Well if I thought 2011 passed by quickly, I would imagine 2012 will too! We have some exciting times ahead, and as a family we cannot wait for what’s coming!
A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Emma’s 1st birthday. Neither of us can believe how fast the time has flown by, and that our little girl is one years old already.
One thing that we have been really blessed by over the last year is the amount of help and support we have received, especially from our families and our family at Newbold. Whether it’s having us round for a brew, giving us advice, passing on clothes, cooking us a meal or whatever, we are so blessed and so thankful to everyone, and this is something that we certainly don’t say often enough. So thank you!!!
We also found out recently that in September 2012, we will be parents once again, and Emma is going to be a big sister. We are absolutely delighted and cannot wait for our family to grow. We have been for the first scan this morning, and it was amazing! I could just sit and watch the screen all day!
To date the pregnancy has seemed strange. I suppose it’s because it has been completely different to first time round.
Again, we will be going to St Marys Hospital in Manchester during the pregnancy. As many will know, Karen has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD), and therefore they will be keeping an eye on Karen’s progress. However, we stand firm in our faith that more importantly, God will have his hand of protection over Karen during the pregnancy, and come September the doctors and nurses will once again be amazed at just how smoothly the arrival of the baby was, just as they were with the arrival of Emma.
We would ask you all that during the pregnancy, you keep us (in particular Karen) in your prayers.
We are also moving into a new house, a family home! We put an offer in for a house back in November, which was accepted. At first things seemed to be moving at 200mph, but things have slowed down a bit since the New Year. At present, we are waiting for the mortgage to be released. The contracts are ready and waiting to be signed once the mortgage has been released, and then it will be all go from there!
The house that we are buying is at the back of the Newbold estate. It was so important to us that any move that we made was into a property in the area, as we know that this is where God has called us to be as a family, and to be honest, there isn’t anywhere else that I would rather be. I love living on the estate, and the friends that we have made in the area.
Just typing that, I think back to only 4 years ago when Karen first moved onto the estate and how I was so opposed to it! How God changes our hearts!
So there you have it, the year ahead for us… a new house and a new arrival!
In my last blog, I spoke about the reminder that I received a couple of weeks back that the Lord is our helper. In Hebrews 13:5-6 we are reminded that God will never leave us nor forsake us, and therefore we can say with confidence that the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
With all that is coming up, there is no doubt that there are a lot of emotions involved. Yet I pray that through it all, as a family, we will turn to God in all things, and be able to say with confidence ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’
