It's a girl!

We found out last Thursday that we are having a little girl! What a treat! Both Ben and I were SO excited. This is the first girl to be born in the Oehlschlaeger family for over 100 years! She broke the mold!
We are going to name her Emme Lou Oehlschlaeger. Her name means "loved, hard working, brave." I know she will be all of those things and just pray every day that the Lord will give Ben and I wisdom to raise her as He would will. Here are a few pics of our 18 week ultra sound. We just praise God that she is growing healthy and strong, and pray that by His mercy He would continue to allow her to develop day by day!

Everything Rides on Hope...

Heard this song on the radio and it just so well encompasses the Christian walk. There are so many ups and downs in life, and so many opportunities for us to see God's grace, and His hand in everything. That is my prayer.

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of?
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours

I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
When my life is like a storm
Rising waters- all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm

You've become my heart's desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

Hope Now by Addison Road

More Reasons to Praise!

We are rejoicing once more! Yesterday we went for our 12 week appt. and were so blessed to hear a strong heart beat from our little one. I am daily amazed at God's gracious love towards us. Throughout this journey, the Lord has just reminded me over and over how much He cares for His children. All I can say is, "Great is Thy Faithfulness!" We are grateful for every prayer that goes up for Baby O. We will keep everyone updated.

Life... more abundantly...

10 Week Pics of Baby O... praise the Lord as we continue to pray for his/her growth in the coming weeks!

A New Year Brings New Life

Where do I begin? We praised God as we walked into the sonographer's office yesterday and greeted the new year by saying hello to our 8 week old baby! It was the sweetest sound to hear the pounding of our child's heart, and I was reminded of the gracious love of my Heavenly Father.

I feel beyond blessed to have this gift in my life. It is an amazing thing to truly feel God has reached down and seen me in my depths. It is as though He has made His heart evident to me.

It sounds so cliche, but while I do not know what the future holds, I do know Who holds the future. He comforts me, and gently reminds me of His love. I'm not trusting in science, or doctors, or my own ability (ha!) to keep this baby alive... with the power of my Savior I am hoping in Him. He is the one who numbers the days of our children, and allows their protection. With an open hand, I pray God's blessing for our little one, whom we hope to hold in early August.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we take this new walk of faith and gratitude.

Romans 12:12

Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.

A reflection on control (or my lack thereof...)

I've discovered that everything is really all about control.

The truth about control:
I've discovered first hand that God has it and has always had it.
I've discovered that for a time, and from time to time, I've been under the illusion that I have it. For the past month and a half I've been (am) learning to surrender it.
Tonight again I feel the crushing sensation of giving it up.


Every day it is giving up control again. Every day it is a realization that I am owed nothing, that I have no right to the house with the picket fence, the 2.5 kids, and the family dog. Even when we have those things, they are not OURS. Even the agonizing pain I am experiencing now, is not my own... it was God's purpose that Ben and I be refined by fire for HIS glory.

God's word says:
"Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength."
I Chronicles 29:11-12

So I find that my problems stem from a faulty belief... "MY possessions, MY dreams, MY friends, MY husband, MY child, MY family, MY job, MY education, MY future, ad infinitum..." And releasing these "MY's" is quite undoing... and painful and continual. While I know my faith is secure, and that I've been a follower of Christ since childhood, the undoing of "MY's" forms a different commitment, a painful yet necessary operation--- in which all of life is rearranged.

I have been pondering Howard Dayton's ideas on ownership versus Lordship:

• If we are going to be genuine followers of Christ, we must transfer the ownership of our possessions to the Lord. "No one... can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33). In my experience I have found that the Lord will sometimes test us by asking that we be willing to relinquish the very possession that is dearest to us.
• It is important for the child of God to realize that his heavenly Father orchestrates even seemingly devestating circumstances for ultimate good in the lives of the godly. "I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these" (Isaiah 45: 6-7)
• "God can't use a person to the maximum, until he or she has been hurt deeply." A.W. Tozer
• God is the owner. He is in control of every circumstance, and He has promised to meet our needs.

I can not say that I am content, that would make me a liar. But I can say that my heavenly Father is teaching me much about contentment and I pray to be found faithful, even in my great, great weakness, failure, and mistrust. I often cry, "Lord I believe! Help my unbelief!"

"For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines... He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Hebrews 12:6, 10-11