Moxibustion anyone?

So as you know, Israel is still breech. I have been praying desperately that he will flip for as long as we have known he is breech (17 weeks now!) but non the less, he has decided this is the most comfortable position for him...lol. In the last month I have been researching natural ways to turn him that I can do at home. There are some interesting methods out there, but I have honestly given a lot of them a try, with no success. So this week, I decided to try something new. It's called Moxibustion (Or also known as Moxabustion). It's a Chinese medicine technique. I read a lot about it and talked to my midwife about it, and figured...it couldn't hurt! Anyway...so twice a day I burn this herb stick made of mugwart by my pinkie toe for 20 minutes on each toe. Sounds crazy I know...but there is a pressure point there that stimulates the bladder which in turn stimulates the uterus helping the baby to get really active and hopefully flip. I have only done it for one day so far...no turning yet, but they say it can take anywhere from 2-10 days of consistent use. Every time I have done it he gets super busy though, so that says something. I am up for any suggestions if any of you out there have any! If he doesn't turn by 38 weeks (Which is only a week away!) the doctor is going to attempt a version (Which is manually trying to flip him) and I REALLY don't want to do this if I don't have to. Please keep this in your prayers and let me know if you have any help for me! :-)

So...who are you anyway?

Ok, so I am curious...who are you? I post on here...and there are obviously people who read it. Per the counter on my page which currently says 5267...which would probably be even higher if you all actually had to go to my page to read the posts. Since adding the e-mail option there has been a huge response of people who check our blog that way which doesn't count as a "hit" on my page...making that counter actually a lot lower then it would probably be. Non the less...I rarely get comments. And I am just curious...who are you? If you wouldn't mind, I would love for you to drop me a comment and tell me a little about YOU. It's only fair isn't it? I mean...you pretty much know my life story (well kind of, at least you know my current life story) and I would love to know you too. So I ask...Who are you? How did you hear about or find our blog? Do you have a blog I should check out? Anything else you want to share...feel free to leave that too :-)

***For those of you who read my blog simply by the e-mails...adding a comment is easy! Trust me! Just follow the steps below
Click on the link below or simply go to www.thejourneyofisrael.blogspot.com
Click Here
At the bottom of this post there it says "Comments" Click on that word
It will bring you to a new page and on the right side there is a big box that says "Leave your comment" Type in there (Don't forget to put your name!)
When you are done, it says "Choose your identity" If you don't have a blogger account, click on the spot that says "Anonymous"
Then click "Publish your comment"
It's seriously that easy!

I am looking forward to meeting you!

Wordless Wednesday (36 Weeks)

We serve a God of 11:59

It's true...we serve a God who believes in the time 11:59. Meaning...sometime He has you wait until the very last minute before He completely shows himself, or completes His work or what have you. He has a reason for it, and although we can not always know God's ways or understand Him, we continue to trust in Him and believe in Him...which is really all he asks us to do in the first place!

We had another doctors appointment and ultrasound today. Everything went well. Israel is continuing to grow well and development is the same. He is a growing boy who weighs approximately 5lbs 12 oz. His hair is really starting to come in now too. He is still breech and seems to be quite comfortable in this position. He was very entertaining at the ultrasound as he was trying very hard to convey to the tech that he wasn't interested in having his picture taken...lol. He was a movin and a shakin and not wanting to hold still. He would kick her or push her when she put any pressure on him, and he refused to turn his head for a decent picture of his cute little face. Stinker! Our doctor checked me and I am dilated to 2-3 centimeters, so that's exciting! We are hoping he decided to stay put at least a few more weeks, but we will just have to wait and see. I am all ready to go when the time comes. As excited as I am for him to be here, I know there is a reason God made pregnancy 40 weeks, and I am just trying to remember that!

Thank you all for your continued prayers, support and love. We can feel it, seriously. We continue to have a peace that suprasses all understanding. In the midst of a time where we "shouldn't" feel such peace...we do! God is so good and so faithful. We still believe with our whole hearts that Israel will have complete healing before he is born. We are excited as the pregnancy draws near and we get closer to meeting our miracle baby.

