Latest

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

1 can pumpkin

1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Mix dry cake mix (no water, eggs or oil added), pumpkin and chocolate chips into a bowl

3.  Spoon mixture into muffin tin

4.  Bake for 15 minutes

Enjoy!

18 Weeks: Sweet Spot

This past weekend felt like another milestone.  I hit the 18 week mark of my pregnancy, and I can truly say the nausea is mostly gone.  The past week has felt the most “normal” of my entire pregnancy.  I’ve been able to work, grocery shop, see friends and family and go on fun dates again with Nick.  At 18 weeks I am loving: apple juice boxes, Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, and breakfast egg/sausage/cheese bagel sandwiches Nick has been making for me.  I feel like I am constantly eating.  If I do not eat, the nausea comes over me like the plague of death so I’m being very disciplined about shoving my face almost every single 45 minutes.  ANYthing to avoid that awful nausea!  This stage of pregnancy has been sweet.  Beginning to see and feel little flutters of our baby has drawn me closer to this little life.  The other morning I was singing worship songs in the shower to our baby along with my ipod and became a puddle.  It can hear my heartbeat and murmurs of my voice!  Let’s just say I couldn’t make it through one song without being completely choked up as I thought about getting to tell my future son or daughter about the grace and mercy of Jesus.  I pray there would never be a day in this baby’s life that he or she could not remember Jesus being their Lord and savior, redeemer and sweetest friend.  I guess its all beginning to feel a lot more “real” that we’re having a baby.  Only 1 more week until we get to find out if we’re having a girl or boy!  I can hardly wait.

16 Weeks: Bumpin’

Well, here we are at 16 weeks!  I never thought this day would come.  When I was only 6 weeks along, my mommy friends told me the sickness would let up somewhere around 16 weeks.  I thought- You are kidding me!  That felt like a life-time away.  But alas, 16 weeks is here, and the sickness (for the most part) is slowly tapering off.  I had 9 days in a row of no puking- amazing!  Yesterday was an unfortunate “sick day.”  I think I over did it this past week, flying around town seeing friends and working again.  Saturday left me incapacitated.  Migraine and an unfortunate 7 pukes.  Oh well, right?

So, a few things have changed.  I went from eating nothing to eating like a D-1 Athlete almost overnight when I hit 15 weeks.  If I don’t eat almost every hour or 2, I feel super nauseous.  I’ve been joking with friends that I’m almost positive there is a line-backer growing in there.  For the 9-day streak of feeling great, I have never eaten so much in my life!  See that little “bump?”  Somewhere in week 15, I woke up and there it was!  Finally, my little sweetie is growing!

Nick and I are loving this stage.  Its so fascinating watching something so out of your control happen to your body.  Seeing God form this baby is truly a miracle.  Nick and I have been talking and singing to this little line-backer and enjoying every moment.  Only 4 weeks away from finding out if we’re having a girl or boy!  We have a girl name chosen and still working on a boy name. For some reason, boy names are much harder to choose from.  We’re excited to share with everyone what we’re having in one month!

A funny story from this past week… So, Nick and I have been waiting forever to go and get our liscences renewed since we moved in April.  On Friday, Nick said- Hey, you showered today!  Let’s go to the DMV.  Shower day for me is a big day over here.  For some reason, it just made me sick as a dog all summer to shower!  So, showered and dressed, off we went.  I couldn’t wait in line for a second longer without eating, so we went and grabbed some Vietnamese Chicken and Fried Rice at the Global Market.  I chowed.  Then, I had to undo my belt as I slowly sat back with a near food-hangover.  A woman walked by and said, “YOU look full!  And you got a baby in there!”  My first public recognition of our baby.  Apparently, I look preggo now. :)

I’m very thankful to be feeling better!  Thank you for all the meals from friends and family- we and baby have been so well fed and truly blessed by you all.

Hope you are all enjoying the fabulous fall!

