I guess it’s time for me to reflect on having a newborn in the house.  I’ll call it reflection for the sake of Friday Reflections, but I think it’s more along the lines of preparation.  Yeah, that’s it….mental preparation.  As you can see, that’s not Doplar radar, that’s our reality, and the whole thought of having a baby was made crystal clear today.  To update those of you who may not know, I was 10 days away from having a vasectomy when we got word that Ria is pregnant.  Well, not only will they not allow me to have one now, I’m pretty sure that I don’t want anything to do with it.  It would seem that God doesn’t like me messin in His business.

See, sometimes we have it all backwards.  Sometimes we think that WE are the high and mighty ones.  We think God will check in with us before He takes actions.  I’m here to tell ya THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS! I scheduled that vasectomy without the first prayer about it.  I knew it was what I wanted; I knew it was what WE wanted.  I forgot, as I seldom do, Who’s in control here.  I thank God for reminding me that it’s not always about what I want or what we want, but what He has planned.  I won’t throw Scripture at ya today because sometimes I use those verses as weapons rather than tools and I need to stop that.  Do a Google search on “pride in the Bible” if you’re interested though .

Ok, excuse my mini-rant there.  To the left, we introduce you to Pinky Keathley.  What? You didn’t see Pinky on the list of names to vote for?  Oh, by the way, if you haven’t voted, CLICK HERE. No, I call him or her Pinky cuz that’s about how big he or she is right now. We found out today that Ria is 11 weeks and 4 days pregnant which gives us a due date of around July 17, 2009.  At 20 weeks we’ll have another sonogram which will hopefully tell us boy or girl.  We could see the heart beating today, but wasn’t quite strong enough to hear it.  Again, we’re talking about a 2 1/2 inch baby….kinda puts the size of the heart into perspective.  After the 20 week marker we’ll combine and narrow our name lists and have a final vote.

Thanks for sticking around here in 2008.  Hope to see more of ya in 2009 unless you’re trying, like me, to lose weight, I hope to see LESS of ya!!  I don’t do resolutions anymore, but if you’d like to share some of your reflections from 2008, feel free to do so down below.

Ria actually had this idea:  This is technically “OUR” blog, but as most of you know, Ria isn’t into blogging much.  So, she came up with this:  I have some boy and girl names I like….She has some that she likes.  I’m going to list 5 boy and 5 girl names in this post and I’ll share it with my Facebook and Yahoo peeps too.  Ria will do the same with her Facebook and MySpace peeps.  If you get this from both of us, that’s ok becuase our lists are not the same.  Just pick your favorite names from each of us.

She will do things her way with her folks, but if you’ve received this from me, here’s the deal:  Please pick ONE BOY name and ONE GIRL name from the lists and leave it as a comment. Now, that is always a problem on this ole blog for some reason.  Every time I ask for a comment, I get 30 emails and 2 comments…LOL  So, if you’re reading this from Facebook or another site or email, come HERE and leave your picks as a comment.  Everyone is welcome, so if you’ve stumbled upon this blog for whatever reason, #1 WELCOME, #2 leave your picks .  At some point we’ll figure out the sex of the baby and we’ll do this again.

Now then, for you newbies, we have 2 kids and their names may matter to some of you as part of your decision making (we’re only doing first names here, btw).  They are Gabriel and Chaya (KY-UH).  Here we go….Oh and for those of you who RARELY EVER comment, make an exception here, will ya?

MY BOY NAMES: In no particular order.  And before you ask, yes, I know what each of these names mean .  Is it obvious that I’m taking a course on the Book of Genesis right now?

• Ezekiel
• Benjamin
• Jacob
• Isaac
• Elijah

MY GIRL NAMES:

• Rachel
• Leah
• Bailey
• Morgan
• Lailah

To check out Ria’s picks go HERE or HERE. That’s actually her Facebook and MySpace pages and you’ll have to wait until later today for her post to go up,  but I’m sure you’ll figure it out .

Alright, your turn….Lemme have it! Thanks in advance!

I have cried and cried and watched my family cry and cry.  That’s how we deal with loss.  It is sad to know I won’t see Grandma on this earth anymore.  But I’m done being sad. God gave this world 82 years to enjoy a great woman, friend, sister, Mother, and yes, Grandma.  In the end, we must begin again.  In the end, He waited until we had a chance to give thanks on Thanksgiving, to take her to be with Him.  In the end, He took my Mom and sister from a place where they were sure to watch her suffer to take a breath, and put them here with us, surrounded by love and the heart healing sounds of children laughing.  In the end, He speaks to us softly and comforts us with the knowledge that in Heaven, there is no cancer; there is no pain; there is no suffering. Every breath Grandma takes is one of wonder and beauty; the cleanest, purest air one could imagine, filling the lungs that are no longer damaged, in a body that shows no signs of 82 years of wear and tear.  Grandma has done what we all need to do….In the end, she is beginning again.

I was going to make this a separate posts, but it fits so well here, I’ll put it where it belongs.  It is so amazing to watch God at work.  God isn’t gonna let us be sad for long and only He knows how to move us past the grief.  As some of you know, I was scheduled to have a vasectomy on December 10th.  Well, it seems that God has a sense of humor also.  Monday, yes the day of Grandma’s service, Ria and I found out we need a bigger car.  Well Ria and I actually knew sooner, but it was Monday that we got word from a doctor that around August or September of 2009 we will welcome family member #5 to this house.  See where I’m going with this???  In the end…..YES, we MUST begin again.  In the end, God knows if there is one thing to sooth my Mother’s heart, it is to know there is a baby coming.  Now then, this must be good for Ria and I somehow and I’m sure He’ll give us that info soon, but in the meantime, your prayers are AGAIN appreciated.  (That last line was supposed to be funny…we’re not depressed )

So, now I need to call the urology clinic and cancel my surgery.  What’s the point, right?  LOL!

Off we go….to begin again!

Thank you Grandma!!   Thank You Lord!