I haven't worked on this blog for a LONG time, as I have been occupied with my February Mama blog, which is about my pregnancy and the birth of our son. I wish I could effectively combine the 2 sites now, as they intersect so much. But for now I will try to continue to write about my spiritual life here, and I just accept that there will be a lot about my baby in here. Having a child makes me, more than ever before, want to strengthen my relationship with God.

I got pregnant in May, and it is no coincidence for me that during that time I was undergoing a big spiritual rejuvanation. I was reading A Wife After God's Own Heart, and putting my energy into making changes in my life to be a more godly, spiritual woman. During that time I was also reading in 1 Samuel about the story of Hannah, who prays fervently for a son and promises to give that son, should God provide him, to God after he is weaned. After I read the story my heart simply ached with longing for a child. My husband and I had just started trying for a baby. In fact, it was the first month that we had started trying. I read about Hannah sitting next to a fountain, spring in full bloom in California, and I prayed: Please, Father, give me a child, and I will give him back to you.

It was 2 days later that I conceived Will.

We're not going to church now, during this time that Will is too little to be around large groups of people. We are having church at home, singing hymns that I used to sing in the Boise church, reading passages from the Bible, and praying. And I have been thinking a lot of what it means to give Will back to God.

My heart is so full of gratitude and joy, with this new person in my life, this new love.