April 16th will ALWAYS be a special day to me. It was the day that Grayson was born. One might say, "Of course that's special!" Well, let me share with you the journey that Dave and I went through to get to that day.
In December 2001, Dave left the church in which he had been serving, and he took another ministry position at a church in Anniston, Alabama. Little did we know the plans that God had for us there. I'll be honest, it was tough. REALLY tough. In May 2003, Dave knew that his time there was done and told me that he thought we should move to Texas for him to finish his degree in seminary. Well, as most of you know, I can be a little bit stubborn. There was NO way that I was moving from Alabama, halfway across the country to Texas. So, Dave patiently waited on me to listen to God. In August of that same year, Dave and one of his really good friends, along with some others decided to start a church in the same area. Dave's friend preached, and Dave led worship. It was great, and a really refreshing time for us both individually and as a couple. Even though things were going well, I could still tell Dave wasn't completely happy, and I felt like I was falling apart inside. In February 2004, there was one particular Sunday where I couldn't contain the fact that I was falling apart anymore. I didn't really know why, but all I could do was cry. Nothing, no one, etc. could make me feel better. People at church were all trying to figure it out. Here's a peppy girl who is now a wreck. Something had to be wrong. So, I did what I knew to do- I went to the gynecologist. By doing this, my wonderful doc decided to have my hormone levels tested. Because Dave and I weren't using birth control at the time, he went ahead and referred me to the infertility clinic just in case something was wrong with my hormone levels. If I did get pregnant, I could have very easily lost a baby. Turns out that my progesterone was VERY low. When I mean low, it was virtually non-existent. Normal levels are 10-15. Mine was 1. Here's what all of that means--basically, progesterone is the hormone that helps produce eggs to be fertilized. I had none of that. So, they very kindly told me to not count on getting pregnant or if I did, that I wouldn't keep the baby. They decided to put me on Clomid just in case. Well, I don't know about you, but when someone tells me that I can't do something, it makes me want to even more. I immediately wanted to get pregnant. My desire to have a child got greater with each visit to the doctor. In the mean time, every friend I had, including my sister in law became pregnant. I didn't even know how to take this. It actually made me shut down even more. How could this happen? I was meant to be a mommy. Fast forward to June 2004. Dave was still pestering me to move to Texas so he could finish seminary. I was still having none of it. On June 12, my birthday, I had met my mom in Birmingham to go shopping and have lunch. I talked with her a little about Dave's desire, but still left for the drive home full of uncertainty. On my way home, I decided to just talk with God. Why not? I was by myself and I needed some answers to my questions about moving. I began to ask God for a sign....something to let me know that He was in control and moving would be okay. Immediately, I looked up and saw a flock of birds forming a "V" in the sky right above my car. Then, I knew. I went home excitedly and wrote Dave a letter saying that I was finally ready. The next month was a blur. We were really stepping out on faith. Neither of us had jobs and Dave was starting school in August. We moved on July 19th. That same day we had one last appt. at the doctor. It was the same old stuff. When we got to Texas, I immediately started looking for teaching jobs. I probably annoyed every Human Resources department in the school districts out here. I finally got a call for one interview. Thankfully, I was liked well enough to where I got the job, but I wouldn't find that out until August 6th, the Friday before school started. Dave and I were so excited. We knew that we had done the right thing by moving to Texas. On that Sunday, which would have been the 8th, we went out to lunch after church. We were celebrating my job! Unfortunately I felt sick, so I didn't get to enjoy my lunch that much. I had a pregnancy test at home, and because I didn't feel normal, I decided to go ahead and take it. It turned out positive! Take that infertility doctor! God's bigger than you! I started my new job the next day, and the rest is history.
I share this LONG story to say that Grayson is my constant reminder of God's faithfulness. I know that He is God's blessing to us because we were obedient in moving here. I'm so glad that He has blessed us with a healthy little guy. God definitely knew that I needed a visual reminder every day of how much he loves us. I'm SO THANKFUL!!!
