By next Thursday we will have an answer as to whether or not Nora is eligible for heart surgery. There is a new issue with her heart that needs to remain stable and not worsen for our cardiologist to give the official green light. Another echo is scheduled for Thursday of next week.
While Nora was contentedly sipping on some milkies during her echo this morning I was frantically searching the room for some sort of God hug. No brightly colored 3 birds border in this room… But wait… Could it be??? My heart fluttered like I’d just received a note from a childhood friend, “HE LIKES YOU!!”
There on the wall, partially hidden by machines were my 3 birds. It was a series of 3 paintings by Mackenzie Thorpe in a single frame. Three chickens, but 3 birds no less!! I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat, trying to retain the tears welling up in my eyes. There is God again, who cares SOOO much about me. I surmise that God could just leave it up to us to be the ones to choose to believe in Him — or not. But that He would continue to send me these little hints of His great love for me is so, so incredible. How could I ever possibly doubt His presence?? Could it be that He’s been sending me love notes my whole life, but I was just too busy and wrapped up in my own little world to notice?
I’m so so relieved that today is OVER. I am actually in bed, I’m still breathing, and I fully trust in God’s plan here. I usually go to bed in a much better state of mind than when I wake up. In the mornings as soon as I open my eyes everything comes crashing at me like a bursted dam. My thoughts are reeling and I want to pull the covers up over my head. The whole day stands there in all of its formidableness, barely begun and I am already wishing it away. It takes the whole day to get my thoughts, my outlook, and perspective back into sync with God’s.
I saw a great quote today that said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer!”
I can’t see an end to this tunnel we’re in right now, but I’ll be right here in my seat waiting for that glimmer of sunlight — ticket in hand, trusting my engineer.
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.
(Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
iwillcarryyou 
I JUST LEFT A SECOND MESSAGE ON YOUR BLOG FOR YESTERDAY. I WAS GETTING READY TO GO TO BED AND HAD TO LEAVE A MESSAGE. THEN I THOUGHT, I AM GOING TO CHECK AGAIN TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY NEWS. I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU SAW THAT PICTURE OF THE CHICKENS (AND YES THEY ARE BIRDS), I DO THE SAME THING, LOOK FOR A SIGN FROM GOD. MY SIGN IS A CARDINAL. WHEN I SEE A CARDINAL, I SAY EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. MY BOYS USE TO SAY “OH MOM” WHEN I WOULD SAY “THERE IS THE SILVER LINING IN THAT DARK CLOUD. NOW I SOMETIMES HEAR THEM SAY THAT TOO. SOMETIME WE JUST NEED A SMALL SIGN THAT THINGS WILL BE ALRIGHT, AND GOD SENDS US ONE. JUST LIKE TODAY, NEXT THURSDAY ALL OF NORA’S FRIENDS WILL BE LINED UP RIGHT BEHIND YOU AND WILLIAM IN THOUGHT AND PRAYERS. OF COURSE GOD WILL BE RIGHT THERE HOLDING YOUR HAND. GOD IS GOOD. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING. GET A REALLY GOOD NIGHT’S REST, AND WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND LISTEN FOR THE SONG OF THE BIRDS. I LOVE YOU GUYS. GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS.
I speak life, and health, and peace, to Nora and her family, in the name of Jesus.
I speak life, health, and peace to Nora in the name of Jesus!
Three mother hens!! So as a mother hen hovers over her young, may God continue to hover over you and your young one/ones with his love, kindness, grace and mercy and meet every need!! I love your heart!! Nora Rose has captured our hearts too!
Patricia Varga from Budapest again : )
Aleisa, I too have a bird that is a sign from God. When my sister was battling Melanoma, God gave me a sign in the form of a red-tail hawk that everything was going to be ok. My sister always looks for a red-tail hawk any time she goes to Louisville for her appointment with her oncologist and she feels reassured that God is with her. This last time she went, she was telling me she did not see her hawk. I couldn’t believe it because that very day of her appointment I was blessed to see one soaring very low in the sky and I definately felt a joy and peace at that time. When I shared that with my sister later she was so amazed and reassured. So, I can definitely relate with the reassurance of seeing 3 birds in a picture! God bless you and I will continue praying for healing for Nora’s precious little heart and lungs. Please give her a big hug for me!
