11.20.2005

making of a mommy...



Meet Zoe Margaret Jobson...so little, so dependent, so innocent. Babies are amazing. You can learn so much from them. We chose Zoe's name because it means "life." It's the word in the Greek that means the kind of life that Jesus gives...abundant life...that is our prayer for her.
Zoe is a good baby, she has been since day 1. Currently we are having a struggle with her daytime sleep due to the fact that I created a few "sleep props" that we had to wean her off of the past few days. Can we say CRYING! There really is nothing like the sound of your own baby's cry...it causes an anxiety that I have never known. The minute I hear it my heart skips a beat. Zoe is 6 weeks old she will be 7 weeks on Tuesday. Hard to believe it's been that long it seems like yesterday we brought her home. She is a gift. Another great example of God's grace to me "in spite of myself." I look at this little life that has been entrusted to me and Jeremy and I think wow! okay Lord you see something in me that I don't! I am thankful for Zoe. I am glad that the Lord allowed her to come to us. I am happy that He chose her to teach me more about Him and especially to teach me how to live by His power. (if you've had a baby you know what I mean!)
Back to Zoe...her day goes something like this: She wakes up anywhere between 5:30-6:00 sometimes later. I am not ready to get up yet so most of the time I will take her to bed with us to nurse and dose until about 7 or 7:30. Sometimes we might fall back asleep until 8:00, that is nice:) After her morning feeding (the 8-8:30 one) I get her dressed for her day, she lays on the couch and takes in the world (that is her favorite right now-just laying on her back and looking around). After a little bit of "waketime" Zoe goes down for a nap...this is the part she doesn't care for! It goes like that for the rest of the day. Feed, play, sleep. The life of a babe! Sometimes we go out and run errands which she will usually sleep through. She has started to focus more with her eyes which is awesome. Today she just looked and looked at me. She also has started to smile...you have to work pretty hard...but she'll eventually do it. Talk about giving her mommy a happy rush! Her smile is sooooo precious, she has the cutest dimple ever! Zoe's daddy, Jeremy, is amazing with her. She loves him so much. I feel so blessed to have such an involved husband. He's pretty wonderful too.
The making of a mommy is no easy feat...it keeps you on your toes and grows your heart like nothing else. I am convinced that mommyhood is one of God's greatest tools for learning about death to self...something I have prayed to be better at for many years. May He have His way! Of all the tools He could have chosen to use this one is pretty cute.

Title of this blog...

In spite of me...I guess I should explain the name of my blog. When I was a freshman in college I guess you could say I was on the fence spiritually. I had an intense desire to follow Christ and yet had many other desires which conflicted. I was better, sometimes more than others, at denying desires opposed to following Christ, yet I still stumbled in many ways. It was during one such "stumble" that my best friend Beth said to me after I had spoken to someone about faith in Jesus, "Maggie the Lord really uses you in spite of yourself!" What truth my dear friend had spoken...she nailed it and I have never forgotten it. Even though now almost 8 years later, I don't struggle with the same issues, I still struggle and the Lord still blesses me "in spite of myself." The issues may change but I will always need the irresistable GRACE that first drew me to Himself. He is good like that...covering our sin, meeting our need, challenging our faith, being ever faithful when we are faithless at times. He is amazing and my prayer is that this Grace in spite of me will continue to draw me in and change my life...it can change us all you know!