises. Pretty much ever. If you want to give me a bad birthday present, just throw me a surprise birthday party (please don’t).

But this surprise… oh, this one is good!

We found out this summer that God is blessing us with another child! What a wonderful, happy surprise. We have a little boy on the way, and his name is Stafford. Lord willing, he will be arriving in March.

Life is going to get harder; that is true! But a new baby is most certainly a happy and good surprise. God is the creator and giver of life, and children are always a blessing from Him. We are grateful that God has chosen us to take care of Stafford and raise this child for His honor and glory.

Busy Hands: County Fair Edition

Every year I enjoy entering a few crochet projects at our county fair. I wasn't able to go to the fair this year because I needed to stay home and rest, but I had fun participating by sending in my entries.

For the first time this year, I received first place on all of my entries! So that was kind of fun. But there aren't very many entries, so who knows, I might have been the only one to enter in these categories!

The patterns for the baby booties, baby hat, and scarf are from Crochet One-Skein Wonders. This book has 101 patterns that can all be made with one skein of yarn or less. It is my go-to book for patterns!

This is the South Bay Shawlette that I shared with you back in August. I entered it in the fair, and then a few weeks later I mailed it to a dear friend of mine.

A Star Is Born Booties designed by Anastasia Popova

 Blue Bow Hat designed by Janet M. Spirik

This baby hat, and the baby booties pictured above, have been given to a friend who recently had a baby girl. I love making baby hats and booties. They are quick and cute and make great baby gifts!

Shell Net Cowl designed by Ryan Hollist

Although technically this is named a cowl, I think it looks more like an infinity scarf. This will be used as a gift for a friend one day soon.

Just as quick as my crochet gift stash was filled up, it is now quickly being emptied out! It's time to start crocheting again!

I enjoy crocheting at night when I go to bed to rest. However, I have not been able to crochet as much in the past year or so. I have been able to do more on the afternoons when I am up, which has been great! But it also means that by the time I go to bed at 6:00, I am worn out. My hands and arms are often too tired to crochet, and sometimes I fall asleep and take a nap in the evening. But on the evenings when I have strength left in my arms, I like to keep them busy by crocheting.

What have you been doing lately to keep your hands busy? Are their any projects or crafts you are working on?

Grieving Old Losses

Sometimes old grief can come back afresh at unexpected times. Earlier this year, I found myself grieving old losses. It surprised me to arrive at such a point of grief again – even after being disabled from a chronic illness for thirteen years.

For several weeks, I struggled with weariness in the long, chronic-illness battle, and I grieved the life that had been. I grieved the loss of my previous strength and energy, and I grieved the loss of the ability to serve my family physically in the ways I wished I could. Once again, I felt the raw pain of it all.

During those few weeks of pain and grief, one thing that encouraged me very much were these words from John Piper: “Occasionally, weep deeply over the life that you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Feel the pain. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you” (Embrace the Life God Has Given You).

I felt less alone when I heard his words about past losses coming back again as fresh grief. My time of grief soon passed, and I went back to loving and embracing the life I have been given, limitations and all. But for a time, it was helpful for me to pause, recognize the losses, and take time to grieve.

I know that I am not alone in my grief regarding disability. My friend, Sarah, has a daughter with severe, nonverbal autism, and she shared with me that “‘what we never had’ is often the kind of grief special needs parents feel about their kids.”Another part of her grief involves the future for her precious daughter. Who will love and take care of her vulnerable child after she is no longer here to care for her daughter?

Probably all of us who are affected by disability will feel grief at various points in our lives. If you have a disability, or a family member with a disability, this is likely something you have been through too.

When those times of sadness come, don’t be afraid to feel the pain. Grieve the losses and weep. Then, as John Piper says, “wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you.”

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5b, ESV).

What losses have you faced in life? Do you find that old grief comes back at times? How do you grieve and then move on to embrace the life you have?

This article was originally posted on The Irresistible Church.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop.

Teatime Conversations

I would like to start a new regular feature on my blog called "Teatime Conversations," and I need your help!

Teatime Conversations will provide an opportunity for more interaction between us. I would like to let my readers ask me questions about anything - health, faith, dysautonomia, friendship, marriage, parenting, or whatever else you'd like to ask! I will answer a question or two at a time in blog posts, and at the end of each blog post I will ask a question of my readers. And then we can chat in the blog comments and/or in facebook comments. It will be like a virtual teatime! :)

What do you think? Do you have a question for a Teatime Conversations blog post? You are welcome to leave a question in the comment section or email it to me at RachelLundy(at)cranberryteatime(dot)com. If you are reading this blog post through an email subscription, you can reach me by replying to the email. Your name will be kept confidential if you would like it to be.

If you would prefer to leave your question anonymously, you may do so using the form below.

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Book Review: Love Without Limits

Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs, and he often wondered if he would ever find a woman who would love him. God brought that woman into his life! In Love Without Limits Nick and Kanae share their story of meeting, falling in love, and the first two years of marriage.

Love Without Limits is written primarily by Nick, but Kanae contributes as well. This book is written to those who are single, dating, engaged, or newlyweds. Nick and Kanae share advice from what they have learned about waiting for a spouse, dating, and the early years of marriage.

I expected there to be more information about marriage with a disability in Love Without Limits. There were some specific stories and encouragement for marriages with a disabled spouse, but this book is written for anyone, whether healthy or disabled. The struggles and challenges that Nick and Kanae faced will be relatable to many.

There are a few stories of ways that Nick’s disability has impacted their marriage, and I enjoyed reading about Kanae’s thoughtfulness and service to her husband through all of it. She loves to serve Nick, and she does not see it as a burden. When she can, she comes up with creative ways to help him experience something on his own. One way Kanae served Nick creatively was by wrapping a gift in such a way that he could open it on his own. It was the first time in his life that someone had wrapped a gift that he could open without arms and legs.

Nick and Kanae share a lot of advice for single, dating, and engaged couples. But my favorite parts of the book were when they shared stories about their lives before meeting each other and their life together. This book includes many pictures that give a further glimpse into their marriage and family. Nick and Kanae certainly face challenges in their marriage, but their love for Jesus, and their love for each other, helps to keep their marriage strong.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Love Without Limits through Blogging for Books in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.