************UPDATE*************
I had an ultrasound this morning (January 27th) and found out that our next little one should arrive around September 14th. Baby looks great with a very strong heartbeat! We are so thankful to God for the little one.
I have decided that I need to be a little more specific in how I pray! Not because the things that God has given me haven't been great and fantastic, but because they were things I wasn't planning on and just came as a huge surprise. Though, surprises are good... Anyway, on New Year's Eve night, I decided to go outside and play in the snow. Yes, I know....I'm getting older and what 30 something woman goes out to play in the snow without her children? Well, I did. And it was more for the fact of getting out of the house for awhile. I had been cooped up for almost 2 weeks. My children had the stomach flu and I was just tired of being inside. So, I wanted to go out and build a huge snowman for them. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the snow wasn't packy and I couldn't do what I wanted to do. So, I decided to go for a walk. For those of you who don't know, I live in the country and about 1/2 mile back from my back door is some woods. My in-laws own those woods and all the property in between, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem to go back there. I spent that time praying. Praying for change. And change in lots of areas. Change in my heart. I definitely need it. This year I want to grow so much closer to Christ. Change in the hearts of my children. Three of my children have accepted Christ and I want them to start to know and understand Him a little bit more this year. Change in the heart of my husband. Basically, the same change I want for myself. A change of address -- yes, I really want to move. I have had such a desire to live closer to family. When my parents are in NY, one brother in OH and the other in TX, well....you can guess how often we all get together. I am very close to my brothers and miss them terribly. Plus, I want to be able to see my nieces and nephews a little more than I do now. But the change of address is totally up to God. And there were some other little changes that I was praying about, but these were the biggies. I have to tell you, I felt really good after my conversation with God. It felt like He was right there walking right beside me listening to every word I was saying. I could almost see Him nodding His head and saying "Hmmm...." as I was talking. Almost like a friend would do. It was an awesome time together. And I loved it. However, the change I was praying for and the change that God had in mind for us was two totally different things. I'm not saying that He is not going to change my heart or that of my family. I'm sure He will. I'm thinking He just wanted to throw something else in our midst. Something wonderful! Something amazing! Something totally unexpected! Yup, He's giving us another one. Another little Rader! I am going to be a mom of 5! I can't believe it! The doctors told us that our chances of having any more children after Maggie was slim to none. Cole shouldn't have happened, but he did. I always wanted one more child, but was starting to become really content where I was - as a mom of three girls and finally one boy. But obviously God didn't think that was enough. So here we are, expecting another one, and we couldn't be more thrilled. I'm not sure when the baby is due just yet. But I'm sure I will post that once I know for sure (plus an ultrasound picture once I get it). Our plans are not to find out the sex of this little one. We found out for all the others but since this baby was a surprise gift from God, we want him/her to remain a surprise until the very end. So, as I said before, this change was not what I was expecting or planning on, but it is a change that I'm going to grab on to and embrace!