Seriously…this bird thing your whole life and the way He lets you know He’s there with it. Just amazing. I do think He does it way more than we notice. I don’t know if you’ve read the book Captivating or not but in it where God gives her husband a big hug with this huge whale. Then, sitting by the ocean when she is in need of one she waits and even kind of pouts and whines at one point, “hey, I want a whale too! Where’s mine?” Then she decides to go and take a walk, turns a corner and there is the most amazing display of I believe starfish that she’s ever seen. All kinds of colors, delicate, just for her. I havent read that book in years but that has always stuck with me. Now, getting to hear about your bird hugs over and over makes me cry harder than just about anything else I read on your blog. He is SO much closer than we give Him credit for most of the time and His love for us is SO much greater than we could ever begin to imagine. That’s why after we know Him I think the faith thing is so important to Him. I mean with our kids, we do everything in the world to show them we love them so how much would it break our hearts if they continually asked us all day everyday in utter fear, “will you feed me, please clothe me, do you love me, are you sure, what if you don’t, where will I sleep, could I please have a hug, will you talk to me, look at me, do you see me, hear me.” I’m talking to myself here btw lol.
Of course He talks to us all the time and shows us His love in so many ways. I think most of the time we’re just running around carefree and not seeing all the things He is doing to show us His love, much like our kids not really noticing or getting how much we’re doing for them. Until of course the big, loud storm comes in the middle of the night and scares the crap out of us when we’re least expecting it and what do we do? We go running down the hall, scared to death, heart beating out of our chest, praying that Mom Nd Dad will let us crawl into their bed and hold us until it’s over. And if they’re good parents, of course they always do. And our Dad is a very great Dad. Why oh why do I still doubt Him so much sometimes?
Thanks to this post, I will continue looking for and relishing in my special hugs from my Abba. I especially love how He makes them all completely personal to us as well. The whale, while big and beautiful wouldn’t have meant the same to her as a whole wall of colorful starfish. You get your three birds. How incredibly special. He is most definitely with you, every single moment, and He obviously is very smitten with you 🙂
Praying and believing Him for all the good things He planned for your sweet Nora so long ago. She is indeed the most exquisite tiny treasure I’ve about ever seen.
The presence of the “three birds” gets me every time! Wow! *tears Continuing to pray =)
We’ve never met and yet I feel like I know you and your sweet little family. I stumbled upon your blog right around the time Nora was born and you’ve become part of my morning ritual. Get to work, turn on the computer, read about Nora. I pray for ya’ll often. As I’m sitting her at my desk, I’m looking at a painting I did several years ago as I was going through a dark tunnel–simply petrified and afraid of both the night and morning. There is a verse on this painting that got me through each night. I repeated it so many times out loud, alone in my room. Psalm 46:5 says, “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her as morning dawns”. He IS that solid, soverign part of you deep, down in the midst that keeps you breathing, smiling, and managing to make it thru each day. He’s also the one that is holding you in His lap as each morning dawns. Do me a favor and look up Sean McConnell’s song, Madly in Love with You. It’s actually a message from our Abba saying that “Every morning sunrise says, I’m madly in love with you”. I pray that as you awaken this upcoming weekend God shows off with his sunrises and that you’re reminded just how incredibly in love with you He is.
