His Grace is more than sufficient....

Greetings! This is supposed to be Tim, but he says he is not inspired and "has nothing to say"...HOGWASH!

This week has been full....VERY FULL. Sitting here on our bed, Promise Grace on my belly, listening to an amazing tropical thunder storm just above our roof, I am reflecting on the mercies of God that has shot me through the last 4 weeks.

Between having a baby, we've had a birthday, an anniversary, two faucets break (one broke TWO times even after repair), a water outage, a power outage, broken curtains, a leaky toilet, injured rabbits, sleepless nights, thrush, bloody boobies, an 80-page FINISHED homework assignment on physically assessing the interconceptual woman, attended classes at the clinic, did two prenatal exams, confirmed visits from family and friends from now until February, and am preparing to take a semester exam....Wow, what a faithful God. And what a prize husband!

Despite the craziness, I am still academically in line with my class and everyday is full of new learning experiences. Promise is growing so well...almost 9 pounds now and she keeps me caught up on my prayer life. :) This week, Tim has been staying home almost all day to tend to her while I pump breastmilk while typing everything I know and am learning about the interconceptual woman for school.

Our day begins at 2 am with Promise's feed followed by intermittent sleep until the next feed at 4 am...then again at 6 am....that's about when I get up because Promise won't go to sleep....we do a bath, a time of sterilizing all her stuff contaminated by thrush, MAKE coffee, breakfast and then Tim gets up at 8 am and heads out the door to sweep bunny poo and start a load of laundry...another feed occurs and Tim hops in the shower. He takes over and I hop in the shower. Another feed....a fussy one around 10 am. Another cup of coffee, a check for e-mail messages and get seated in the office to start homework. Another feed...Tim's turn...bottled breastmilk.....homework, hour later, pumping, homework, pumping....pass the bottle to Tim. Meanwhile Tim is repairing faucets, getting lunch prepared and hanging laundry....burping Promise, feeding...soothing...changing the poopies....2 or 3 pm rolls around and I am going whacko with homework....I relieve Tim for an hour or perhaps I have to go to class until 4 pm....then it's back to homework for another hour of writing and pumping and passing the bottle to Tim.

5 pm...PEACE....role reversal. Time to cook dinner, bring in the laundry, check the e-mail and enjoy a nice dinner with Tim.... on the bed watching MASH on Tim's computer while one of us keeps Promise happy. Clean up...feed...quick shower....soothe, feed....blog, soothe, feed...until midnight...time to sleep... That's this week. The typical day for Tim and Bethany...while all this may be a bore to you, I have to be frank - writing this out REALLY shows me how much I have to rely on God's grace....It's amazing that the end of a day actually comes...and at the same time, all the days seem to run together.

Perhaps this post is just me recognizing the new season I am in, but also that the season is temporary. Everyone has shared that this motherhood thing will get easier and that the first few months are rough....they have been...and with all the other items on the checklist, I have found myself wondering if my head is glued on tight enough to endure this season....already a month has passed and we have survived...I have not killed my spouse, my head is still glued on, and I still love seeing Promise at 2 am. It is solely God's grace and my admittance of weakness...I suck at all this stuff....but we're still kicking!

Next week will be different... harder in some areas and easier in others. Looking forward to seeing more of His grace.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Blessings.