New Year and SO much to be thankful for...

As we enter into 2011 I am so amazed at the blessings that God has given us these last few months. Just months ago we were facing the doctor telling us to start fertility treatments and we were scared and honestly unsure. We have only told a few people what happened in that month prior to getting pregnant with Madison! Dr. Garas is an amazing Dr and we trust him more than anything and he felt it was time to start clomid and IUI's immediately (this was in June). I contacted one of my friends that had done fertility treatments and got the name of her doctor and even made an appointment but the day before the appointment I felt God telling me that it wasnt the right time to give it to Him. Mike and I had a tearful discussion and decided that we would keep trying and if we werent pregnant by Jan we would then start treatments (this was in August). On August 29th we went to HP3 church service and Logan was unable to go into the nursery that day...my somewhat annoyance that morning turned into a huge blessing! They had a healing service and there stood my husband, son, and myself with our good friends as we prayed for healing to my body. I then decided that night that I would spend more time with God and in His word. I began reading and became drawn to Sarah the wife of Abraham, Rebekah the wife of Isaac, and Rachel wife of Jacob all of whom were barren but God promised all that they would be fathers of many nations...this was a test of their faith that they would believe and trust in God when they could do nothing in these circumstances! About 3 weeks later we found out that we were pregnant..WOW thank you God...talk about a blessing!!! So, as my family enters into this new year the things I want the most are to find a wonderful church home where we can worship our God and help others anyway we can, continue to teach both of our children the way to love and appreciate in this life and to know how blessed they truly are, and to continue to deepen our relationship with the Lord and be led solely by Him and for Him!! The Cardin's wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2011!!!

~Love Dare Challenge~

I am not sure if a lot of you have seen "Fireproof" or heard of "The Love Dare"
challenge but it is fantastic! Fireproof is about a firefighter who lives by the firefighters adage...never leave your partner. But at home with his wife he doesn't live by the same adage. After countless fights and on the verge of divorce his father steps in and gives his son a 40 day experiment called "The Love Dare." On this 40 day journey he learns that his wife and his marriage are worth fighting for and he discovers the true meaning of love. Now that I have given the background of it I can continue haha! My bestfriend gave us this book for Christmas and we just recently started it again! I feel like we live in a world where so many people act like their life is perfect and that if anyone does something like this to better them that something must be "wrong." I think every married couple should do his challenge because it can only make you stronger! I have decided to document some of our journey...not all because some things do need to remain intimate :)

Day 1 ~ Love is Patient
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love - Ephesians 4:2

This day was about demonstrating patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all! I have a much harder time with my words than Mike! I found it completely eyeopening to really think before we said things to eachother because the whole mood was different! The stress of us never really seeing eachother and trying to get everything done around the house and with Logan when we are together can really take a toll on us! We both get somewhat annoyed and angered easily but we found this day to be fun and the days to follow. When either of us even get to a place where we are going to be negative we simply respond with "You are being nasty start over" lol! We both start laughing and everything else seems lighter! My prayer for this day is that my words of love and praise ring louder than my words of hurt. That my tongue is used for building up not breaking down. I become more aware of what my words truly are saying and pick them wisely or not say things at all. Amen!!

A lot lead me to blog today....

WOW, has it really been over a year in a half that I have written on this blog? It is so crazy to read the last blog about Logan's progress then and know how far he has come. He is becoming such a little man and it excites me yet scares me all at the same time. In August last year our little boy turned 2 and started preschool. It was a very hard thing for me to do and he only goes three days a week for three hours each day! I pushed through though and knew that in the end it would benefit him and it has in so many ways! He has so many friends and gets smarter everyday. Now we are at the end of May and school ends in two weeks and in August Logan will be 3! Where has the time gone? Now onto what has been laid on my heart today....

So much has changed in such a short amount of time!!! I feel like the burning question on everyones mind everytime we talk to someone or see someone is "when will Logan have a brother or sister?" I always have the same answer...hopefully soon!! It is no secret to those close around me that I have endometriosis and it has become much worse since we had Logan. I have two amazing doctors that Mike and I trust completely and we are certain that God lead us to each of them to help us along the way in our journey of parenthood! My heart burns with desire to have as many children as the Lord would like to entrust in our care! It has not been an easy or pleasant journey and honestly deep down in my heart I knew without a doubt that I couldn't handle what might lay ahead of us. The hormone therapies and possible fertility treatments started sounding like the only answers and I was scared to death! I have been going about my days in almost a haze state wondering what will happen and how will we deal with the outcome if it is not what we expect or hope for. Monday morning on my way to work I turned on my Jeremy Camp CD and "Walk by Faith" was playing. The song sang straight to my heart and the words he sang were God's words to me. Over and over I heard "I will walk, I will walk, I will walk by faith I will, I will, I will walk by faith." Right in that moment I was reminded that I didn't have to endure all of this alone or be afraid . I could do it all in the strength of Him who has all power!! Right there on the way to my shift Monday morning at Geico God's word revived my soul! This is not the first time this has happened in such a way (music has always been a very powerful tool between God and I) and I know it will not be the last. But I knew then and I know now that nothing else could have made me feel the same way that did. Often my heart aches because I let this world get the best of me and I seem to find enough time to fit everyone and everything else in and fail my Lord miserably. I know more than anyone that I must spend time with the Lord through His word daily yet sometimes I don't do it. I have challenged myself to not only pick up my Bible daily and spend quality time with the Lord but I will listen to scripture in my car and write it everywhere I can see! I know deep in my heart that the more I experience my God the less I will want anything else! My favorite verse right now through this experience is John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." This is a constant reminder for me when my mind goes to what might happen or how will we handle this. God wouldn't do anything or allow anything to come into my life that would not be right or good for me, because HE is the good shepherd. I just really felt lead to write this blog and share this today because I know that I am not the only Christian that feels this way sometimes. My current problem might seem big to some and small to others but remember that God wants to be involved in everything in your life and He is concerned with every detail big or small. We just have to let Him in!!!

God Bless~
Jamie