Leaving Lafayette: Humbled, thankful and positive!

This morning I made a call to our doctor's billing office in response to a very large bill we received from the hospital for Brenna's birth.  After figuring out that the insurance processed something incorrectly I breathed a sigh of relief.

After figuring out what the deal was, the nice voice who was helping me asked if she could as me a question.  She wanted to know how my experience was with my doctor.  She was referring to the doctor that provided me with my prenatal care.  What I told the woman was that while I had nothing bad to say about my doctor, she wasn't the one that delivered our baby.  Dr. Bourque was the on-call doctor that helped bring our sweet Brenna into the world. Dr. Bourque was everything we could have asked for in a doctor.  His bedside manner made me feel like he was more like family than simply the on-call doctor.  The way he handled our delivery will forever leave me with warm fuzzies and an abundance of gratitude that he was at the hospital that night!  My friend Erin was blessed to have Dr. Bourque as her prenatal doctor.  I texted her this morning to tell her I was raving about Dr. Bourque to a stranger.  She said he would be so happy to hear that and that she raves about him, too.  So what's my point in sharing all of that?  Well, it got me thinking- what if we had never made the move to Lafayette, LA?  Hmmm....

As I look back to the beginning of our time here I remember feeling frustrated about having to find a new doctor.  I also remember thinking how nice it was to get to know the nurses at my old clinic.  I wasn't in love with my doctor- some of you may remember she is the one who gave me a complex about how much weight I was gaining.  I gained 24.2 pounds in case anyone was curious.  Ha, if only I could share that with my old doctor! But I'm off course already- my point is that I can't say in words how thankful I am that I was led to the clinic here in Lafayette and that because my primary doctor wasn't available, we got Dr. Bourque.That's not the only thing I've come to realize.

In reflecting back, I also realized that the amazing Bradley Class we took was what led us to meet three other wonderful couples who we still keep in touch with and who I know will be our forever friends despite the fact that we'll be moving again in 11 days.

What would we have done without our Bradley class?  For starters, we would not have met Brandi- our sweet and wise teacher who in the end witnessed Brenna's beautiful birth as our assistant coach!  Oh, the joy I have just thinking about how protected we were in all of the details of my pregnancy and our birth.  My doctor, the Bradley class with my sweet husband, Brandi... all amazing. God led us to the perfect place at the perfect time.  I must admit, Louisiana was not what I had planned.  Ha, but then again, we plan and God laughs, right? Yet somehow I sure have a way of thinking MY plan is the best plan. Sigh.

Oh, how I am humbled now as I look at how my attitude has been lately.  I have so much to be thankful for and yet I think it's all too easy for us to focus on the negative.  I have for the majority of my life been a positive person who wears a smile most of the time.  But truth be told, I don't handle change very well.  So what does God do?  He brings as much change as he possibly can into my world.  Not just once, but repeatedly we are led to move, start over, meet new people, build a new community and then leave it all.  It's hard.  Really hard. But in a lot of ways, I've made it harder than it needs to be.  I've focused on what I think my life should look like.  I've thought of all the sacrifices I've made in supporting our family through this journey.  I keep track of all the things I wish I had or that I miss about our past.  I plan to plan and then get upset when MY plan isn't happening at this very second. Not good, Lisa, not good!

It isn't until the last couple of days that I have truly felt God speaking to my heart.  He has reminded me of his faithfulness to me and to our family.  As I look at Brenna I see a perfect, beautiful, sweet, strong little baby... that ALONE should bring me enough joy to trump every negative thought I have.  God has protected my marriage through many peaks and valleys, that too should bring me joy.  We have made so many friends along our journey and again, that should bring joy.  God alone should be my joy and I should be reminded every day of how good He has been to us through all of these things. It's time to make a change to MY plan.

In an attempt to fully trust God and His leading in my life, I would like to publicly commit to focusing on the positive in my life and to being a more thankful person.  I have prayed and have asked God to help me in this.  I can tell you to make this sort of commitment right before the move is hard.  It's the time when I'm reminded most of the impatience that grows in me over not being settled somewhere yet.  It reminds me of the tedious work of packing and unpacking what remains of our belongings.  It's when stress levels run high and when saying goodbye to those we've met is near. BUT this is when I need to focus on God the most.  I need to let go of my plan and let God take over everything, especially when the going gets tough.


Psalm 46:1 (KJV) ” God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble “.

God, help me to seek you at all times.  Help me to grow in my faith and to trust that you have the best for me.  Help me to focus on the positive.  Help me to see all the blessings that exist in my life.  Help me to wear a smile knowing you have all the details planned out and I don't have to worry about them.  Help me to be a light for you, Lord and to know that you have a reason for leading me down this path and that it is good.

As I commit to being positive and thankful, I also am reminded of my life verse.

Jeremiah 29:11

 (NIV)¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

See, I am blessed!!! God wants to give me a hope and a future. He wants to prosper me!  I have so much to be thankful for.  Today I am thankful for my hard working husband, my beautiful daughter, and our loving pups.  I am thankful for all the family we have that supports us long distance, that takes time and money to visit us.  I am thankful for the gift of being a stay at home mom.  I am thankful for a husband who is committed to our family in so many ways.  I am thankful for housing and food and transportation.  I am thankful for the friendships all over the country that have been there for me and spoke words of encouragement when I needed them most.  I am thankful for my life, my journey, my story.  I am thankful I know God and can lean on Him.  I am thankful I am not in this alone.


Thank you, Jesus for loving me.  As I think of the love I have for Brenna, I am now beginning to know the love our God has for us.  What an immeasurable amount of love that is. I am also aware now of the pain our Father feels when we as his children don't go to him first in times of trouble.  He wants to be there for us, He wants to carry us through painful times.  He wants to comfort and care for us.  What an amazing parallel there is between us and our heavenly Father and us as parents to our children.  I pray I would run to my Father just as I pray someday Brenna will run to me for comfort.  


So blessed. So thankful. Stay positive, there is SO much joy to be had, now and in the future.  I just know it! 

Here is the proof... Brenna's face, pure JOY! Now I'm off to enjoy this little bundle!