Having faith, no matter what...

I wrote this on August 26 2011 and wanted to share it. I never want to forget where we came from and the struggles God has brought us through! God is AWESOME.



Today I felt the urge to share the things my husband and I have gone through, and things we do on a daily basis- not for pity but to show the struggles that may come and go, the way God shows His face in our life, and the strong faith we continue to have in our Almighty God (no matter what!).


I don't think I make it known very often that my son has a feeding tube, so not too many people know. He had the surgery for it when he was 6 months old. We start the first session of therapy to help him to eat by mouth better next week. It used to make me feel weird and abnormal when people would ask what that thing is on his stomach, but Robert and I agree, that is our life- it's become normal and we don't feel pitiful for it. Everything God has let us go through has and will continue to make us stronger. We don't know why but if Gabe gets hurt or is upset, he will just throw up. That's also become "normal" for us and is eventually getting less and less since he was a tiny baby. Oh boy, the looks we get when he throws up in pulic... and so far the only people who understand our situation with that is parents whose kids do the same thing and have a feeding tube. [It's become "normal" for them, too] Gabriel was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at one month of age. I'd have to say his first year of life was the most we have gone through, but praise God for being on our side! Right after we were informed of Gabe's abnormal genetic sceening, my husband had to leave for 5 months for work training, luckly he was able to visit about every other week. I struggled and struggled to get him to eat- and keep it down. Three hospital stays later, we finally decided to get the G-tube (feeding tube). It honestly has been a blessing, and made feeding him almost stress-free. We have come such a long way, and from day one have trusted in God to heal him- Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Summer 2010 Robert and I had the desire for one more child (we always wanted 2) and we began to pray hard about it. We knew there was a chance of any other children we had having Cystic Fibrosis too. It's a genetic thing, and both Robert and I carry the gene- it takes both the mom and the dad to carry it and there is a one in four chance. But we prayed and trusted God not to give us anymore than we could handle- and if we could handle two kids with CF then so be it, most of all we wanted God's will, so we felt led to try for baby #2 only 3 months, and if we weren't pregnant by then we would be settled and totally happy with just our son. We got pregnant a month and a half later... Deep down we wanted a girl, and that's exactly what God gave us, two weeks after Ellie's birth we were informed her genetic screening came back normal- no CF. Praise God! We love our kids no matter what. They are truly a gift from God!


The things we do on a daily basis (and still wake up each morning thanking God)

In the mornings Gabriel watches his cartoons while he does his "vest" it's a machine to keep his lungs clear, kind of like a massage, the vest blows up with air and shakes. Two puffs of an inhaler. He has never shown signs of needing this, we just do it anyways.

Breakfast- and any meal or snack, he get enzymes, to help digest all the good nutrients in food. 3 or 4 little pills he swallows down with some pureed food before he eats.

He "pockets" any solid foods in his cheek and spits it out later- my house has little piles of chewed up food I have to keep picking up. But he loves to try stuff, so it's progress. He eats pureed baby foods, for now.

Bedtime, we prepare a "night feed" in the tube feeding machine. We make formula, fill the bag (looks like an IV bag) and tape ice packs to it to keep it cool through the night. We give him enzymes, vitamin, and lay him down and "hook him up".

The next morning we unhook him and start over. Sounds like a lot but it's "normal" for us, and in no way, shape, or form do we want pitty. This is to show that no matter the circumstance to have faith in God. Look at the good things, and make good of everything and view it as a lesson, and a blessing. I know it's hard at times, beeelieeeve me. At times it has taken everything in me to not get mad at God, but I don't and then later on God shows me what that "lesson" was for, and I praise Him!


Romans 5:1-5
We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus we have received God's grace. In that grace we stand. We are full of joy because we expect to share in God's glory. And that's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope. And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.

Patience pays off...

