I'm all anointed!

I had spiritual direction today with Fr. T and he gave me Anointing of the Sick. I figured that I can use all the grace I can get! I know my surgery is not that invasive, but of course there's always a risk with general anesthesia. Not to mention that I do feel "sick." Something is wrong with me, even though we don't know what exactly it is. I've had other prayers of healing said over me before during the past couple of years, but receiving the sacrament today was different.

While he was anointing me I felt the urge to pray, "I do believe that You can heal me... I do believe in You." Part of the sacrament included a reading from Matthew that describes the sick being healed by Jesus. During this time of infertility it hasn't occured to me to reflect on these passages from Scripture. Obviously the Gospels are filled with people being healed and cured from their various diseases. Although it seems that when Jesus healed people, it was an outward sign of his forgiving their sins - that was his main purpose, not the physical healing but the spiritual. I think that I will reflect on this during my adoration time this week.

Overall I'm feeling good about this week... a mix of anxiety and hopefulness. Surprisingly I'm also filled with a great amount of peace and surrender! (I recognize this is all by the grace of God.) I have this overwhelming sense that it is completely out of my hands. There is nothing for me to do but wait and see. Usually that is my cue to stress out! But for some reason God has given me this gift of peace. I really don't know what we'll do if the doctor tells me that she found no endo and nothing is wrong with me. But we will cross that bridge when we have to. For now, I will throw myself into this season of Advent - the perfect time for "waiting."

Adoration?

It's hard to believe that next week is December already! Where does the time go? Next Wednesday will be the first of the month. If anyone is interested in going to adoration and uniting our prayers, I will be there from 6:00 - 7:00pm. I'll be praying for you all! :)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving yesterday! We had always planned on staying home this weekend since we're traveling to see both families in December/January.

My hubby works for a large non-profit in DC that helps the homeless. They have an annual Turkey Trot fundraiser on Thanksgiving so we decided to attend that yesterday morning. It was great to see such a huge turnout for the event and it was a nice way to start the day.

Since we were down on the Mall, we decided to check out the American History Museum. It had been closed for over two years for renovations and just re-opened last weekend. We figured we'd be the only ones at a museum on Thanksgiving Day but it actually was pretty crowded. There was a line out the door when we got there, but it moved quickly. We didn't stay too long, mostly we just wanted to see the changes they had made to the architecture inside. They had some interesting exhibits which we'll have to check out later.

One exhibit that caught my attention was all about the pill. Can you believe it? An entire exhibit was dedicated to the invention of the pill and how it has revolutionized women's health. Now I can't argue that it has done that, but it was so disappointing to see it glorified in this way. I can't help but think about how women are being lied to and deceived. I was so surprised and caught off guard, I didn't even read it all. One section I did find very interesting was about the first scientist to create synthetic progesterone. Apparently he was able to derive the right chemicals from the root of some tree. Crazy!

We were back home around noon and spent the rest of the day eating and relaxing! We've been watching the John Adams series (from HBO.) Has anyone seen this? It's really great and brings the history alive. We watched a little football, talked to our families on the phone and I got a jump start on the Christmas cards.

This morning I pulled out all the Christmas decorations and started working on the house. I get so excited to decorate, I just can't help it! As I mentioned previously, I am trying hard to keep the true spirit of Advent alive. But our time home during the holidays is so short and I want to enjoy the house being decorated for as long as I can. Pretty much everything is set-up. The last thing left is to hang the ornaments! Once it's all together I will post a few pictures. I wish I could have you all over to my house for some apple cidar! :)

Feeling Good

I had my last appointment with my doctor today before the surgery. It was pretty quick and basically I just had to fill out some paperwork. She gave me some more details about the day of surgery and I scheduled my post-op appointment for two weeks after the surgery. I'm feeling really good about it all and I'm so THANKful that it's all set for next week. Oh, and no bowel prep for me! Just fasting from food/water after midnight. :)

Now that I have stopped stressing about the surgery date, I have started to think the possible results. It's only by God's grace that I haven't been consumed with obsessive thoughts this whole time! (Plus being super busy helps too.) Now I'm starting to think about all the "what ifs." What if they don't find any endo? What does that mean for us? What will we do next? What the HECK is wrong with me???? My ideal situation would be mild endo that is treatable - enough that has caused my infertility but mild enough to be "fixed." I really really hope this will be the case. But obviously I have no way of knowing. I just don't know what to think...

I'm not too nervous for the procedure itself. I know many of you have had this done - plus much more invasive surgery! But it is a little weird to think about being put to sleep and having someone inside my body. I've never had surgery before, never been in the hospital, never even broken a bone! So all of this is new to me. I'm not sure what to expect for recovery and how it will feel afterwards. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off from school. I figure I'll be feeling ok by Monday to go back.

After my appointment this morning I had lunch with a priest friend of ours, Msgr. P. It turned into me having lunch with three priests, which was pretty funny! Msgr. P works for the Archdiocese, so I met him at his office and the other priests ended up joining us. It was nice to catch up with Msgr - he was my spiritual director for a couple of years and he was one of the priests at our wedding. I have been so blessed with great spiritual leaders in my life. I don't take it for granted and I am so grateful for their gift of support and encouragement.

Sew Infertile - you will appreciate this - I went to the Shrine today and I thought of you! I had some time to kill between my doctor's appointment and lunch. My goal was to do a little shopping in the bookstore and do a little praying in the beautiful crypt chapel. Unfortunately I didn't end up getting much praying done! The bookstore/giftshop is so amazing there... they have the best religious gifts and I can't pull myself away from it all. I ended up with some nice Christmas gifts and some good stuff for my classroom. I had to settle for a quick prayer before I dashed off to lunch. :)

Good News

GOOD NEWS!! So everything is lining up just right for my surgery next week. Praise God! Seriously, thank you for all those prayers out there.

I spoke with the doctor's office yesterday and Dr. L is approved by my insurance company (just in the nick of time!), so she will be doing my surgery. I spoke with the nurse from the hospital and my surgery time is 9:30am - I'll have to arrive at 7:30am to get all checked in. Apparently the only instructions she had for me was to fast starting at midnight - oh, and I'm not supposed to wear my contact lenses. I hope I remember that morning to not put them in! I have one more appointment with Dr. L on Wednesday morning to finalize all the paperwork and do some bloodwork. Ironically, they have to make sure I'm not pregnant! Plus make sure I don't have any infections.

Other than that, all I have to do is wait! And if I haven't already mentioned it, that's not something I'm very good at. :) Thankfully things are still super busy around here, so the time is flying by. Today is my last day of school for the week. I'm REALLY looking forward to a nice, long, relaxing weekend at home. We're not traveling at all and that is fine by me!

I'm actually planning to "unleash" the Christmas decorations and get a jump on my Christmas cards. I even took out a few things last night - I can't help it! I just get so excited. Last night I took out my Nativity set and started putting it together. It's so beautiful and I just love it. (It's the one by Willow Tree.) Once it's set up I will post a picture. I got it two Christmases ago and obviously I only get to use it for a couple of weeks each year. I really try to keep with the Liturgical calendar and not skip Advent. I think it's so beautiful to celebrate all the seasons with the Church. (I did take out the Advent wreath last night too!) But since we always travel around the holidays, the time is even shorter for us to enjoy the Christmas decorations around the house. This is one area where I completely cave. Although I refuse to start playing or listening to Christmas music yet! Even though at church we have been rehearsing Christmas music since October. :)

I have a question for all you IFers out there... how many people in your life know about it? Just curious because I know everyone handles these things differently. I am struggling with whether or not to mention our IF in my Christmas letter this year. It is such a huge part of our life right now that I can't imagine NOT mentioning it. This year in particular I have shared our IF journey with more people. And the more that time passes, the more I want the world to know what we're dealing with. Especially since when we were engaged, my hubby and I told the world that we were hoping for eight kids at least. It became this joke and of course we opened ourselves up for comments from our friends/family. Now 3.5 years later I'm sure people are starting to wonder what's going on...

Ok, enough rambling for now. During this week of Thanksgiving I want you all to know how THANKful I am for our blogging community and for each of you. I remember you in my daily prayers.

BUSY week!

Whew! That is me breathing a sigh of relief after a busy, busy week. As I already mentioned, there are a ton of things going on at school and my evenings were also busy last week. My women's prayer group on Thursday night was great! I really enjoy getting to know these women better and sharing our faith journey together. The theme for our evening was Lectio Divina. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but it's amazing how rich and deep one passage of Scripture can be. We focused on a couple of verses from 2 Corinthians and everyone had a different reflection on how God was speaking to them through His Word. It was beautiful! Afterwards I felt so inspired and encouraged. We decided that after the new year we might start meeting every other week, instead of once a month. It was fun to have them over to my house! We haven't done much entertaining recently, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. I made some hot apple cidar that was really yummy.

