Praise be to God!!!

Here goes.... 1st you all know we are having a little girl. We have settled on a name for our sweet bundle. Her name is Ruthie Grace Thorpe. I love her so much already and I'm so excited that she's moving around and jimmy and i have both felt her tumbling around in there!

2nd.... We had our 19 wk ultrasound. They saw some 'red flags' and sent us to a specialist. They said there were spots on her brain and she had enlarged kidneys. They said this was common but still needed to be checked out.
Fast forward to Monday (20 wks). We went in thinking everything was fine. Throughout the ultrasound i just watched and enjoyed seeing Ruthie on the screen. After the ultrasound, our doctor came in and long story short.... no brain spots, no enlarged kidneys, BUT there is a soft marker for a chromosomal defect (top 3 are Down's syndrome, trisomy 18 (fatal), and trisomy 13 (also fatal)) and she has a large mass on her lung that will probably hinder her lungs from developing properly. This mass is also displacing her heart and they can't get a good look at it. They said we could lose her at any time. Walking out of the doctor's office on Monday, we had very little hope that Ruthie would make it through the pregnancy, let alone make it through birth. Under the advisement of our doctor (who is really nice, despite the terrible news she was giving us), we had an amniocentesis (a test for genetic abnormalities). Scary. We are testing for these genetic problems first, then watching the lung mass carefully.

We started praying immediately. Days of praying and waiting for the results of the amnio. I mean we were praying, crying out to the Lord. A few people (wonderful, beautiful friends and family) knew about this and were praying/crying with us.

Got some news back today. The preliminary ammnio results came back clear for those top 3. They had to send off for more testing. The full results will come back on Tuesday and we have another ultrasound on Thursday.

We are in no way out of the woods BUT God is so faithful! He has answered our first prayer. We continue to ask God for clear results of the tests AND disappearance of the mass on her lung!! Please join us in this prayer. We love her so much and she has an army of prayer warriors who love her so much already.

Thank you all for your prayers and love! We love you guys so much!

Trying to be faithful and optimistic but oh so guarded and cautious.

June 2011

Well, this month is filling up fast. Jimmy's summer life is pretty much like the rest of the year. But my summer is much different than the rest of the year. I'm looking forward to several things this month. We are celebrating Jason and Erin's upcoming marriage with a couples shower. By the Brook is this month. We are so very excited to be a part of this amazing weekend. It's a retreat for mothers of special needs children. It's a ministry of Rising Above Ministries. I'm planning the Haiti August trip for our church. Not going on this trip, but I'm super excited to help them get there! It's a life-changing experience and I'm pumped to help people to go.

Another big thing this summer, I'm growing a baby. I'm 17 weeks. :) We will be finding out if it's a boy or girl in 2 weeks. I'm super excited to give this child a name and a room in our house. I know my family and friends are ready to know too. As far as how I feel, I feel a little better. I have days that are great and days that resemble the first 3 months. I've noticed that it really has to do with what and how much I eat. If I can eat healthy, every 4 hours, it's not so bad. Now I just have to hold onto the conviction and discipline to do that.

This is an unfortunate or fortunate (depending on how you look at it) development for summer. I have lost all interest in TV. There's nothing worth watching. If you know me, this is a pretty big deal. I've been a lover of television for years and years. But these days, I've got all this time and I usually would spend some of it watching TV but I have no interest in it. It almost feels like a deliverance from addiction. Praise the Lord! I guess I'll get more done, clean more, and spend more time out with people. So, call me. We'll do lunch sometime.

Well.... that's what's new with us.

New addition

Jimmy and I are expecting a little thorpe around November 10th. I've not posted on our blog... "What's new with the Thorpe's" because the only thing (that matters) that was new was pregnancy. We were so excited and nervous. Well, 75 % nervous 25% excited. Jimmy was probably the other way around. Not sure if you know this but I miscarried last year and was super cautious of telling people this time around. If you asked jimmy, he was more likely to give up the secret.

So, I've been super sick, nervous, and a little cranky. My students at school have taken the brunt of the crankiness.