A Snoogle, a Heartbeat & Starbucks

 

 Yesterday, this big package came in the mail.  Nick secretly ordered me “The mother of all pregnancy pillows!” (as advertised) Its called a “Snoogle.”  Its AWEsome.

This was me yesterday, snoogling away after 4 hours of puking and a serious migraine.  A friend came over to hang out with me, and I never left my snoogle the whole time she was here :)  My friends are getting use to the new me: unshowered, drooling, teary-at-the-drop-of-a-hat, and now a snoogler.  Yet, they keep coming over and staying friends with me.  These friends are keepers.

What?!?!  Is that ME at STARBUCKS?  Yes it is!  Hallelujah, I LEFT MY HOUSE TODAY!  Isn’t it unbelievable that I went from glued to my snoogle to Starbucks all in 24 hours?  This is the life of nausea these days.  I am now only nauseous every OTHER day.  I’ve been so grateful for a few days a week where I can function!

I had a Dr. appt. downtown today, so Nick came with me and we heard our baby’s precious heartbeat.  We were so giddy and grinning from ear to ear.  We’re so amazed this baby is growing safe and sound!  Then, we went to Target and I bought my first maternity shirt (though I truly don’t need it yet!)  But in a few weeks, maybe?  My dr. congratulated me for gaining a whole 0.5 lb in my pregnancy!  haha, not much but worth a congratulations!

We left the dr. appt and something came over me.  I said, “Nick.  I want Chinese.  BAD.”  Next thing I knew I was devouring the BEST meal I have had my entire pregnancy from Shanhai Wok, a secret little restaurant my brother, Nick, told us about.  Oh my.  I ate like a wild animal.   Sheer bliss to enjoy a meal again!

To top it off, I gave Nick a “salon quality” hair-cut outside today too.   What a handsome guy.

 Today sort of felt like a scene from the Secret Garden, you know, where the sick boy goes outside for the first time in his life?  I truly was amazed at life and don’t think you could have paid me to wipe the cheesy smile on my face all day.  I did not take 1 second of this day for granted.  And I guess tomorrow if I have to go back to snoogling and drooling, its not so bad.  More and more, I am content to be however sick God has chosen for me to be knowing our precious and sweet baby is on its way into our lives!  The sickness will be such a distant memory when we meet our beloved little one.

 

What I’m Grateful For at 14 wks!

Photo Credit: http://www.davidrisley.com/gratitude/

You find funny things to be thankful for when you’re pregnant.  Last night I was brushing my teeth (the scariest part of my day I tell you! I have to give myself a pep-talk every time.  My husband actually usually stands near-by or yells from the other room.  ”Its gonna be a good one!  You can do it!”)  Anyway, as I was saying, I was brushing my teeth and it occurred to me that I have an amazing bathroom.  A bathroom for a queen, really.  I thought about the conditions I could be puking in and suddenly realized, God has graciously given me a wonderful little “puke-haven.”  As I began to brush, I tried humming a happy tune for a bit, then I tried to fight the urge to purge with happy thoughts such as, I have an amazing toilet to puke in!  I have an amazing toilet to puke in!  Can’t blame me for trying to focus on the positives, right?  Little did I know, God really wanted me to experience again just how amazing it is to puke in our wonderful toilet.  Within seconds, I was on all fours watching my precious dinner swirl away.  Yeah, I lost my dinner.  (Thanks to trying to brush my tongue!)  BUT.  It could be worse.

 

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  A toilet that flushes and works like a charm.

2.  A spacious, air-conditioned bathroom.

3.  A near-by sink where I can grab a cup of water right away after a good puke.

4.  A nice towel to rest my knees on while I puke

5.  A husband who rushes in at any slight sound of me puking (even at 4am!) to hold my hair back, wipe the sweat off my forehead or give me some water.

6.  ICE.  oh, sweet, divine…ice.  You have no idea what kind of relief a cup or drink full of ice brings to a prego mama.