Thankfully today is Saturday and there are some good college football games. It's FREEZING here in Maryland, so we're happy to stay inside and keep warm. We saw a few snow flurries this week, but nothing that actually stuck to the ground.

In terms of my surgery, I continue to feel hopeful about everything. Thankfully it's just over a week away! I will be getting a phone call from the hospital nurse on Monday to discuss pre-surgery preparations. I also have an appointment with Dr. L on Wednesday morning to finalize everything with her. I guess they have to do some blood work to make sure I'm not pregnant and that I don't have any infections. PLEASE PRAY that her insurance paperwork has been approved! We should know that by Monday.

Strange Week

It's been a strange week... I can't quite put my finger on it, but I've been feeling "out of it." I started out the week feeling stressed about my cycle. I was so confused about why it ended so quickly and (as you already know) I was nervous that it would affect my surgery. Thankfully it looks like that is not the case.

Another reason is probably that I am feeling super busy! This last month of school before Christmas break is going to be crazy... I have three Masses to plan and organize and my drama students will perform "The Christmas Carol" for the rest of the school. Not to mention grades, report cards, and all the usual things that keep me busy. Generally I like having my nights at home in order to feel balanced, so when my evenings are busy I tend to feel out of whack. This week I've had something going on every night after school - my faculty prayer group, school meetings, choir practice and my women's group meets tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to that, but I'm also leading the group and hosting at my house. So of course that requires some extra work!

Lastly, my heart has been sad this week... thinking about my friend Susan who passed away and the two families I know who lost their homes in the California fires. I feel as if I'm on a roller coaster ride of emotions. After tomorrow evening things should calm down over the weekend. Hopefully I can catch my breath then!

Oh, I wanted to mention a couple of grace moments I've had recently. The Jeremiah 29:11 passage has popped up in a couple of places (including the Entrance Antiphon at Mass this week) and it brings me such comfort when I see it. I feel as if this is "my" passage. When I come across it, I feel as if God is speaking directly to me... simply reminding me that He is there.

Two Updates

I spoke with my doctor's office this afternoon and thankfully it doesn't sound like my cycle date will be a problem for the surgery - yay! So far, so good. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the insurance paperwork comes through for Dr. L. As of now, we're set to go for December 4th. I got a phone call today from the hospital to schedule a "phone date" with one of their nurses. She is going to call me next Monday afternoon to discuss my surgery preparations. I'm not quite sure what to expect...

On a different note, my friend Susan from graduate school passed away last night. I had mentioned her in an earlier post - she had been in a coma since late October. It was all so sudden and such a shock. She went from being perfectly healthy to gone in less than a month. I was not close to her and I hadn't seen her in a couple of years. But times like this make you reflect on the fragility of life... we take so much for granted! We know not the day or the hour when our life will end. Even when times are difficult, we should be grateful for the gift of life and the gift of another day. I pray that I might have this spirit of gratefulness!

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord.
And may perpetual light shine upon her.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.

Still Confused

I called my doctor's office yesterday with a handful of questions. I had to leave the questions on the nurse voicemail, although I confirmed that Dr. L was in the office. I called around 10:00am and it took ALL my strength not to call back in the afternoon to follow-up! I am hoping to hear back from them today and I WILL call this afternoon if they don't call first. One reason is that today is Day 3, so if my doc wants me to take Femara or Tamoxifen or anything else I'll have to pick up the prescription today. And of course the other reason is that I'm just impatient!

My biggest fear right now is that because of these wacky cycles, they might have to postpone my surgery. (Dr. L said that my cycle date would be important, but she didn't say why.) My hubby keeps telling me, "You don't know one way or the other, so why worry about it?" I proceeded to tell him that I can't help it!! I am just SO focused on getting this surgery done and SO anxious for the results. I am just really perplexed about this short cycle... I guess taking a new drug could have easily thrown my body off. I'll keep you posted if I get any updates today. :)

Help! What is going on???

I am really frustrated and confused with my cycle. I need help to analyze what is going on!

Today I woke up to a big surprise - AF arrived and it is now Day 1 of a new cycle. This means my last cycle was only 19 days!!! I have never (at least in my charting history) had a cycle this short. I had a couple of other strange occurances that led me to believe something was wrong this month... I had serious spotting on Day 10, and I don't usually have any spotting. Also, I had some decent mucus early in my cycle (Days 7-11) and then nothing afterwards. Usually I'm full of mucus all cycle long, it was strange to have none during Days 12-19.

I was a little worried last month because my cycle was only 24 days. Since April I have been taking Femara, Chrysin and Sudafed (this was to help decrease my mucus so I could better identify peak-type mucus.) My saliva test in August revealed good hormone levels and slightly longer cycles. I used to have 23-25 days, and after the drugs I was up to 26-28 days. My doc and I were so excited to see these changes and attributed it to the Femara.

When I met with Dr. L last month she suggested trying Tamoxifen for a month. She said it's similar to Clomid and she prefers using that with her patients. This is the only thing I can think of that would have an affect on my cycle. Do you think my body got all confused after being on Femara for 7 months and then I switched to Tamoxifen? Does anyone know much about this drug? Just curious how it is different.

I'm so disappointed by all this. My cycles have never been that bad, just a little short. I feel as if I've take two giant steps backwards! Could I have even ovulated in a cycle this short?

Also, Dr. L asked me last week what day of my cycle I would be on for my surgery. Now I'm worried this might cause a problem. Do you know what part of the cycle is preferable for an endo. laparoscopy? Any advice or input is greatly appreciated!

Another Intention...

My cousin lost her house today in the California fires. The ones burning in Orange County are very close to my parent's and my brother's houses. They should be ok, but it's a really scary time. I seriously don't remember this many fires burning when I was growing up. It seems like there is always something burning there now! Please pray for my cousin and her family.

Prayer Intentions

1. Sew Infertile - sounds like her surgery was successful. My prayer is for her to have a speedy recovery and that her body will now be healed of any IF problems!

2. ...and not by sight - for a healthy pregnancy!

3. My friend Susan who is currently in a coma. She and I were in graduate school together and I haven't seen her in a couple of years. Apparently she was feeling sick (flu-like symptoms) and then one morning her roommates couldn't wake her up. It appears that she has some sort of virus that is literally attacking her brain cells. (Eating away the myelin sheath that connects the nerves together.) She has been in a coma since Oct 26th and the doctors say there is nothing more they can do for her. The situation is very grim and very sad. Please pray for her family.

4. For the Culture of Life - the bishops released a statement this week about the sanctity of life. I hope and pray that their voices are heard.

Update

Being the PEST that I am, I called the scheduler first thing this morning to see if she was able to speak with both Dr. L and Dr. A (as she had said she would.) She basically said, "I just got in and havent seen them yet." Ha ha ha... although she had spoken with both yesterday afternoon.

Dr. L herself called me back about an hour ago to say that she is confident the insurance approval will come through quickly and we should be good to go for Thursday, Dec 4th. Although for paperwork sake, they are going to put Dr. A on the forms so they can start that hospital paperwork now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes according to plan. Although if it doesn't, I have more peace today about waiting longer for Dr. L. While I am soooo anxious to have this done, I also don't want to waste my time by not doing it properly.

So I must confess, I'm getting a little freaked out by Sew Infertile's posts and all the comments. Until now, I haven't heard any of the pre-surgery details. Is there anything else I should be aware of??? If I stick with Thurs, Dec 4th I will probably just take-off work on Thursday and Friday. Would I also need the day-before to get ready? Any advice is appreciated!

Things are looking up...

I spoke with the surgical scheduler at my doctor's office again yesterday. Apparently my insurance company said they will have a decision about my doctor in 14 days (whether she's approved by them or not.) So that leaves me with two choices - (1) wait the 14 days, hope she's approved, and schedule my surgery then - most likely for sometime in December or (2) schedule now with another doctor in the practice for Thursday, Dec 4th. (This is the earliest date available for any doc in their office. Apparently Nov 28th was never a possiblity! What!?!)

I was so torn about what to do... Of course my first instinct (driven my impatience) is to schedule now with another doctor just to get this thing settled! I completely trust the other doctors in the practice, but on the other hand I'm guessing there is a reason Dr. B suggested Dr. L for my surgery. She was trained at PPVI with Dr. Hilgers so obviously that gives me a lot of confidence. She specializes in infertility, but the scheduler was telling me that Dr. A has done many, many endo surgeries - and she is the one available for Dec. 4th. I don't know what to think!

The scheduler suggested that since Dr. L is new to the practice, perhaps my doc suggested her for the sake of building up her clientele. Anyways, before we hung up the scheduler said she would speak to both doctors and get their input. She seemed to think I could start the paperwork with Dr. A right now for Dec 4th and if Dr. L is approved in 14 days then switch to her! We'll see how this all goes...

Frustrating News

I just got off the phone with my doctor's office and it is not looking good for having my surgery over Thanksgiving weekend. The scheduling office hadn't even received the orders yet from Dr. L, which apparently is the first step to getting on the hospital calendar. Also, she still is not "approved" by my insurance. The woman told me that they have been trying to get this paperwork sorted out since early spring! They thought it would take about 6 months, but it has not been processed yet. They have absolutely no idea when it will be finalized.

GRRRRR!!!! I am seriously the most impatient person ever! I can't bare the thought of having to wait even longer for this surgery. I know that many of you waited a long time to get on the PPVI schedule, so I should be glad that my process is going as "quickly" as it is. But still!! I feel like I should board a plane with Sew Infertile and head to Atlanta this week. :)

Dear Lord, please grant me patience during this frustrating time of waiting...

Beautiful Weekend and Interesting Article

As usual, we spent most of the day yesterday watching college football. It was a happy house since both our teams won! Thankfully we accomplished a few things around the house in addition to sitting on the couch all day. We must have done about 10 loads of laundry and I ironed about 20 dress shirts! Hopefully that will last awhile.

Finally this week all the trees around our house have dropped all their leaves! Check out these pics...

I swear we have some grass buried underneath those leaves!

Check out these monster oak trees behind our house... you can see where the leaves came from!

On a different note, my hubby came across an interesting article in the paper yesterday. It was titled, "Adoption's Numbers Mystery." The article points out that there are a lot of families wanting to adopt and there are a lot of children in fostercare who need good homes, and yet somehow everyone's needs are not being met - families go without children and childen go without homes. According to the article, the main reason is the ineffectiveness of the child welfare agencies. By far the largest number of children needing to be adopted are in the fostercare system - currently 129,000 children. There are fewer and fewer newborns available for adoption and less international adoptions than in the past.

The reason I bring up this article is because I found this number staggering - according to the National Center for Health Statistics, they found that currently 600,000 women are seeking to adopt children and there is no where near enough children to meet these needs. This is largely due to the fact that it is rare for any woman (no matter her age, marital status, etc.) to give up her child at birth. Women have numerous alternatives when they find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy and unmarried women feel no shame in raising a child alone, as opposed to the past when these women would have been more likely to put up their child for adoption. In 2007, less than 8,000 children were adopted in the US. That is unreal to me, considering how many families are trying to adopt!

I thought this was some good food for thought...

A few thoughts...

I found out today that two other friends (more like acquaintances) are prego. Nothing sends my "peace" right out the door like finding out about other pregnancies. I HATE to admit this! It makes me feel so shallow, bitter, jealous, and overall just really bad about myself. Of course I am happy for them... it just is such a painful reminder of what I'm missing. And both of these friends were married after me. For some reason that makes it worse. Listen to me! As if it were some competition! I guess it makes me feel REALLY behind, if that makes any sense. So that makes three pregnancy announcements for the week if you're keeping a tally...

My doctors office didn't return my call today, so I still don't have confirmation about my surgery date. I am trying not to be too annoying and flood them with calls. But at the same time, I've had scheduling issues with them in the past, so I get worried when I'm not hearing anything. I have a busy day tomorrow at school, so I might not even have a moment to call them. But I can't promise that I won't. :)

The reason tomorrow is so busy is because I scheduled a NET retreat for my 7th and 8th graders. Is anyone familiar with NET Ministries? (National Evangelization Team.) I have wanted to make this happen for a couple of years and I finally got it scheduled. I am really excited about it and I'm praying that all goes well. Hopefully a few seeds will be planted in these kids...

Um, I guess that's it for now. Tomorrow's Friday, so that is always good news. Another weekend of good college football - yay! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some big upset games so that my Trojans can move up in the polls!

Did you pray???

Did anyone make it adoration yesterday evening? Or say some prayers at home? Just curious if the first Wednesday of the month was a good choice! We can pick another night if it works better for more people... just let me know!