Morning sickness is totally different than I expected. I always thought, nausea?? Get over it already. But, that's easier said than done. It's amazing how all consuming that feeling is. If you feel sick, it's all you can think about. You can't function normally and that is super frustrating. With that said, it is also super comforting. Every time I was sick (most evenings and some mornings) I would thank God for that sickness... because the absence of sickness would be quickly replaced with worry. I understand the need for complaining. It's therapeutic. But it's a dangerous slope of selfishness. I have to remind myself that others around me are not sick and need me to function as normal as possible. AND in reality, I'm not sick. I'm pregnant. That is the most amazing blessing and I can't spend my time complaining all the time. I must focus on the blessing.

I'm 12 weeks pregnant. 28 to go. We found out I was pregnant very early. We found out at 5 weeks just before our trip to Haiti. Talk about nervous, I tried to forget it, put it off for a week, but Jimmy wouldn't let me. He was sweetly suggesting that I not go on the 3 hour hike up and down the mountain. Don't eat this or that. I knew people would begin to notice the way he was protecting me. But they didn't. We had kept it a secret. We were trying to keep our secret until week 12. That's when sweet Pastor Joseph (Haitian) waltzes into our house and asks our team if he can pray for us. Joseph only speaks creole. So, he brought along our friend Steve to translate. He begins to pray for us. He is the most fervent and faithful man I've ever met. Throughout this prayer, he speaks to God about blessing us with a child and many other things about our family. After he and our team are finished praying for us, he tells us through the translator that he had a dream about me and jimmy. We were pregnant and very happy. How could we keep this secret from him!! Through my tears, I told Steve and the rest of the team that I was pregnant. The room erupted in laughter, tears, and hugs. Many people on our team and Steve had been praying for us for many months. Poor Joseph had no idea what was going on. Then, in excitement, Steve translated our good news. Joseph was ecstatic. I'm pretty sure there was jumping and shouting. He was so thankful to our Father for this blessing. I was humbled at how everyone had taken the news. I was still very guarded and nervous. But everyone else was so happy for us. Sweet friend, Mallory, who we had just met 2 days before in the airport, was weeping with happiness. I love her. Don't get me wrong. I was very happy and excited but wouldn't allow myself to get too attached to the idea.

I'm proud to say I am now 75% excited and 25 % nervous with my nerves decreasing every day. I know that God has blessed us with so many friends and family. He will never leave or forsake me. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. As I was preparing lessons for Haiti, God gave me a word through the story of Mary, mother of Jesus. An angel comes to her and shares the plan. She doesn't say... I'm not ready for this.... I'm nervous. She says, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let this thing happen to me. That's what I've been repeating to myself this past 12 weeks. Whether God chooses for this child to grow and become part of our family or God chooses to take this child to heaven before we get to meet him/her, then "I'm the servant of the Lord. Let this thing happen to me." I must continue to trust in Him and lean not on my own understanding but on His word.

Thank you to all our friends and family who have been praying for us. I ask for your continued prayers for our little bundle. Praise the Lord for these blessings. Also, we have many friends who are struggling to conceive. Please continue to pray for them. It's so hard to watch others get answered prayers that you're not getting. We love you and are continuing to pray for you!

Haiti March 2011

We have returned to America having learned a few things. I (Kim) learn something different everytime i go to another country. Sometimes I learn about that country, sometimes I learn about myself, sometimes I learn something about the Church, etc.... This trip I have learned several things.

#1 I am truly grateful for the structure that our country provides. I have never appreciated this until now. On our way back, we hit a few snags. Long story short, Jimmy had to stay back an extra day and visit the local "hospital". After visiting the hospital, (jimmy wasn't sick. It was a team member of ours) the airline didn't want to let them back on the plane because our note from the doctor wasn't "stamped". The airline is totally correct, totally within their protocol to ask for such a document. But, seriously? Asking our team for an official document from a Haitian hospital is a ridiculous request. Jessica (a saint, in my book) went back to the hospital to look for the illusive "stamp". She found a red cross stamp, a hello kitty stamp, and some kind of green stamp that had french on it. The airlines finally accepted this series of stamps. (i think the hello kitty one set them off) I have never been so happy to see MIAMI! This series of events was totally planned by God from the beginning of time. I only wish I had known about it. I wouldn't have freaked out so bad when Jimmy, Hillary, and Jessica were escorted off our plane.