7.  Nachos.  You know the kind where you sprinkle cheddar cheese over tortilla chips and microwave for 30 seconds? Mmm.  One of the few foods I’ve managed to stay friends with.

8.  The fact that I just typed “Mmm” after typing a food is a GOOD sign.  I’d say my nausea is slowly lifting. At least I’m hoping!

9.  Our bed.  We splurged and purchased a tempur-pedic mattress this past spring.  We were moving AND they were on sale.  Its one of those “we’re grown ups making a 20 year investment” purchases.  SO worth it.  Its so nice to crawl into after each episode of toilet-hugging.

10.  Other pregnant women who blog about being horribly and deathly sick.  Knowing I am going through this with someone else does help :)

11.  Sunshine that peers through our bedroom windows every morning.

12.  A cup to spit in.  Seriously, if I didn’t have my trusty spit cup, my house, my clothes, EVERYthing would be covered in drool.  I have thought about how nasty that would be and concluded its REALLY great to have a spit cup.

13.  SNL (Saturday Night Live) 2008 presidential debates.  I laughed SO hard watching a re-run of this over the weekend.  You must watch if you haven’t!

14.  My precious baby growing safely and soundly!  Today, he or she can even make little facial expressions!

15.  Laughing with my husband.  Lately I’ve been answering his phone calls, “Puke land!  This is Pukey, how may I puke for you?”  He always proceeds to make up half-believable stories about his day and then we sit there laughing back and forth while I proclaim, “No way!  You are lying.  You are LYING! No way!  I don’t believe you!”  Like today, he calls me on his way home from church (I was too sick to go) and tells me in volumes of enthusiasm, “Guss what?! A singer didn’t show up, so they asked ME to sing and I ended up singing all the solo’s.”  Oh, he’s good.  I sooort of believed him at first!  I laughed so hard at the mental image.  My quiet, behind the scenes techy husband morphed into an American Idol soloist.  He does like to sing… in the car? Let’s be honest.  I’m the diva of this marriage.  Alas, the truth: He really did get asked to sing last minute… but THEN… the singer arrived just in time. Almost had me fooled though! He really makes me laugh every day.

While I wait this season out in high hopes of this nausea someday passing, I’ve got a lot of time to sit around and count my blessings.  Oh, and why has it been 14 wks and I haven’t posted any prego pics yet?  Because there is absolutely no trace of a baby growing yet.  In fact, its more like there is a baby shrinking! I lost about 10 lb. all together in my first tri and am working hard to gain something!  Trust me, when that baby bump arrives, I will be sharing with the world for all to see!

Thankfully thankful,

Katie

 

 

Surviving My First Trimester: The Radio, My Husband, Potatoes and More!

I really, seriously, honestly do.

I feel like he’s been permanently rubbing my back and grocery shopping for 3 months straight.  He has served me willingly, without so much as one complaint.  I’ve really seen God supply him with “extra” grace for this new season.

I have heard it said that lemonade is a pregnant woman’s best friend.  It IS people.  It IS.
Potatoes use to be just so-so in my book.  But they have been so wonderful during pregnancy!  Why?  Because they are a highly alkalizing food, which means they absord acid as you digest them.  SUPER helpful with all the heart-burn and acid reflux.

 I finally watched Tangled a few weeks ago!  I can honestly say this is one of my favorite movies now.  I have watched it 3 times in one month.  This movie made me laugh so hard, this prego mama NEEDED some comic relief.

I have watched anything and everything that is “free” on netflix.  It got me through some “longer” days.Laura Story, I love you.  I love you, I love you, I love you.  I played her songs “What a Savior” and “Faithful God” literally during some of my hardest moments, which for me were:

a)puking

b) Brushing my teeth

c) showering (people, my hygiene has taken a TOLL)

d) Just laying in bed for hours aching (fun, huh? :) )

Whenever I faced one of these daunting tasks, I flipped on my i-pod or asked Nick to.  The lyrics that kept me hanging on were:

“Faithful God!  Every promise kept!  Every need you’ve met!  Faithful God!  All I am, and all I’ll ever be is all because you’ve loved faithfully…faithful God…”

and:

“Jesus you are stronger!  More than any other! Hallelujah what a savior!  Jesus you are higher!  My soul’s deepest desire!  Hallelujah what a savior!”

