Devotional and Four weeks and some change

Thursday when I posted, I mentioned this devotional. I had read it that morning before I got the call from Tobi's VP. I had sent it to my friend Johanna, thinking it was intended for her, but little did I know, it was for me too. The verse was Isaiah 40:29 "He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength." The devotional talked about Joseph and all the difficulties he went through, being rejected by his family, sold into slavery, lied about, mistreated, abandoned, falsely accused,and thrown in jail. But through it all, Joseph never gave up. He kept pressing on and doing the right thing even though the wrong thing kept happening to him. The devotional mentioned the verse Psalm 105:18 "They bruised his feet with shackles his neck was put into irons, til what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true" and it says that through his fight, Joseph's soul became as strong as steel, because God gave him supernatural strength. The devotional said " If you are going through difficulty today, God wants to increase your strength. He wants to increase your power to overcome. He wants to make your inner man as strong as steel. When you keep standing, keep believing, keep doing the right thing, you are opening yourself to God's supernatural strength. That's when you know you are growing in Him. Be strong today. Keep pressing forward because God is at work increasing strength in you so that you can live in victory in every area of your life!" I knew this was for me....and many.

So, yesterday was Sunday, my baby shower for Luke, at my sister-in-law Christi's house. I was very excited and anxious to see many of my friends that I dont get to see often. They always say that 1\2 of your guests list will show, but given the situation with this not being a "normal" pregnancy baby shower, I figured more than half would show. I was a bit disappointed that only 2 friends, (beside Ginger and Joy who are more than friends, they are sisters to me) showed. I had a great deal of family, but those I had hoped to be there, did not show, or were sick. I know the ones that were sick couldn't help it, and one that has 5 kids (which anything could have happened to her schedule!) I could understand, but a few others, I'm not sure why they didn't show. Nevertheless, we had a great time, and great food. Ginger, who is Lebanese, prepared her famous grape leaves (if you haven't ever had these, you are missing out. we've been known to eat them till we are sick!),and Tabouli/Tabbouleh salad. I really appreciate her doing that because I know it is a lot of preparation and she has 2 little ones. We had a beautiful cake that was purchased by my sister in law from a chef in Trussville. It was his "finale cake" as he was no longer going to be doing cakes. We had 5 quarts of Newt's chicken salad (which there's a funny story behind that amount), a beautiful fruit tray that one of Joy's friend's moms made. We had spinach dip, and a chicken cheese ball, that my sister in law made. I ate till I almost popped yesterday! I got many great things, and just getting to hang out with everyone was fun.

Once I got home, I think I was on an adrenaline rush or something cause I wanted to get things put away, and started washing stuff. I didnt stop going til about 10:30. It's weired cause since we weren't at all prepared for Tobi since he came so early and now we are able to prepare this time, and I'm thinking, "I have this and this and this to do....OMG, I'm not gonna get it all done before he comes!" I know that's crazy. I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful family. We've been through so much and it's so amazing to see God's plan unfold for us.

More to come.....

Faithfully His,

Mika