Almost one.

My mind is full of details about Jubilee's impending party on Saturday.  Appetizers and people to contact and people to remind about things they already committed to do and how to transport food and how to prepare it all ahead of time without it getting soggy.  And my days are filled with stuffing gift bags and making cupcakes and running errands and cooking and trying to spend time with my parents in the midst of busy schedules.  I desperately want to enjoy Jubilee's first birthday party, but I find myself overwhelmed with the work that it's taking to pull it off well.  I want to just kick back with my parents, play with my kids and not worry about anything.  So, I decided to take this quiet moment while the house is asleep and remember God's faithfulness in Jubilee's life- from the time of conception through her first year.  I won't have another chance to do it before she turns one, so today I will remember and be encouraged.  Oh, my, where to start?  How often I think of all that the Lord has done in her little life and know that He was so very gracious to us.  With her pregnancy came a lot of fear, but He provided amazing friends all around us to encourage me and help with Natty and other practicalities once I was on bed rest.  The two months I spent sitting on my rump gave me really special time to connect with Natty before her sister came along and taught me to depend more on the people around me.  It also showed me what a hard-working, sacrificing, loving and gracious husband I have.  In our journey back to the US, the Lord worked out several sticky situations that worked against us ever making it to Gainesville, where I felt I and the baby would be safer.  Upon arriving, I had an electric scooter loaned to me and a fantastic doctor who accepted me as his patient, even though he supposedly wasn't taking any new patients.  And, of course, parents who let us mooch off of them for 5 months and took good care of all of us. Plus, God threw in a wonderful new small group from my church that provided us with new and needed friendships and support for the months ahead.  Many fun days followed and good doctor reports that truly made us thankful after the pain we had been through with Zion.  And even though Jubilee made a surprise entry into the world a few weeks early, she was perfect and healthy and delivered by one of my new church friends!  I still remember the incredible joy I felt upon hearing her first cries- such a mix of relief and gladness and fulfilled hopes and a little bit of grief that I never heard that from my Zion.  The days ahead were hard and Jubilee struggled at a very early age with a nasty respiratory virus.  But, the illness that sends most babies that young to the hospital was passed through without major complication...although with quite a bit of concern on my part.  However, God continued to show Himself kind and powerful and really sustained us in those first few months of rocky newborn days and various health challenges as well as moving from one place to another until we returned home.  Here, Jubilee arrived without problem in the altitude- one of my greatest concerns and prayer requests and has thrived ever since.  And now she is almost one year old.  She is a joyful, smart, outgoing gift from our good Father and we celebrate her and thank Him for this time to remember all He has done in our lives.