Let me introduce you to Papaya enzymes.  I would pop 2-3 of these in my mouth immediately after a meal and it really relieved my acid reflux.  A glorious all-natural remedy.
Alas, my mom.  I am going to be a mom, and yet I desperately still NEED my own mom!  She has texted, called, sent cards, come to the dr. with me, weeded my garden, made a meal and encouraged me… all in the midst of starting her new job and moving :)  She’s truly lifted my heart on some harder days.

So… how did I start each morning of my first trimester?  Listening to the Revive Our Hearts Internet Radio daily broadcast.  THANK YOU REVIVE OUR HEARTS!!  Friends, I was too tired to even open my bible or lift my hands to write in my journal.  In such a season of sickness, I truly depended on audio ways of speaking truth to my heart.  All I had energy to do was click “download.” and then lay back and listen.  And talk about finding gold!  I got to listen to a series about suffering and dying, a series with guest Elizabeth Elliot, series on marriage, being a true woman, etc.  My heart was so strengthened.

Joni Eareckson Tada. You.  Are. A. Gift. From. Heaven.  I listened to a message from her called “The Stakes are Higher Than You Think.”  She is a quadriplegic and also has breast cancer.  This message changed my life, and I listened to it over and over during days I didn’t think I could make it through.  You will not regret taking 25 minutes to give it a listen HERE.

I have been reading “Knowing God” By J.I. Packer.  I think this is going to be one of the best books I have ever read.

So.. these were the more tangible, practical things that have helped me get through the past 3 months of my pregnancy.  I am so grateful!  Oh- and I am happy to report, I haven’t thrown up in 24 hours!  I am feeling great today!  Thanks for everyone who has reached out to me… its been so sweet to hear from so many of you.

I’m doing better each day!  My heart is full and sustained, encouraged and upheld.

 

 

 

Surviving My First Trimester: Part 1

Photo Credit: http://www.mysuccessfulpregnancy.com/

Hi friends!  It’s been A. WHILE.  I admit: I’m a bad blogger.  I don’t have a system down.  I sincerely only blog when I feel like it, which means you’ll have to bear with the inconsistencies of my postings.  But a few things are blog-worthy I think… I’ve reached a milestone in my life:  I survived my first trimester of my first pregnancy!  (loud cheering).

Friends.  My first trimester.  Where do I begin?  For starters, I’ll have to shed some modesty and get really human on you to let you in on this “pretty” new chapter of my life.  No pressure to keep reading.  So… the nausea has been severe and border-line cause for hospitalization.  I can’t tell you how many times a day I literally thought “I am dying!”  At one point, I even typed into google “Help, I am dying in my first trimester!”  Then came the flood of assurance.  There is a world of other sick and dying prego mama’s that apparently have all typed the same cry of desperation into google.  Thank God!  I was strangely so comforted to be able to read chats and posts about women in my shoes.  OH, my heart goes out to them!

The only thing I can conclude about how I survived is that the human body is incredibly, divinely durable and God can keep you breathing and peeing under brutal, excruciating circumstances.  I don’t know how I survived after barely eating or drinking for 3 months straight and non-stop vomitting.  Oh, and morning sickness?  No, no.  I didn’t have that.  I had ALL DAY LONG/ALL NIGHT LONG sickness.   At a few points, I remember seeing white stars everywhere.  I remember Nick being right next to me and seeing his mouth moving, but faintly being able to see or hear him in my dizzy estate.

We’re talking blood-vessels popping in my eyes, puke bags filled all over the house, car, crawling up the stairs… spitting CUPS of saliva into my spit cup every hour… I became a literal vegetable.  You name it… I puked in or on it.  And There. Is. Nothing. I. haven’t. thrown. Up.  Now that is something I couldn’t have said 3 months ago.

Bet you wish you were pregnant, too.  Haha.  It has been absolutely hellacious.  And yet still.  THIS is how every single human being on the planet comes into existence.  This miracle in every mother’s womb is also the “little sucker that is torturing you to death…” in the words of my dr. when we listened to our baby’s heartbeat!  We had a good laugh.  Though this baby has literally been sucking the sheer life out of me, its heartbeat has the ability to melt me.  To know its there, just existing contentedly… is comforting to a mama whose too sick to take any vitamins much less hardly any real food.

God nudges some hope into my heart daily.  In an instant, I overflow with joy and wonder, tears fill my eyes and I get all weepy.  This is my baby!  This is all happening because this is going to be a precious blessing!  I am going to be A. MOM!

I confess, those glimmers of hope were hard to remember during the long days and nights of continual nausea.  And now that I’m just 2 days into my second trimester, I feel like I am crawling slowly back into existence again.  But I’m still not quite out of the woods yet.

So… how am I doing?  I have to admit, this has been one of the hardest summers of my life. And I know I’m not the only mama out there feeling like this :) My life has never been at a stand-still like this.  I’ve never been bed-ridden for so long.  Just a few weeks ago, I reached a point of desperation.  I used every ounce of strength to move from the couch to the kitchen and peered into the fridge, desperate for something to eat to relieve the nausea.  I stared at hundreds of things I have puked thousands of times.  I need to eat!  But I can’t eat!  Friends.  I lost it.  It reached the point of total human brokenness.  My strength, my endurance was completely gone.  I threw a near-by bowl of peppermints on the floor and fell to the ground.  “I can’t do this anymore!  I can’t take one more day of this!”  I cried to my husband who gently watched me crumble.  I’m not sure how long I cried and repeated like a broken-record “I can’t do this anymore!”

See.  A pregnant nauseous woman needs to eat like ever 1.5 hours.  So every 1.5 hours I feel like I am going to war with food.  The normal me would gladly accept this mission, but the pregnant me could not be more grossed out by EVERYthing that is food.    And for the first time in my life of physically not feeling like I could bear to live any longer, I learned something incredible about my God.  He has strength that I don’t.  He GIVES me strength when I have none left.  I use to say that, but I truly never KNEW that.  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

The days following my melt-down were not much different.  I got teary every time I had to eat.  Teary when my husband left for work because I didn’t know if I could handle the day “on my own.”  I cried after puking for the 20th time in 24 hours.  I cried on the floor at the toilet and poured out my soul to Jesus.  God kept bringing to remembrance the image of Jesus praying and sweating drops of blood before his death… “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) That prayer breaks me and softens me.  He wanted the father’s will more than he wanted to live. And here’s what breaks me: He wanted to give us his own righteousness so we could be in heaven for eternity on the basis of GRACE in the glory of God forever MORE than he wanted to live a comfortable easy life.  I confess this exposes the humanness of my heart.  As much as I want the father’s will, I don’t want my life to be taken from me.  I don’t want to suffer or be in pain at a cost.  But I had to pray as Jesus taught me to pray.

He gave me his strength to pray as I begged Jesus to take away my pain… to let this pass… then came unimaginable words… but by your will Lord, not mine. I knew that Jesus was saying those words for me.  That he was putting them into my mouth.    As I prayed that my flesh didn’t want the father’s will if that meant I could be sick my whole pregnancy, but my spirit wanted the grace to endure no matter how bad it gets.

And it did get worse before it got (and hopefully is getting!) better.  I began vomiting blood and was hardly urinating anymore.  This was a bit scary for me.  After it happened two days in a row, my husband took me to the E.R.  After doing a few tests, they concluded I had reached a point of dehydration and needed I.V. fluids.