Just 4 days ago Gabriel decided he would try to swallow something that he chewed up. He has been trying so hard, and God has been his strength thru everything. Gabe is now trying and succeeding in swallowing almost everything he chews up. For those who don't know my son well, he has been eating only puree'd foods for the past 9 months or so- which to my husband and I was a miracle in itself, and we were extremely thankful just for that. He has been tube fed and had texture issues since he was only a few months old, we think it was due to starting baby food and enzymes at only one month old for CF. But no one will truly know the definite cause. Anyway, we have had many many frustrating days, and sometimes sad days; when we watch other parents just sit their child down and hand them some food and they just chew and swallow, it looks like a breeze... We envy it sometimes, but never gave up. Gabe has been trying so many foods since he started eating the purees but he would "pocket" the chewed up food in his cheek and later spit it out, this has been going on for months and months. There is a HUGE difference between a "picky" eater, and a kid that just down right doesn't like food. We have an overwhelming feeling of joy when we see our children eat. It was such a change to have our daughter, who is only 7 months old, feed herself and actually be enjoying it, we were in awe, this was brand new to us. And it is a move of God to see our almost 3 year old son doing the same thing! Patience truly has paid off, and of course having faith in God to give our children the desire to eat and thrive every step of the way. Gabriel still eats slowly, but like I said, it's only been 4 days. It's a breakthrough we have been waiting for since he had a feeding tube placed when he was 6 months old. God always knows when to show His face and encourage us. I catch myself tearing up when I watch him swallow food, something I'm sure most parents don't even think twice about... No matter the obsticles we have been through, we feel SOOO blessed, and we wouldn't trade our life for anything but what God has given us.

The first time

I just had to share with the world that we didn't have to tube feed Gabriel at all today. Thank you Jesus! This is the first time we have gone an entire day without tube feeding since Gabe was 6 months old and got the G-tube placed. It makes me cry with joy! That is a miracle in itself... Just 3 weeks ago he was purely tube fed, and recently I just let go and fully gave it to God and then all the sudden Gabriel was ready to eat eat eat and can feel when he is hungry! We are incredibly thankful Father God!!! I feel like I am floating with bliss lately. Every dream is coming true, God takes such good care of us! When I put my trust in Him, He doesn't let me down. He is our ROCK. Nothing can wipe the smile off my face! :)

Appetite, appetite!

Today marks day 8 that Gabriel has eaten his dinners by mouth and no feeding tube. And today he ate his breakfast AND dinner purely by mouth! He is now telling me when he is hungry, he goes to the dining room table and pulls out his chair begging me to help him up in it to be fed... I don't think there is anyone in the world who can know how Robert and I feel to see our baby boy ask us to eat and to have an appetite for actual food... My eyes tear up with joy frequently as I thank God over and over for giving Gabe a thriving appetite and for his great health. He is the biggest blessing God could ever give us, he has changed our lives for the better, and there is no one else like him! He brings a smile to everyone who sees him, because he is so happy all the time. Where has the time gone? It seems as though I was just pregnant with him yesterday... And now he will be 21 months old on the 26th, time fliiiies when your having fun I suppose! :)








On a pregnancy note, I'm 18 weeks pregnant, and we are going for an ultrasound on the 17th, and hope to find out the gender!

Today is blog worthy

Well today has been a pretty great day. It started out with renting a movie and getting pizza with Rob and Gabe, it was a nice morning as a family. Robert had to work at 2 today though. But the day just kept on going great; we had just figured up how much we have saved so far for banking our baby's cord blood and decided to go ahead and commit today and register with ViaCord. I got on their website and started to register and when it got to the payment options page I noticed the pay-in-full price online was more than the price I had on the info papers they had sent me in the mail, so I called the phone number and got the same lady I had spoken to the first time I called when I found out I was pregnant and told her how the prices were different and asked why. She told me the info papers I had were a year old and prices had gone up, I replied with an "Ohhh", she then said that she can give me a discount and make it an even $2000, taking off $250. PRAISE GOD :) Then, I had also posted a status update on Facebook saying "So far we have saved $930 to go towards banking our baby's umbilical Cord Blood. Plus a generous donation from my mom of $500 (thank you). We just need about another $600 to reach our goal. For those of you who don't know much about what Cord Blood can do to save our childrens life someday, you can read about it on www.ViaCord.com" and right away a family friend of ours volunteered to donate $100. So wonderful, we are so blessed. Thank you Jesus, and thank you to those who have helped us! We now just need about $500, and I have 22 more weeks to go until I am due. We will be setting up our Cord Blood gift registry on Tuesday for anyone else who may feel led to donate. We are excited to complete our family with baby #2. On another note, I go in for my ultrasound on January 17th and get to find out the gender of our baby and, most importantly, checking to make sure the heart and all looks good!