#2 I "require" a lot of unnecessary things. (No explanation necessary)

#3 Satan working in America is very, VERY differently then how he works in Haiti. Voodoo is for real and scary.

#4 God's love for me is way beyond anything I can do or work for. God doesn't want to use me. He wants to LOVE me. (Thank you Mallory for this 2 X 4)

#5 Haitian children need discipline as well.

#6 Soccer is legit.

#7 There are people in the world that totally amaze me by their love, kindness, hospitality, work ethic, leadership, friendship, etc. Sylvanie, Pastor Frisnell, Bayenn, Steve, Pastor Joseph, Paul, Hillary, Jessica, Mallory, Katie, Amber, Jimmy, Tim, Sydney, and Lyndsay.

Thanks so much to all who have been praying for us and for Haiti. Please continue to pray for them. Satan is so real and stinkin' scary. Pray for healing in their country. Pray for the elections coming up. Pray that God would be glorified and Satan would be defeated.

We love you all!!

2011: The Year of Restoration

Jimmy and I have coined 2010 "the year of loss." Not to say there wasn't joy in our year last year... My sister had the cutest baby girl, jimmy and I both got to go to Haiti (meeting this joyful child- Sophanisha...sp?), lots of friends have new little ones, jimmy had an awesome 30th birthday party and many, many more joyful times.

But... there was more loss in 2010 than all the years of our marriage combined. Lots of sad stories but that's not really what I'm talking about....

After a year like 2010, Jimmy and I decided we were coining 2011 before it even started.... 2011 is the year of Restoration, Redemption, Endurance, and other synonyms of the like. The restoration has begun. Jimmy and I are very hopeful for the future. But, in the mean time, we are still fighting. "Fighting" is too strong...We are not unhappy. Our spirits are generally high. We just get bad news here, bad news there... It's just another chance for God to show up and redeem the situation. Just another chance for God to get the GLORY for something that we or our friends/family could never endure without the power of the Holy Spirit. When we coined 2011 as the year of restoration, I didn't realize that we would have to endure the struggles. I just naively thought our victories would be quick and painless. What was I thinking? What good would that do? I certainly wouldn't appreciate the little things. Only giving God the glory for 1 deep breath and not the little shallow ones that sustain us as well.

So, our year of restoration has begun. God is changing us and showing us everyday how to love each other better, love our families better, spread the Gospel more effectively, and so many other things that all the blogs in the world could not contain.

Big events on the docket for 2011:

• We are heading back to Haiti March 6th. I am so happy to get to see our wonderful friends and Haitian family.



• Hopefully, a vacation! a cruise! please! now! or summer...
  



• Coming along side Rising Above Ministries!! Yeah!! Who knows what this looks like?? Maybe Jeff Davidson will have an idea???
  



• Continuing paperwork for our adoption. Yeah.... we're in the early early beginning stages of adoption. We are filling out paperwork. We hope to start classes for this in May. More details as we get them.

This is what's new with the Thorpe's this week!

Wondering what I'm reading... Matthew, Mark, and Francis. The two gospels and Forgotten God by Francis Chan (chapter 7 more precisely).

Starting to Blog

So... I told Jimmy I was starting a blog of our lives. He laughed at me! I know... Our lives don't seem that exciting... and really it's not. But I just recently got to catch up with some very dear friends who have been blogging for years. I feel like I have been talking to them twice a week for all those years we've been apart. They just ask "What's new with the Thorpe's." Well, my thought was to start a blog to let you know. If nothing else, this can be a place for me to work out the things that are happening in our lives.

As Jimmy is by far the more eloquent writer of the family, I will make my attempt to not sound like a complete moron. I'm all science and math. Jimmy is our artsy fartsy side and I am our calculator.

Welcome to our blog!! New posts coming soon! Maybe spelled correctly and grammatically correct... depending on who is doing the typing.