We’ve never met and yet I feel like I know you and your sweet little family. I stumbled upon your blog right around the time Nora was born and I pray for ya’ll often. You’ve actually become part of my morning routine. Get to work, fire up the computer, check in on Nora. As I’m sitting here at my desk I’m looking at a painting I did a few years ago while I was going through a terribly dark and twisty time. I was afraid of both the night and the morning coming. The Lord used a verse in my life that I still repeat all the time. Psalm 46:5 says, “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her as morning dawns”. Our God is the solid, soverign, deeply rooted being that dwells within you. He’s keeping you awake, breathing, smiling, and getting through each day. And that same God is holding you each morning, stroking your hair, whispering to you how much He loves you. Sean McConnell is one of my favorite song writers, look up his song “Madly in love with you”. It’s a love note from our Abba saying that “Every morning sunrise says, I’m madly in love with you”. I’m praying that this weekend, you’ll wake up in His embrace, knowing that the sunrise you see is his love letter to you that morning–telling you just how tightly He’s holding you and just how madly in love with you He is. Blessings to you dear sister!
It is so hard for some people to see God’s work in their life. Small steps. Small signs. I think God reveals himself and communicates with us in the ways we each understand. Sometimes we see it, even when others do not or cannot. It’s the “personal” part of our personal relationship with Christ. Your love for Nora continues to shine his bright light into her world. God Bless, continuing to pray, and hold her up.
Isn’t it amazing the ways in which the Lord makes himself known? You might enjoy this story:
I had a bumper sticker on the back of a company work truck when I worked as a job site superintendent. It was right in the center of the back window and it read:
Know Jesus, Know Peace
No Jesus, No Peace
Isn’t that the truth! But there is more. I left the company and the new superintendent that replaced me would not take the bumper sticker off the truck. But he had a foreman that needed the truck for a weekend job. In a gruff voice he told the super, “scrape that sticker off the truck!” The superintendent said, “I’m not scraping that sticker off the truck.” “I’ll do it, give me knife!” was the gruff reply. The foreman scraped the sticker off the truck, drove away heading to Grand Island. There is a huge mountainous bridge that you must cross to get to Grand Island. The foreman reached the top of the bridge and the truck was struck by lightning. The lightning fried every circuit in the truck and it had to be towed off the bridge into the shop for a complete rewiring. True story! I didn’t believe it when I first heard it but I confirmed with the superintended. Our God is an amazing God!
I have to tell you that I have been following you for quite a while, you really inspire me. I pray for you all. God will be with you.
I am pregnant with my second daughter and we have had a hard time coming up with the right name for her. I’ve been praying for God to reveal her name to us and have tried to trust that God would tell me before I went crazy. Tonight, I was reading part of your blog to my husband and he said, “Nora’s a good name.” So we started researching the meaning and came across the El Nora Alila poem. Have you read it? I wish I had the Wikipedia link (I’m on my phone so I can’t get it easily) for you but it was very moving to me.
I’m praying for your baby girl!!
Amazing. We serve an amazing Father. I stand in awe of this amazing God who has given you Nora Rose. She shines with His glory and you humbly and transparently allow Him to use you to encourage others in such a precious way. Thank you for loving our heavenly Father and thus obeying Him by loving sweet Nora. Every night as I lie down with our youngest daughter I pay for your family and Nora. Ooh the plans our Father has for Nora I believe!
she is a miracle and I continue to pray manifested healing over Nora because our father is in the business of the miraculous!!! I believe that her heart is fixed…psalm 57:7. Love to you all.
healing over NoraI because God I’d still
Ooh I forgot: did you know that 13 is a love number in Jesus speak? The number six for wholly man…plus the number seven for wholly God…equals pure love! What a great day for little hugs from our Abba!!!!!!
Keep trusting in Him!! I know He will carry you; He is always faithful!! I LOVE the signs you are receiving from Him. I know so many people are praying for all of you. Much love to your whole family.
It is a verticle relationship, really… You and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, and for God. All that you do is a blessing… the joy as well as the pain. As sad as I am for your suffering, I know the Lord uses it all for good, yours or someone who needs it more. Can you imagine that?
Those shots in the tub are extra beautiful!! I don’t know what it is about them. I love seeing updates on Norah baby girl, and hearing your heart and thoughts as you process it all…confessing the negative parts, continually seeking God and wanting to be like Jesus. Bless you and yours. Much love to you dear woman.
My auto-correct put an h on the end of her name by the way. Grr. I know it is N-o-r-a 😉