Three things that encouraged me today

First: Paint on our walls!

Back when we thought we had months to prepare for Mercy to arrive, we decided to get ready for her by making some updates to the house. The shag carpet had to go. Rooms needed to be painted. It was a big job but we had pro-level help and expertise (and compassion!) in the form of my father-in-law Rick. I also had time.

Then, she came. And we weren’t ready. A couple of rooms still needed painting before we could put in flooring to replace the shag carpet.

Enter these guys (and one not pictured). Prepping rooms, priming, painting. We now are one step closer to completing this thing!!

Second: These links.

Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning devotionals are always encouraging, today’s devotion is perfect for where we are.

And you can’t beat the Grace Pres band album when you drive to the hospital and aren’t sure what’s waiting for you when you get there. Here is their Spotify link, check out Out of the Depths and He Will Rejoice.

Third (and best): I held my daughter for the first time today!!

It was perfect.

Update on Erica and Mercy:

Erica is still in the hospital, they’re monitoring her blood clots and watching her blood pressure. Pray her headaches go away and no more clots form.

Mercy’s team is monitoring her kidneys and gastrointestinal system, and today she had an echocardiogram to see if they could detect the source of her heart murmur (related). Pray that Erica and I stay healthy so that we can continue to hold Mercy each day, and pray she continues to grow. We’re still looking at her being in the hospital until December.