Love to all of you!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I have some randomness that I thought I would just throw together in this one post :-)

If you haven't noticed, on the top right side of my blog, there is a little icon that says "Pray for Israel" with his picture in it. This is a "Button" I made for our blog :-) Below this button is a random bunch of letters and numbers. This is the code. If you have your own blog, you can grab our button for your own blog. Copy the code, and paste it into your own blog and share Israel's story with others. Help get the word out, the more prayers the better!

If you scroll down on my blog you will also notice other buttons on the right side. These are other peoples blogs that I read and that I am praying for. Feel free to click on these and check them out, and while you are at it, say a little prayer for their miracle baby too.

Twitter...I added this to my blog so that when the day comes and we go into labor, I can keep you all up to date on what's going on. We don't have a laptop, so updating my blog isn't going to happen until we are home from the hospital. But with twitter, I can send updates to it from my phone (It's on the right side...just a tiny ways down) and it will add these updates to my blog! For those of you who only read my blog when you get the e-mail updates, that isn't going to work with this. You are going to have to actually check my blog to see them.

I want to say it again, THANK YOU, to all of you who have been so faithful to pray for Israel and our family during this pregnancy. You mean more to us then you will ever know. Each and every prayers you have lifted up has been heard by God. He is a faithful God and we continue to trust him with the little life he has given us. Please continue to pray as we are in the last weeks of pregnancy.

Wishing...Waiting...Anticipating...

So today is February 21st and it marks the 36th week of this pregnancy. Why does this matter you ask? Because my two other little blessings were both born at 36 weeks! With both of them there was no sign that this would happen, my water just broke! So it makes me wonder...will the same thing happen with little Israel too? Part of me is very much wishing it will. I have entered the "pregnancy isn't always fun" stage. I don't sleep well at all, I feel like I swallowed a watermelon with legs, I seem to be starving all the time, etc. Also...I am so ready to meet my sweet little miracle baby that I have been carrying around for the past eight months. But on the other hand...I know there is a reason that pregnancy is supposed to be 40 weeks, not 36. Both Rachel and Jaxon had minor problems when they were born, due to being early, and it would be nice to not have to deal with those things again. But no matter what I think, I know that my God is bigger than anything and He is in control. I have complete faith that when God is ready for Israel to arrive, he will :-) So in the mean time...I am just wishing, waiting and anticipating.

Side note: We have our next doctors appointment on Tuesday, and we would appreciate your prayers. Thank you all for your faithfulness.

While I'm Waiting

Jon and I watched the movie "Fireproof" recently. (Side note...I would HIGHLY recommend this movie...just look past the low-budget not so great acting...and it is really an awesome movie with GREAT purpose! Jon and I both cried many times throughout it.) Anyway...in this movie there is a song I have never hears before and it really caught my attention and seemed very fitting for the journey we are going through with Israel. I tried to remember a few of the lyrics and when the movie was done I goodled it. I found it and fell in love with it! The song is called "While I'm Waiting" and I am saying this is our new "Israel's Journey Song" :-) I added it to my playlist on my blog (If you have never noticed that a song plays automatically when you open my blog...turn up your volume! If you are reading this in an e-mail, click on the link to open my blog and it should start playing). I would encourage you to listen to it and allow it it minister to you as it has to me. I am sure many of you can relate to this with many situations you have going on in your own personal life right now. God always hears our prayers...He may not answer you right away...or maybe his answer is to wait! Be faithful, Wait upon the Lord, He does hear you and He will answer you. Remember...in order to know His answer, you have to listen. Don't forget this part! We so often pray and then busy ourselves so much that we never hear His answer. Take the time, stop, be still, and really listen. He will answer you! And if He says to wait...continue to serve Him, continue to worship him...While you Wait!

While I'm Waiting :
By: John Waller
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord