peace

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God's peace is soooo soooo beyond anything of this world.

i can honestly say i experienced more of GOd's peace as a mother the day of annie's surgery than i have to date in my life. thank you for the countless prayers that were poured out over us. we truly felt them. the prims and the osunas stopped by late monday night to pray over annie. mike and i driving to the hospital early tuesday am had some of the sweetest prayer time together. the sun was coming up and both of us were completely overwhelmed with God's presence. It was awesome. i remember asking the Holy Spirit to burn that drive in my memory so i would never forget how sweet His Presence felt in those moments pouring out over us in the car on the way to the hospital....His Peace within His Presence was truly like open Heaven over us driving to Integris. we were weeping and laughing and full of so much joy it was actually quite unbelievable yet, totally believable because our God is soooo sooo good!

so we are walking into the surgical center and the first woman we encounter is an elderly woman in a wheelchair. she is quite disgruntled. i asked her what she was there for, clearly she was waiting to go into surgery also. she proceeded to tell me why she was there but that they had misscheduled her surgery. she really needed this stint put in immediately and they were sending her home and having to reschedule. they had driven in from out of town and she was very upset to say the least. i put my hand on her shoulder. i actually didn't even ask her if i could pray for her. i just proceeded to pray out loud that God would make a way in that very moment for them to still be able to do the surgery and that her body would be healed. she kinda looked at me a bit funny like, "sure lady. fat chance." so they soon after that left, said goodbye. not 10 minutes later a nurse comes running out and is asking where the women went. they told the nurse they had left. there was a bit a flurry. long story short they were able to flag them down in the parking and able to rush her into a surgery spot. we never actually saw her again. they took her right to the pre-op. but mike and i just started laughing together. how fun and good is our God. some people might think yeah, maybe just a wild coincidence. im not that important that i could change an atmosphere in a place. today in my life i am convinced with every ounce of my being that God poured out His Presence over us in the car as we approached Integris. having personal relationship with the God of the Universe through Jesus means we carry the Spirit of the Living God into every situation. the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. God is always doing amazing things if we care to clue in and join Him. what an invitation!

the second miracle we encountered on the day was incredible our precious annie got a new right ear! the picture in the big red hat and yellow gown was in the pre-op. this pre-op gown was not made for our sweet 13.8pounder (this is what she weighed right before surgery) but annie didn't seem to mind the outfit. she was as peaceful as a little clam.

the next pic is on the way home. dr.baker said everything went "flawless" isn't that like our good, good Father to make it "flawless" Praise God! He is sooo sooo good! she had this amazingly tight head wrap on. we had to keep her really, really still for about the first 24 hours. but once she got the headwrap off the next day at dr.bakers office she was like a new girl. jen, maggie's sister in-law, had told me i'd be amazed at how quickly she would recover. she was so right. annie is so strong and such a mighty little girl!

thank you tremendously to everyone for your prayers and love. i think we truly felt every single one. thank you to my sweet sisters, baby o, holli and sarah for coming to take care of us at the hospital. they brought us so many yummy goodies it made it a fun opportunity for mike to get to share with other families in the waiting room who were waiting on their little ones in surgery. thank you for everyone coming by to check on us, bring us gorgeous flowers, yummy food and sweet treats. one of annie's favorites was a handmade new travel blanket made by phin bonner. it is precious:) such a labor of love! thank you. thank you to everyone for their generosity and incredible love you have showered on our family. our hearts are sooo full of gratitude and thanksgiving!