FFF #22 HOPE!

Happy Birthday Michelle! Today is my dear friend Michelle's birthday! It is the first birthday in 3 years that we have been able to celebrate with her because she was in Japan. It felt good to give her a hug this morning when she came through my front door! The girls decorated with streamers and made a sign for her. They were very excited!

So what does this have to do with FFF and Hope? Michelle wanted to go for a picnic lunch on the beach today. We were happy to go! The girls are at a great age in that they can go some place like the beach and will stick close enough to me that I don't have to run after them. Michelle and I were able to SIT and TALK together for a good hour today while the girls played and chased birds around us. Our topic- HOPE! I mentioned today's theme and how I was having a hard time deciding how I was going to blog about it. We had a great conversation about it... So here it goes- with pictures from our adventure today in between! The weather was beautiful! High 70's! :)My hope is with my girls and when I think of hope, I think of them. People are constantly asking me if we are going to have more children. How do you respond to that? It's a personal choice of course, but what more could we HOPE for? We have 3 beautiful, healthy daughters that 6 years ago we believed we could never have!Having infertility issues is earth shattering! No one expects it to happen to them, we didn't expect it to happen to us, but it did. We sat there with our mouths open in disbelief and actually made the doctor run the test again!Infertility opens you up to a whole new world of medicines, doctors, tests, shots, procedures... the list goes on and yet, none guarantee you will come out with a baby. But, there is HOPE...The morning we had our procedure, all we hoped for was a baby. We would be happy with one and were prepared with emotional walls of steel to accept that even one wasn't possible. Still we hoped...Our friends and family hoped for us too...When we found out we were pregnant we were thrilled, but that guard/wall was still there. It was so early and anything could happen...And then we had our ultrasound and the screen came on and there they were! 3 beautiful babies- all we ever hoped for times 3! That ultrasound day was a little over 5 years ago... our hope had been answered and look where we are today! Life is good! Keep hoping!

I have many friends that have traveled the infertility path alongside me and some are still marching on (with me cheering them on). None of us have the same issue/cause, but we have all shared the same HOPE. Rick and I are blessed, we know we are. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for my daughters or ask for his blessings upon my friends. Some have been able to get pregnant and have babies, some have adopted, some are still going through procedures as I type and some have had to let go of their hope and face a different future. My hope for them is that no matter where the path takes them, they know I am here for them and that at the end of their path, they find peace.

Too see more stories/pictures of HOPE please visit Sarah's blog: Kiss the Frog For Me. Sarah and her family were hit good by hurricane Ike and have not had power for several days, our thoughts go out to all those affected by Ike!

Oh- and in case you are wondering about our response to more children questions, here is my general response, "We are not actively going to pursue more children, but if God has a different plan for us, we will gladly welcome more" :)