Ohhh, I also wanted to mention that today, for the very first time (also the the first time I've ever tried), Gabriel took all 3 of his enzyme capsols as a whole and I didn't have to open the capsol and sprinkle it on the baby food. He is growing up! That will make things easier :) Yay for Gabe :)


Thank you again Father God :)

A lot has happened...

Well, I know it has been awhile but I'm ready to start blogging again. I've really missed it. A lot has happened since my last post... We bought our first home and moved to an RV for two months while our house was being built, what an experience that was with a one year old! But so worth it, and a neat thing to experience none-the-less. While staying at the RV park we took a trip to California to visit my dad's side of the family, it was nice. June 30th we closed on our home and got the keys, it was so exciting. Next new thing, I found out on October 4th that I am pregnant again. The due date will be June 14th 2011. It took so much prayer and trust in God. We kept trying to burry the desire to have one more child, but it just kept pulling at our hearts. For a year we prayed for God's will and expressed to Him our desire for a second baby. I kept taking tests to see if I was pregnant even when I was using birth control and then being so sad when I wasn't... We finally had prayed again and it was layed on our hearts to try for 3 months to see if we would get pregnant and if it didn't happen we would move on and trust it was God's will for us to just have one child. Well, by month two of trying I was pregnant. No one can make us doubt or feel guilty in any way. It's all between our family and Father God. And we trust Him NO MATTER WHAT. And this baby is loved so much already. We are thankful :) Now on to Gabriel, he is doing absolutely wonderful, in the 95th percentile, and just loving life! He is so smart and loves to learn new things. He also has been trying everything we eat to see if he likes it, it's so cute. He is just the most handsome little boy (ah, yes a little boy... my baby is growing up) EVER! I don't know what I am going to do if we are having another little boy because they will both be too handsome for words! Speaking of which, everyone thinks we are having a girl because I have been terribly nauseous this pregnancy. We will find out the gender in January. And as for me, I have no idea if it's boy or girl... Robert and I are doing well, he is still enjoying his job and I'm... well I'm pregnant... hating the nausea and symptoms but totally happy :) That is it for now!

One year...

Well, Gabriel will be one years old tomorrow, and we had a party for him yesterday, it went so good. There is one thing that we meant to do and didn't though, and that is say a group prayer. This past year has had its hard times, that is for sure, but God has helped us to make it through them all. There were times when we started to feel discouraged and then God sent something to lift our spirits. We have grown so much this past year, in faith, in marriage, in family. We feel so honored that God chose us to be Gabriel's parents, He trusted us to have the faith needed for his miracle! Robert read from John 9 last night and it really hit home for me, it read [As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life". As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.] John 9:1-7. That was so reassuring to us, that it was nothing we did, the CF is only there so that the works of God can be displayed through Gabriel! We strive everyday to be closer and closer to God, it's not something that just happens, it's like any relationship- it's a continuous communication and effort. And something our family will never stop doing! Only God knows what will bring you closer to Him. Being a "good person" does not mean you have a free ticket to Heaven. I used to think that being Christian and not participating in "bad" things was "good enough". But after our amazing son was born, I see a whole new light.. And I've changed who I am, to be more and more like Christ. One year ago, my life changed completely. "Gabe is the happiest baby" - so many people have told us that, and it is so true. He is such a trooper, and everyday I think or tell him "someday when God heals you, you won't need all these medicines, and you won't need to be tube fed" and then I wonder what we will end up doing with the machine that feeds him and the vest that pounds on him... And then I smile and go on to think about the day we're told he doesn't have those genes anymore! Call me crazy, I don't care, you won't be mocking me, but Jesus. Read your Bible, God does those same miracles today! How do you think the lady who just touched the hem of Jesus' garmet got healed? Her faith. So many times Jesus says, 'because of your faith, you are healed'! I will continue to say, Gabriel Isaac is our miracle waiting to happen. And it's not all about his miracle by the way, it's all about God. I thank you guys who support us, may God bless you :) AND -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!!! We love you so very much!!!

