Announcing Joy Moms website!

So excited!!!

I didn’t expect to have the site ready yet, but now that Charlie is feeling much better & no one else seems to be getting sick, I was able to dedicate several days to it & now it is done! Well…sorta.  It is a work in progress as I continue to add more to the site, but the over all framework is finished.

Blog posts will start posting next week.  You can subscribe to the site & get the posts as an email if you wish.

I would appreciate if you help me share my new site. I will eventually create a Facebook page.

Why a website?

I want to be able to encourage moms now rather wait until the book is published because that could take a really long time.  I can’t put everything on the blog that I put in the book, but I hope to put enough to be of encouragement.

Now, the real work begins as I get super busy writing.  I am really looking forward to what the Lord is about to show me concerning JOY.  Already, he has taught me so much and I am so excited!

Rest

 

We are still fighting off illness around here.  Once I begin to think we are in the clear someone else gets sick. 

Not much blogging going on these days, but I’m working hard on other things.

Here is my article for The Mom Initiative that posted this week.  By His Spirit.

 

I am working on the new website for what I hope to be a new exciting ministry for moms.   Joy Moms dot com isn’t ready just yet, but I promise it will be soon.  I plan to post snippets of what I am writing in my book, along with plenty of encouragement to live in the joy of being a mom.

 

 

I saw this verse posted on Facebook this week and thought what a great reminder it is that I am not in this alone. My tired soul can find rest in God, he is my strength. I don’t have time to get sick, I am taking care of a house full of snotty, coughing, body aching people.  When I am tired and really wanting a break and for people just get well I can focus instead on the promises of God like this one in Psalms 62:1-2 and allow the Holy Spirit to bring peace to my anxious heart & strength to my tired body.

FREE stuff!!

Remember I told you a while back that I have joined the amazing writing team for a new ministry called The MOM Initiative?

Well, exciting stuff is going on over there & you need to check it out!



First of all, our 2nd eBook has been released.  I am a contributor for this one and am really excited about it. The book is called "Overwhelmed" and deals with various issues moms often feel overwhelm them as mothers.

Click on the picture below & check out the site!  If you are already subscribed to the website then you already know about it. If you haven't subscribed yet, then you should because not only do you get this book as a free download, but you get wonderful posts and stories in your inbox everyday.  The ladies who write on this site have been a true blessing to me & I'm so thankful for the encouraging words they put out everyday for moms.

Also, books & gifts are being given away everyday!  All you have to do is either subscribe to the blog or leave a comment under today's post.

I am working on something that I pray will be of great encouragement to many moms.  The Lord laid it on my heart a while back to write a book, but I actually argued with him!  I didn't think I had time or the energy to take on such a  project, but God just wouldn't leave me alone.  so, I gave in.  The book is about learning to live in the joy of motherhood.  Joy is often misunderstood and I hope to explain the difference between joy as the world define's it versus how the Bible defines it.  Words are slowly beginning to show up on my screen.  Of course about the time I decide to go ahead with this everyone get's sick.  WE seem to be on the mend now so I am trying to work on it.  I have no clue how long this will take me.  But I am getting excited about it.  I would appreciate your prayers on this as I allow the Lord to write this for me.

Now...click on over to The Mom Initiative!

Nothing Just Happens

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you rang in 2013 in a grand way.  We normally sleep in the new year.  Real party animals…I know.  We let our kids do all the celebrating for us.

This year, I didn’t get to sleep in the new year.  Instead I was sitting in a recliner holding my sick baby.  I watched the clock tick its way into the new day while my sweet Charlie lay in my arms burning from fever and breathing heavily. I watched him labor to breathe praying the Lord would open up his airways.  We had been battling this fever for 4 days now, but Charlie only seemed to be getting worse than better.

After a long night of barely any sleep I knew by morning we needed to get Charlie help, so we took him to the ER. 

What a grand way to start off a new year than in the ER with your baby…said no mother ever!

So many were praying for him thanks to a quick post on Facebook & a few text messages I sent.  The symphony of prayers with Charlie's name on them were flooding the heart of God and we began to watch him work.

Once we were in an evaluation room we were sent for x-rays to see what was going on.  Thankfully, he had no pneumonia and he tested negative for flu.  But he did have RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) which in adults & older children is nothing more than a cold, but in babies it becomes more serious.  Charlie tested positive for this so a breathing treatment was done.

Once that was done he chilled out & went to sleep.

He was so tired from working so hard to breathe that I know it had to be a relief to him to be able to breathe easier.  While he slept, the doctor watched Charlie’s oxygen numbers. After watching a while he made a phone call to Charlie’s pediatrician and they decided Charlie needed to stay overnight for observation.  UGH!!!

In spite of all of this Charlie is smiling.  Even though he didn’t feel good, he smiled at whoever walked in the room. He blessed those tired ER nurses and doctors by his sweet little smile.

We were sent to a room where we met a whole new group of nurses and were getting ready to stay the night.  Soon, our nurse informed us that the on-call doctor just happens to be a pediatric pulmonary specialist.  Just happens?  I don’t think so.  Here we are with a baby who can’t breathe and the on call doctor specializes in breathing problems like asthma, etc…

So, Dr.Lei comes in and looks Charlie over and to our surprise tells us that Charlie doesn’t need to stay over night.  Yes, he is still sick, but with breathing treatments he will continue to improve whether he is in the hospital or at home.  The clincher was we needed a nebulizer so we can do the treatments and we didn’t have one. And because we were there on a holiday the chances of getting one were really slim.  UGH!!!

But wait!  People are praying!  I knew we would get to go home.

The hours began to tick by and still there was no nebulizer.  Charlie slept more than he had in days thanks to the breathing treatments.  But still, we were being told they were having a hard time getting a nebulizer. Around 5:00 our nurse came in & let us know that she started making phone calls and found someone to bring us one but it would be several hours.  Ok, so a little hope there.  We had waited this long, we could wait a few more hours.

It was time for another breathing treatment and Alfred comes to deliver.  He was the Respiratory Specialist.  He does this all the time.  He knows all about how hard it is to get a nebulizer on a holiday. I mentioned to him how we were told if we could get a nebulizer we could go home. “That’s impossible today.” I told him that all I knew is we were told they were working on it.

While he is explaining to me just how impossible it is to get a nebulizer today a guy walks in the door carrying a box and asks, “Are ya’ll the Bailey’s needing a nebulizer?”

I really wish I had a picture of Alfred’s face when that guy walks in with our nebulizer.  It was absolutely priceless!!

Turns out that there were a few deliveries that just happen to cancel at the last minute so he was able to bring us a nebulizer.  Even he acted like it was pretty amazing how it all worked out.

So at 5:00 we were told it would be several more hours until we got our nebulizer and by 6:00 we were checking out of the hospital!

Nothing just happens!  God happens!

We give God all the glory for orchestrating our day in such an amazing way.  While the nurse was helping me gather our things together to leave she mentions how neat it is how it all worked out. “I guess the Lord didn’t want you staying here tonight.” she said.

“No he didn’t!  He is so amazing and faithful & I an always surprised at how he works.” I replied.

“I am too!  Your sweet baby made my day.”

Thank you Lord for giving us such a wonderful start to a new year.  You started 2013 reminding me that you are completely in control and in love with us. I can’t ask for a better start!

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