And this child is.....

A BOY!!!! Oh my! Three boys!! The Poe Household is about to become a bit more insane in the next few months! Another super hero to be running around! Another to sign up for T-Ball -eventually! More hotwheel cars to be stepped on! More nerf darts to be lost! And lots more hugs, cuddles, and kisses to be given out!!!

Dan and I couldn't be more excited! For months, we've been praying for a healthy baby, and that's exactly what we will be getting! The ultrasound went perfectly! I was a bit nervous going into the room again, and I even began to tear up a bit. I was still feeling pretty nervous during the first few measurements, until the nurse technician showed us the beating heart!!! Oh, the tears began to flow down my cheeks out of pure joy and relief! Such a sweet, wonderful thing to see! After that point, I was really able to fully enjoy seeing our little guy!! The feet - that I can't wait to kiss all over! The hands that I can't wait to hold! The nose, mouth, eyes, and ears! Everything is perfect!

It took a few minutes to see the gender of the baby - his legs were crossed. The nurse would jiggle my belly to get him to move around a bit - it was so funny seeing him move with the bounce of my prego belly! But finally we were able to see a clear picture of his little "turtle" -as the nurse called it! :)

The baby is big! It, no, no, I mean "he" currently weighs 9 ounces, and is measuring in at 19 weeks, instead of 18 weeks. The doctor's may be changing my due date by one week, but they're going to wait and see a bit longer because my 7 week ultrasound was measuring perfectly with an August 17th due date. She said if the baby reaches more than 8 pounds towards the end of my pregnancy, than I can go ahead and plan on being induced. But we'll cross that road when it comes.

So, now it's off to work for me. And time to go fishing for Dan - after he too works for a couple hours!

Can't wait for you all to meet our little guy!! Thanks so much for all your continued prayers! And thank You Lord for a healthy baby boy!!!
Have a wonderul day!

Beginning to Feel Better

I had an awesome quiet time with the Lord last night! Here is what He taught me...

Psalm 55:16 ~ But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.

Psalm 55:22a ~ Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.

Isaiah 41:10 ~ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I love the thought of intimacy of the Lord holding me in His hand!

Isaiah 41:13 ~ For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Matthew 6:33 - 34 ~ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 7:7; 7:11 ~ Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!

Philippians 4:6-7 ~ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6-11 ~ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I really liked the verses in 1 Peter. Think about it. For me this is what the Lord spoke to me through the verses. After we lost Thomas, Dan and I prayed daily together that God would bless us with another baby. Well here we are. He has given exactly what we asked of Him and the devil is prowling around stealing my joy, faith and excitement. I need to resist him and stand firm in the Lord during this time!

Isaiah 35:4a ~ Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear."

He left me with this before going to sleep last night....

Psalm 4:8 ~ I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

I slept so good last night! And in the past couple days, I've been feeling more movement from the baby! Thank You Lord! And thanks to all of you for your continued love and prayers! I'll update again on Friday!

General Randomness!

I have many scattered thoughts that I would like to share so...

MmMm...

Last weekend was a great weekend! Friday night was a relaxing night at home with the boys. They are both really into this pregnancy! I often ask them if they want a baby brother or a baby sister. Nicholas always responds by saying, "he wants a baby sister because he already has a brother." Zachary has responded in a couple different ways. One, saying, "he wants a baby sister so that he doesn't have another annoying baby brother!" This response always throws me off just a bit coming from him because he has always been such a good big brother towards Nicholas and they hardly ever fight. I think it may be his age! The other response is, "I want a baby sister because I already have two brothers." :( (Referring to Thomas Spencer). I thought it was sweet!

We received our first nursery gift from one of the kids in our Children's Church. Autumn is 7 and she gave us two of those little shakeable globe thingies. One is blue and green, the other is pink and purple. Nicholas will often run to the spare bedroom and grab them and shake them in front of my belly to show the baby his/her gifts from Autumn!! I LOVE IT!! Nicholas is so sincere as he is doing it and he is so sweet! All of the kids in Children's Church say I must have a little girl!

Saturday, we came to Shelbyville to drop Nicholas off at Nanny and PaPaws. Spring Break has started for Dan and Clear Creek is shut down for the week. Other than the Physical Plant - where Dan works. We had no child care for the week, so Nicholas is hanging out with Nanny and PaPaw - and I miss him dearly! Can't wait to have him back home with us.

Saturday night we ate the salad bar at Cattleman's (YUM!!!) and we were able to attend church at SECC!!! Man, how we miss our home church! We ended up running into a couple of our really good friends whom we had not seen since we moved to Clear Creek. It was so great seeing them again! After hanging out in the cafe for a bit, we headed back home to Pineville.

We spent the day shopping in Kingsport on Sunday in between church! It was a beautiful day outside and of course, shopping is always fun!

People have been asking me for a few weeks what I'm craving during this pregnancy, and up until last week I wasn't really craving anything specifically. But. I have found it!! STRAWBERRIES! Blueberries! Cantaloupe! Plums! Nectarines! Mmmmm... YUM.MO! I can't get enough of this stuff! Especially strawberries. I stock up quite often from the local farmer's market!

Dan has registered for next semester's classes, and Lord willing, we may be completed with CCBBC in one year to a year and a half!!! A little earlier than planned - no complaints here! Dan and I are SO ready to leave this area. In recent weeks, we have gotten a major passion for leaving this area! We often have been daydreaming about the possibilities that God may call us to.... Seminary in Louisville - awesome!!, Seminary in Dallas, TX - that would be pretty cool! Coming back home to Shelbyville and working on a youth conference?!?! Being on staff at SECC?!?! Seminary in Wake Forest, NC?!?! Puerto Rico for deaf ministry?? Mission work in Guatemala??? Awe... the possibilities! I can't wait to see where the Lord leads us to next. Stay tuned in the coming months!

I think I may have shared with some, that God has called us to adopt a deaf child in the coming years! We're thinking when we're about 30 - our hearts are really with a Chinese baby, but we've not received confirmation on that yet. We have started to take sign language classes and it. is. hard.! Signing to music and speaking in sign language are two totally different things! I have signed to music since I was a teenager and I taught it to our youth groups of the past, but trying to communicate in it is much more difficult than I anticipated. We've got a long way to go if we're adopting a hearing impaired child in four years! Lord be with us! :)

Well, I think I'm done blabbering randomness! I hope you guys all have a very blessed day! Love and miss everyone dearly!

Overcome with Fear... Again

I'm 17 1/2 weeks pregnant now, and I am finding that fear is taking over again. I'm nearing the week that we lost Thomas and I think because of that, I keep replaying that whole experience in my head over and over again. I'm feeling more and more anxious about the ultrasound next week.

I know my faith should be stronger than this, but at the moment, I'm struggling. Please keep me and the baby in your prayers. Please pray that the Lord will send peace to me and pray for a healthy baby!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7

I pray that my mind will be guarded and have peace.

I Do Not Believe in Coincidence!

I am amazed how the Lord works. He has planned every second of our lives and He can take and use the smallest things and bring forth something indescribable and amazing!

Currently, He is taking two conversations from the past and is bringing them back up to the service. In addition, He is finally putting some of my calling into action!

In August, I began meeting with Patty. She is a godly woman with tons of wisdom. God called her to create a Bible study for the women on campus which led her to writing her first book. During the summer, God confirmed my calling to the women’s ministry, so in August I approached Patty and asked her to be my mentor. We began meeting and during one of our first few visits together, I shared with her some of my journal entries about a particular sin that I had been struggling with and how God was beginning to bring healing, deliverance and victory over the sin. During our conversation Patty mentioned that “we should get together sometime and create a lesson based on what I shared with her.” I remember thinking to myself, yeah that would be cool to do one day, but we didn’t dwell on it and we moved on into other conversations and continued to meet regularly. During the holidays Patty and I took a short break from meeting together, and that’s when God began to speak. He continued to resurface that particular moment of conversation over and over again. I began to think and pray about it often, but I never approached Patty about it. Until two weeks ago! God finally pushed me enough and it was as if He basically shouted at me, “I’m not done with this!” I brought the conversation up with Patty and asked her to pray about creating a lesson in regards to that past conversation.

Last night we were able to meet and she shared a story that brought chills to me. This week a young mom approached Patty, confessing the same sin that I had struggled with. Patty said, that at that moment God plainly showed her that we are to do this lesson together, and not only are we to do it for the women on campus, but for the community and local churches!

What happened after Patty shared that story with me is almost indescribable. God opened the flood gates! Patty and I looked like a couple of mad women searching the Scriptures and making notes. God instantly poured into us and began overflowing us with thoughts and ideas for this lesson! It’s going to be a great thing and I am so excited to see how God is going to move and restore lives!

I love how God is finally taking and using my experience as a Trainer at CUB and using the numerous things I learned and the fears that He gave me the strength to overcome and is putting those toward the ministry and my calling! I can’t explain the joy in “brainstorming” to create a Bible study and a lesson that God wants delivered!

The second conversation that God is resurfacing took place about three years ago! Dan and I were having dinner with a couple of friends. One of which we had just met and didn’t know very well. We happened to share a burden and a passion of ours to hold a youth conference in Shelby County. Again, not really thinking much about the conversation, we were all just kind of talking and during that time it was a heavy burden and a strong calling in mine and Dan’s lives. So, we shared about it that night.

After that night, Dan and I lost contact with one that was at dinner that night. God ended up calling Dan and I to Clear Creek, and we sort of stopped pursuing to do a youth conference in Shelbyville. Occasionally, throughout the past two years, God would bring that conversation back to my memory. I would think of it here and there and daydream about the possibilities, but I would always brush it to the side, simply because we’re currently not living in Shelbyville.

This past weekend changed that “brushing to the side” though. The one at dinner who we didn’t know very well, who we lost contact with after that night, and who we have not spoken to since that night, contacted us asking if we still have a burden and passion to do a youth conference in Shelbyville!!!! Of course we do!

I have no idea what God is going to bring of this, but I know He’s going to bring something. I know that He’s not finished with that conversation that started three years ago as we were all just aimlessly chowing down on pizza that night! And I know that He’ll see it to completion! (Philippians 1:6)

I am blown away at the way our God works. How He places and plans every second and moment of our lives. How He plants seeds in the most subtle ways. How He can take a simple statement or a conversation and when we think nothing of it, He brings it forth in His timing and says, “Get ready my children. I’m not done with this yet!”

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:6