My quiet time with the Lord was wonderful. It was very peaceful and I was glad to just be in His presence. My offering was that God's will be done in all our lives - whatever that may be. Towards the end of my time in prayer I had a "mini-revelation." I don't know if I can really explain it, especially since it's nothing too amazing! But the phrase that came to my mind was, "It's all about You." (you being God, of course.)

I was reflecting on how often I am filled with prayer intentions (which are great!), sometimes prayers of thanksgiving and every once in awhile prayers of penance. But I'm not so great at prayers of adoration or praise on a regular basis. It's not until I'm silent before the Blessed Sacrament that I remember to simply praise God for being God. Period. Nothing else.

Our whole existence is about getting to heaven to be with God. Everything in our lives should be about that - about Him. But of course we are not perfect, and naturally we get caught up in the grind our daily lives and in the happenings of the world around us.

It's not easy to reach that ideal balance - being in the world, but not of the world. Being active (doing God's work in the world He gave us) and reflective (being quiet and alone with Him.) I am really going to try to have more silent prayer and meditation. This is sooooo difficult for me! But there is nothing like it - that total peace and surrender when you simply rest in the arms of the Lord.

On a practical note, I will be calling my doctor's office today! I really, really hope that my surgery date has been confirmed.

Phillipians 2:12-18

Today's second reading is SO APPROPRIATE for this day!!! Read for yourself what St. Paul had to say...

"Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of LIFE, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain."

Enough said.

Impatience

So, how long should I wait to call my doctor's office about scheduling my surgery?

My appointment was last Thursday and they said they would be calling me to confirm the date. Apparently there is one person in the office who handles these things. While my doctor told me some dates that she is free, they still have to confirm with the hospital. Not to mention they are waiting on the final paperwork from my insurance company - if you remember from my previous post, my doctor is still getting approval from all insurance companies since she is new to the area. She was hopeful that this would be speedy!

I'm thinking that one week would be pretty good to wait, don't you think? I'm hoping to hold out one more day and call them on Thursday to see what the deal is. Oh Lord, give me patience.

Give me strength...

So I found out today that one of my co-workers is pregnant. It's interesting because it didn't affect me quite as much as I thought it would. Perhaps it's because I was literally running through the faculty room and I overheard her telling people while I was on my way to class. I also had a really busy day, so I haven't have a ton of time to process.

It's always difficult to see pregnant women... strangers in the store, people in church, close friends, etc. But nothing is quite as challenging as watching someone go through the entire nine months on a daily basis. Even though I'm not super close with this co-worker, it's still the idea that I will be hearing about it and experiencing it for the rest of the school year.

My school is pretty small and like many school settings it's mostly all women. In my three years there at least one woman has been pregnant each year. It's strange now to look back to when I heard their "news" and wished it was my news.... many of these women aren't even at my school anymore, and of course I'm still here waiting.

I can't help but think how different my life would be if I would have been pregnant one, two or three years ago. No good can come from playing the "what if"game. So I will simply have to pray for wisdom and grace to accept things as they are.

Speaking of praying... if you are interested in praying together in adoration, I think we're going to try the first Wednesday of the month between 6-7pm. That means we would start this week. :) Again, if adoration isn't your thing - feel free to pray from wherever you are. Being united in prayer is so powerful. I'm really excited about this!

Adoration Anyone?

Many of you probably saw my post awhile back about planning a time for adoration. Is anyone still interested? I continue to be amazed at the ever-growing community that has been formed online. I feel as if I know many of you more intimately than some of my "real" friends! (You know what I mean...) This online network of support, love and encouragement is truly a gift from God. I think of you often and lift up prayers for everyone struggling on this difficult road of infertility.

A couple of weeks ago I was praying in adoration and I felt so connected to you all. That's when the idea hit me... if anyone was interested, we could pick a time to spend in prayer together. If adoration isn't your thing, that's ok! Being united together in prayer is the goal. I invite anyone interested to join me.

With all of our different schedules (and different time zones!) I'm sure this won't be easy. So here's what I was thinking - if you want to be part of this, post a comment with days/times that might work for you. We can go from there!

A Sweet Prayer

May all that I am today, all that I try to do today, may all my encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings all place my life in your hands.
Lord, my life is in your hands. Please, let this day give you praise. Amen.