Another peek inside, and other news

Today, we had the joy of taking another peek at the miracle that God is knitting together deep inside of me. We were so thankful to find out that everything is still looking good! And this time, we were actually able to see baby moving around, which was quite a beautiful sight. Baby is only 2.7 centimeters long, but has a fast-beating heart and busy arms and legs. This is all just too amazing for words!

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Our official "due date" is November 5, if anyone was wondering.

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In other news (we do seem to have a lot of that these days!), by God's grace, we are planning to move in less than a month! This may come as a surprise to many of you, but we've been working on this for quite some time now. We had been prayerfully considering this move since last year, as the townhouse neighborhood we live in is becoming rather distasteful in many ways: some of the goings-on around here are quite concerning. We do love our home here-- it's been our home since the day we were married, almost 6 years ago-- but we believe the time has come to move on.

Back in January, we noticed a house for sale near by. We thought it looked interesting, so we went to see it. And we fell in love with it right away.

Well, I fell in love with it... Mark, who is decidedly more rational than I, had to think about it and ponder things for a while, before he decided that we could pursue it. So we put our house up for sale, and made an offer on the other house. By God's grace, our offer was accepted, and the Lord sent a buyer for our home much faster than we had expected. Things were a bit uncertain for a while, as there were some major issues with the folks who are buying our house, but the Lord has been so incredibly gracious to us and has worked out every single difficulty we have encountered.

So, we are scheduled for two closings on May 1: Lord willing, the closing for our current home will take place that morning, and then the new home in the afternoon. And no, we're not ready-- we have lots of packing to do!

As for the new house, it is a charming 100-year-old farmhouse with a beautiful yard: plenty of room for gardens and picnics... and I can finally have a clothesline! The house needs some work, but nothing that needs to be done immediately; we can settle in and slowly fix things up. And the house is only 2 miles from my parents', which is wonderful.

The Lord's mercies toward us are abounding, and we praise Him for His faithfulness. We are so utterly undeserving of His blessings, and we marvel at His graciousness. I wish I could express more of what is in my heart, but I am just too full for words these days.

But as always, God's Word says it perfectly:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness...
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities...
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

(from Psalm 103)