So.  Here we were at midnight.  My husband sitting in a chair next to my ER bed, holding my hand and rubbing my forehead while we waited 2 hours for 2 Liters of water to drip into my right arm.  (A scenario you never dream of when your walking down the aisle!  But remember those vows: In SICKNESS and in health!) So, my body kind of went crazy.  I was ferociously spitting in my spit cup, acid refluxing like crazy, and shivering beyond belief.  Then, I had to pee (a good thing!).  So my husband held my bag of fluids while we went to the bathroom, where I nearly collapsed to the floor because I was so cold.  I said “Can we go home?  I just want to go home.”  Well, I did make it home at 2am.  Finally hydrated!  But not done puking yet.  Tried to sleep.  More puking.  More blood.  That happened every night for a week.

Emotionally, I was having a hard time hanging on.  For nearly 3 months, I haven’t been able to leave my house.  Talking made me throw up.  I had only been able to go to church twice this summer.  I couldn’t make it to ANYthing or see ANYone, except maybe for a total of 5 times.  Extreme loneliness was beginning to set into my heart.  And fear.  What if my whole pregnancy is like this?  I began to feel desperate to see people.  I didn’t care that I was still sick.  Honestly, I didn’t even care who, I was just in need of a major boost in my spirits.  I NEEDED people.  How un-American of me, huh?  Yes.  I sincerely needed a friend more than I’ve ever needed one.   My husband has been an amazing comfort beyond words.  (There will be an entire post about his amazing servant-heartedness coming!) But I had reached a point where I truly needed friends.  For most of the summer, my good friends were all out of town, so not many people had been around!

Did you know I have the sweetest neighbors IN THE WORLD?  I was so desperate and in need of comfort, I told my husband to go knock on the neighbor’s door and say “Katie necesita una amiga.”  In English: Katie needs a friend.

Meet my neighbor, Anelia.  She is a mother of four from Mexico, whose entire family has become good friends of ours over the summer.  Her boys play soccer over here every day, and we’ve shared many meals together because Anelia is the kind of woman that gives and shares everything.  She came over right away (a meal in hand!) and sat with me on my couch.  I had been crying because I wasn’t able to hold any food down that day and was feeling so discouraged.  She put her arms around me and just hugged me while her boys played games with my husband, and she had me smiling in no time while we spoke phrases of broken Spanish and English.  In the mean-time, Nick texted some good friends “Katie has had a rough day, can any of you come over?”  20 minutes later, three sweet friends were at my door step.  After Anelia left, I literally laid in their lap while they rubbed my back and hair and prayed for me.  I had come to my darkest hour that day and was desperate for people’s prayers and encouragement.  After 3 months, I just couldn’t go on in my own strength.  I have never seen this verse so clearly come alive in my own life:  2 Cor. 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I had to get vulnerable with people.  I had to let them see that I was weak and needy.  How humbling!  When you feel like you can’t go on, to have 3 women place their hands on your sick body praying the promises of God in your ears, there is just no way to walk away the same.  My spirits were sincerely lifted beyond belief, and I was able to say,  “I can do this!  By God’s grace, I can get through another night!”  That night, I slept like a baby.  I went to sleep more content than I’d been in months.  I even told Nick on my pillow, “My soul feels like it has wings!”

AND THEN… (drumroll please)… CAME… A DAY OF RELIEF!!!!!

I was approaching week 13, and I woke up with…energy?  Yes, energy!  God gave me 1.5 days of relief from my nausea, and it was amazing.  I did all the laundry in the house AND put it all away!  I did the dishes!  I went for a walk!  I thanked Jesus every hour for every thing I ate and kept down, for every moment I walked outside, for every piece of clothing I put away.  I retained fluids!  How marvelous!  I shed tears on the walk.  To be outside after 3 months!  To smell the fresh air and see the lake!  What refreshment to my soul! (If you haven’t figured it out by now, pregnant women cry every day. Multiple times.)

