Saturday Blessings

I am still determined to become a better blogger. Jenny, I may not quite make every day like you but we do have some life updates that I will try to share!

We finally decided on a name for the newest Miller: Timothy ("to honor God") Francis (Justin's grandfather). We were in Nashville two weekends ago and had "the short list" with us. As we layed in bed and talked through our list, and read Scripture that reflected each name, we agreed that Timothy was probably the right one. On Saturday, as I was at my conference, I started to call him Timothy (in my mind of course, whenever the lectures got boring and I needed a distraction). When I was done for the day, Justin and Zach picked me up. They had gone to "Build-A-Bear" and Zach had made a stuffed bear for his baby brother. Each bear comes with a birth certificate. Zach named the bear "Jonathan" (the name he really wanted for his brother, and a name we love except our dear friends are about to give birth to a baby Jonathan) and wrote that the bear "Belongs To: Timothy Miller". And so, the name was finalized.

On Thursday, we did an ultrasound and baby Timothy was weighing in at a whopping 5lbs, 4oz. This is the 75th percentile for 32 weeks and big as far as I am concerned! No growth problems this pregnancy...unlike last time when we persistently were at or below the 25th the whole time.

So, today. My dear friend Tricia took Zach for a few hours so I could get some studying done. Yes, to add to the fun of the next few months I take my oral board exam the week of January 12th...yikes! As I walked into the bookstore another friend was entering. I know that she and her husband are struggling to get pregnant and I made a remark about, "I need to find the bathroom, seems I do that a lot these days". As soon as it was out, I felt terrible! Her response was, "I can't wait to do that".

The reality is, I love that I have to go to the bathroom all the time! I love that I am growing out of maternity clothes, that my feet are starting to swell and that my low back aches. I love that I can't find a comfortable position to sleep in. I love it because I feel so blessed to be pregnant.

If you are one of my dear friends, family or patients that is struggling to conceive (or waiting to adopt) please know that you have a special place in my heart and a special page in my prayer journal. I pray that the Lord would guard you from rude comments like I made today. That the Lord would fill the current void with His abiding love. And, mostly, I pray that the Lord would bless you with a child. Justin and I don't, for one moment, neglect to realize the privilege and blessing that this pregnancy is. We long to celebrate with you, too, very soon!

Zach's 4th Birthday

I'm finally posting some photos from Zach's Birthday last month! I still need to add some more photos/captions but here is the beginning! Wish all of you could have joined us. I added more photos tonight (9/23), including Zach with his grandparents. Enjoy!! Zach's 4th Birthday">

Want to serve our Military?

So, my brother-in-law, Spencer, is now deployed to Kuwait. He left 2 weeks ago leaving Heidi to be a single mom (kids are 6 1/2, 3 1/2, 10 mos). He is a Chaplain in the Air Force. As an Air Force Chaplain he is, essentially a "college pastor". Most of the enlisted men and women are college-age kids that are fighting for our freedom. Kuwait is a big staging ground for the war. As a Chaplain/Pastor, he is there to support, encourage, pray with, teach. All the things our pastor's do, just a different setting!

If you want a chance to partner with him in ministering to these servicemen and women, he has two big needs: sunscreen (they are in Kuwait, i.e. a desert and outside all the time!) and INTERNATIONAL 100 min or 120 min calling cards (just check the back of it to make sure it has instructions on how to call from outside the U.S.). You can give anonymously, you can label it "Donated with love from ______ (your name or your church)", or you can put your email address on it and ask them to send you prayer requests.

Calling Cards are like GOLD over there...without them, they only get on 15 minute phone call home per week. Sam's Club has 20-packs of them for $70 so that's $3.50 per card. I can put money together to get the big pack!

I'll start a collection so just let me know if you want to join! And, if you (or a Sunday School group, etc) want to send letters to these men and women, let me know that,too.

Holly