God-sent...

What an awesome day... We went to the mall to get Rob's hair cut, and as I was waiting, there was an older lady working at the cash register and she told me Gabe is a blessing to our life and was just staring at him so deeply; I told her he is our miracle baby, and then walked over to her to tell her about the CF and how God is going to heal him. And she completely agreed and started praying over him, she was totally God-sent. It was a very powerful and awesome prayer- we both were tearing up and she was shaking with the Holy Spirit. Total faith booster! Thank you, Jesus, for touching our lives and giving us Gabriel. We know You are going to heal him 100%. I serve an awesome God!

Revelation...

I have been having a revelation the past few days about healing. I have had several people tell me that maybe Gabe having CF is "just God's plan for his life" and "to learn to accept it, that maybe God's plan isn't to heal him". I say no. Yes, I do believe it is God's plan that he was born with CF, because it has brought my husband and I soo much closer to God, our relationship with Him has grown immensely and I do believe God has huge plans for us! When has God ever told anyone that they can't be healed? God desires to heal His people in every instance. In fact, God desires that no sickness be among His people (Deuteronomy 7:15) Yet in many cases, people still have illness because they fail to obey Him faithfully. Obedience and faith are prerequisites to covenant fulfillment. Without them we cannot receive from God for He doesn't reward rebellion nor can He operate in disbelief. If you are willing to let Him, God will do all that He has promised to do for you according to His word. God tells us in order to receive His miracles we must have faith in Him. FULL faith in Him alone. And of course, it's always in God's timing, He honors those who stay patient and faithful to Him. Every day I wake and think "this could be the day" and I have a good day knowing Gabriel's miracle is coming in God's timing. Not an hour too late, not even a minute, not even a second too late! Praise God!


Deuteronomy 7:12-15
12 “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.


2 Kings 5:10
And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”

Isaiah 65:24
“It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Exodus 15:26
and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

Sometimes I don't feel worthy...

Sometimes I don't feel worthy of all that God has given me...

My husband. He's just so made-just-for-me, I sit there in awe sometimes at how much I love him and how much we just "click". And you know why? Because we BOTH put God first. In our marriage, in parenting, and every aspect of our lives; That right there keeps our marriage strong and awesome (along with communicating well and some other things, of course). He is a wonderful daddy, so gentle yet fun and so caring. And treats me like I am the only woman on the planet, he makes me feel so loved and special :) He's my best friend.

And my son. He is THE BEST gift God has ever given me. I feel so honored, and chosen. God hand-picked Robert and I to raise this amazing little blessing. Gabriel is so happy and has the best personality ever, he can brighten anyone's day. He makes me feel so smitten. I tear up all the time just staring at him and thinking "Wow... Robert and I made him..." And I think of day when he will be taller than me and all grown up and it makes me sad yet so full of joy at the same time. I look at his little ring finger and think someday it'll wear a ring and he won't be my little baby anymore... So I cherish every moment. Raising him is my dream come true <3

And our families. They have been so wonderful and supportive. I appreciate my mom so much more than I ever have now that I'm a mom myself. Thank you for everything, mom. God knew I needed a radical Christian mom to instill faith into me for what He had planned for my future. God knows just how to make me feel special and loved... And I'm just so thankful! March 25th and 26th is Miracle Service in PHX. We are believing God for Gabe's healing! If it's God's timing, it'll happened undoubtedly! Keep us in your prayers, thanks!

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Thanks! God Bless!

All too fast...

Just now I left Gabe in the living room watching cartoons for a few minutes while I checked my email, and I go back out there and can't find him. Then I hear little claps on the carpet coming from our room, he went all the way into our bedroom! I think he was looking for me but I was in the office! So cute!


Also, Gabe knows how to clap his hands already! It's absolutely adorable, I will have to record it soon! He trys to stand up, too! He will get on his knees with no hands and just watch tv like that sometimes. And he will put one foot on the ground while on one knee, just like someone would propose. He's growing up just too fast!