Well, since then, I’ve learned to reach out.  The neighbors came back over to watch “Tangled” with us, we had our couples group over, my brother came over and played guitar for me, and my sweet parents came by to sit with me and mom made a delicious meal.  Each time, I was in my P.J.’s on the couch feeling crummy.  But I was warmed by the presence of friends and family.  The company and prayers of these people has helped me endure.

And… I’m back to my old nauseous self.  I’m still throwing up randomly throughout the day and night.  I’m not retaining many fluids again.  But my spirits are truly lifted and my heart has been changed.  I have hope and deliverance from fear in a new way.

On my day of relief, I spent the morning with Jesus.  I concluded that his promises to me were the only thing that was going to get me through this pregnancy.  I knew that I had a choice to make.  To let fear, despair and discouragement control the next 6 months of my life, or let God’s promises from his word carry me all the way through to the delivery room.  I searched God’s word for any and every verse about fear that I could find and spent an hour writing down countless precious and beautiful promises that God has wanted me to be comforted by all along.   After I jotted them all down, I prayed for a long time.  Phil 4:17 says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  I prayed through tears, Jesus, I am trusting that after I tell you my anxieties and fears, that you are able to guard my heart and with your peace.  I know you can put my heart at peace.

 Out loud, one by one, I told Jesus every little, big, stupid or very real fear.  EVERY fear.  From being afraid of the rest of this pregnancy, to being afraid of what the night holds for me, to being alone when I’m in pain, of having to get more IV fluids, of not being able to eat again, etc. After I prayed… PEACE!  I was filled with a divine and un-human peace.  I felt restored, delivered from fear and protected by my God.

I made little signs of some key promises and put them all over the house because I NEED them.  I need to see them daily, I need them everywhere I go.   I will be posting those promises in a future post!

For now, you will find me talking to myself as I slowly move and function around my house.  Yes, that’s right- talking to myself.  What am I saying?  I’m talking truth to myself.  Out loud. I’m fighting my discouragement.  I’m saying things like, “God has new mercies for me today.  I CAN get through another night of vomiting in the strength that God supplies.   God is sovereign over every time I throw up.  God knows what my body needs.  God intends good for me.  God will never leave me or forsake me.  My body can do this.”  As we speak, I am currently missing out on a really fun annual student cook-out I’ve gone to for the past 8 years.  Instead, I’m sitting here blogging and spitting into my spit cup.  But my heart is full!

Sigh.  Well friends… that was the verbal unleash of my first trimester.  If you have read this far, kudos to you.  My next few posts will be about specific practical things and people that have really helped me endure through such a tough time.

Thank you all for being on this journey with me!  Thank you to everyone who has called me, prayed for me, sent cards, stopped by and brought meals over- it has shown the heart of Jesus to me in such a tender way.  Thank you so much!

I would love to hear how you have endured through a difficult pregnancy or period of trial and what has been helpful for you!

You first trimester survivor,

Katie

 

 

 

 

Learning to Suffer


I had to share this from Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic who also suffers from breast cancer.  I am blown away by her perspective in her suffering; I am a student at her feet when it comes to learning to endure through the harder seasons of life and the fiery trials when they come.   Anyone else with me?

Here’s a hopeful excerpt from her message “The Stakes are Higher Than You Think.”

“…it’s good to remember when you are suffering that every promise that the Father has ever made finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. If you are hurting, especially today, if you are sitting there hurting on the inside, He felt the sting in His chest first. If you are sitting there feeling like darkness is all around you, take heart, for even the darkness is light to our glorious Savior.

