Surprised by Joy

The last few days have been beautiful here in Chicago. Ok, I admit today is a little chilly, but the sun is shining and the spring flowers are starting to bloom around the city. The promise of spring (even if the temperatures won’t cooperate) brings a flicker of child-like excitement to my heart.


Another exciting thing that is bringing joy to my heart is that over the past week or so, I have started to be able to feel the baby kick and squirm. I just love these tiny movements. At first, I thought it would just be a painful reminder of being pregnant with Isaiah, and while it is definitely a reminder, it is not painful. It reminds of how fun it was to feel him move a squirm as well.

Though I am still struggling with moments of anxiety, I have noticed that the past few weeks have been surprisingly joyful. I have experienced an almost giddiness at moments, and I honestly didn’t know that I would ever feel that way again. The only thing I can attribute this to is all of your prayers. The peace and joy that I am feeling definitely surpasses my understanding.

Please keep praying! God is hearing! Specifically, please pray for our ultrasound coming up on the 27th. We are thrilled that we get to find out if we are having a boy or girl at that appointment, but honestly we would be so happy with either. What we long for is to hear that our little one is healthy. Also, ultrasounds, while exciting, are extremely difficult for us at the same time. It was at an ultrasound that I found out about my first miscarriage, and it was at another ultrasound I found out Isaiah’s little heart had stopped beating. Walking into an ultrasound room brings hard memories of those days. Please pray that I would have peace rather than anxiety going into this ultrasound and that we would have joyful results.