Jesus went without encouragement on his cross so that you and I might have it, that we might have Him as we bear our cross. And if you feel forsaken in life, remember that Jesus was the most God-forsaken man who ever lived. So that He, in turn, might say to you in your suffering, “I will never leave you. I will never leave you. I will never desert you. I will never forsake you.” I tell you what, friend. You can endure almost anything—paralysis, chronic pain, cancer. You can be hooked up to an IV in a chemotherapy clinic and persevere through it all if you know that Jesus, the Lord of the universe, is sitting next to you.”

Want to listen to the whole thing?  This was the happiest and most hopeful 30 minutes of my week :)

 

Album Prep



The three songs I hope to record this summer/fall are “Hide In You,” “You are the Joy,” and “Still Waters.”   Yesterday I spent some long hours charting out the keys, chords and re-writing lyrics.  I am really excited because I think that the Lord gave me the album title yesterday while I was working, and I am so so happy about it!!!  I can’t wait to share it with ya’ll!  As I’ve dreamed and written many songs on this album, I’ve drawn a total blank every time I wondered what to call it.  Nothing fit.  It was something I had to wait months for.  But yesterday, Nick and I were convinced of what its title should be, it was a joyful moment!  Happy Tuesday to you and your families :)
your album prepping amiga,
Katie

Launching My First Album

Friends,

I hope you’ve all been enjoying the summer!  Nick and I want to update you on what I’ve been up to with music lately.  Since releasing my first single “Recreated” in August 2010, I (Katie) have been spending my down time continuing to write, sort of my favorite place to be when there’s nothing else planned.  Some of my favorite memories this year have been singing with college students in hotel rooms at our New Year’s Conference, scribbling down lyrics after a conversation with a student I’m meeting with at the U of M or just talking to Jesus in some discouraging moments.  His love has definitely been vision casting.  God’s grown our passion for serving the church (namely, college women) through my music, and we hope to bring encouragement through scripture and the truths of Jesus Christ.

A few months ago, we sent my vision for writing a full-length album under the theme of “Recreated” to a non-profit organization, called The Gaius Project, that collaborates with Christian artists in order to complete their musical projects, by administrating the funds that are raised for that purpose . After reviewing my vision, they graciously accepted my application and have opened an account for me to begin raising the funds to complete my first album! I’m humbled and nervous, too… and I really want to include you all in the beginning stages!

We have a God that came to rescue.  I think a lot of these songs communicate his power to transform, his forbearance in our weaknesses, his ability to give joy and satisfy, and ultimately- His victory.  These are all parts of his character we long to know more deeply, be reminded of and experience.

There are many seeking to share this message of hope in Jesus all over the world in the body of Christ; surely I am only one voice in the anthem of people with a song to sing!   Jason French, founder of Crossworks Ministries, asked me to be a part of a new label made up of a community of artists that desire to work together in ministry in order to edify the Church and spread the Gospel through their music, and help publish my first record through Crossworks Ministries.  It is a privilege to be part of a community of artists that love the Lord and his people, and that desire to glorify him by putting their gifts at his service to serve his church.

Would you keep me in your prayers during this process?  We’re trusting that if God desires this to be completed, he’ll provide people to come alongside us in our vision.  We really see this album as a “team effort,” so we’ll need your help along the way!

Our desire is to raise $6,000 to complete this project and be able to produce about 250 CD’s to give away freely. We would love to be able to bless college women, friends and family with promises and the hope we have in Jesus at no charge to them.

Would you be excited about joining us in giving this gift away?  If so, would you consider giving a tax-deductible donation to our project to help fund the recording costs?

You can log on to www.katiestromwall.com and click on the partner now link to give a tax deductible donation through Gaius Project [Paypal (fully receipted)]
“Sing to the Lord, all the earth!  Tell of his salvation from day to day.  Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!  For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.”  (1 Chronicles 16:23-25)

With much love and gratitude,
Katie

Please Pray:

1.  God would use this music for His glory.
2.  Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ… that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:3-4).
3.  Pray that God would provide the musicians and funds we need to complete this project.

 

I’ll post some lyrics and updates along the way!