Thankfulness

While we were in Branson last week, God was showing me how much I had to be thankful for! Each day, I saw the beauty of His creation and couldn't help but say thank you! The weather was beautiful, all the flowers were in full bloom, the grass was lush and green, and there was family to spend time with. The Lord was teaching me that there was so much more to be thankful for than to worry and fret about! Psalm 100 tells us to

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

So, what things can you be thankful for or put a positive spin on and say Thank you for instead of, "Why is this happening?"

For my own life there are several things I can think about!

Thank you for Harper's cute little hearing aids that help synchronize the sounds during her "off" moments, instead of dwelling on the fact that Harper has Auditory Neuropathy.

I just cannot get the song "Count Your Many Blessings" out of my head, so today I am going to do just that! I am going to count my blessings and give thanks to God for His steadfast and enduring love and all the blessings he gives, whether great or small!

Letting God Out of My Box!

As I sat doing my Bible study this morning, I had so many things running through my mind. I was thinking about Harper's Auditory Neuropathy, her healing, being a better Christian, Faith, the prayers of a righteous man, healing in general, and so much more.

I am tired of being a "Sunday only/when people see me" Christian. I am tired of keeping God in a box. Harper having the neuropathy has stretched me SO much! Never before would I have prayed for healing and truly believe it could happen. These past 6 months, God has shown me just how BIG he is and how finite I am. He has opened my eyes to the sin of my ways. He has taught me about faith and how little mine is. I think it is so sad that I profess to be a Christian and to trust in this great God but have such small faith. I think it is sad that I have given God about 1% of my life and kept the rest for myself.

God is showing me that it is a whole lot more than typical Sunday School answers. It is about dying to self daily and presenting myself as a living sacrifice to God!

-- Whitney

How it came to be known....Finding out about Harper's hearing loss.

After Harper was born the hospital ran the ABR screening on her hearing, but she did not pass. We were told not to worry about it and that there are several babies that "refer". We had the test ran again the next morning, but the results were the same. Before we went home, the test had been run five times and Harper failed all five times. We took Harper back to the hospital a week later to run the screening again. The nurse performed the test twice. Harper passed once on the right ear but failed on the left ear both times.

We were referred to the health department but Harper's forehead was too tiny for the test. We were then referred to the Hough Ear Institute in OKC. At Hough, Dr. Mark Wood checked Harper's ears and had the audiologist perform the OAE screening on her. Harper's ears looked perfectly normal but she failed the OAE screening. We were set up to have Harper's hearing tested at Hearts for Hearing.

On November 12, we took Harper to Hearts for Hearing to have the ABR test ran on Harper's hearing. The test revealed that Harper had a profound hearing loss in her left ear and auditory neuropathy and dys-synchrony (AN/AD) in both ears. This means that in Harper's left ear, the most quiet sounds heard are from 95 dB or more. With the AN/AD, especially in the right ear, Harper can hear, but there is a break in connection as the sound is traveling up the auditory nerve. Once the sound reaches the brain, it is just noise. It is like turning the radio on only hearing static. The audiologist suggested we begin using hearing aids on Harper and test her hearing at six months to see if there are any changes.

Our prayer is that God would heal Harper's hearing if it be His will, but if not, that we would do what is best for Harper!

Harper's Birth Story

A ton has happened since the last post . . . and so we begin with Harper's birth.

About 2:00 p.m. on October 2nd, Whit began having contractions. We went through the day timing the them hoping this was the real thing. We returned from Enid hoping to have to return! She walked, she ironed, she mowed the lawn . . . you get the idea. Around midnight her contractions were around 6 minutes apart or less, so we decided to make our way to the hospital to get things checked out. It didn't seem at first that they would keep us in, we worried they would send us home. The doctor had us walk the halls to help labor progress. About 7:00 a.m. (October 3rd) they decided to keep us and put us in a room.

Both of our families came up in the middle of the night to be with us. Around 2:00 p.m. the nurse came in and said it was time to push! Whit pushed for an hour and at 3:03 p.m. Harper Grace Laramore entered the world!

She weighed 8.07 lbs and was 20 & 1/4 inches long.

Announcing . . . no, no just read below . . .

EDITORS NOTE: Instead of beginning this blog with the typical, "Wow, it's been a long time since the last post," we'll just continue it as if we blogged last night. ;)

If you haven't been keeping up with us on Facebook, we've got an announcement . . . we're pregnant! . . . by the way, we're due in a week and a half! That's right, hopefully in less than a week and a half we'll be holding in our arms Harper Grace Here are some highlights from the past 8 1/2 months:

January - We found out we were going to be parents.

February - We did very well at hiding pregnancy and morning . . . ALL DAY sickness!

March - We got to see sweet pea for the first time!

April - Whit celebrated her first birthday as a pregnant chica!

May - We found out we were having Harper Grace as opposed to Harry Grover (errr wait, what?) Also felt Harper kick for the first time!

June - Bryan celebrated his first birthday as dad-2-be, we celebrated our anniversary as uber-excited parents to be, and Bryan felt Harper kick for the first time . . . funny story on that last one, but we'll save it for later . . .

July - Whit experienced a very hot Falls Creek Summer Camp as a 7-month-pregnant momma

. . . aka, a "hot" momma (obviously Bryan is typing at the moment)

August - We had a 4-D ultrasound to determine that cysts on the brain had dissolved. We had two WONDERFUL showers as well as put together her nursery.

September has come and we are playing the "Waiting Game."

Just today, we went to an all day Prepared Childbirth Class from 10 to 4 . . . which made us all the more ready for Harpie to join us this side of the womb!

More to come, we promise! (but hopefully not 9 months from now!)

B&W&H...

Who Says "Dress Up" is Just for Kids?

Sometimes I do crazy things, this is a well known fact. But in case you didn't know this already, or just weren't quite convinced, I present to you two pieces of evidence:

#1 - A few weeks before the depressing conclusion of the Cowboys' season, they nearly derailed the then undefeated New Orleans Saints' incredible season (unfortunately they recovered and will be showcased in the 2010 Super Bowl . . . drats!). Nevertheless, filled with excitement, I decided to display a little pride in my team. Sporting a Dallas Cowboy #24 (Marion Barber) Jersey pulled over a white button-up and Dallas Cowboy tie, I marched out the door to parade the defeat over the Saints! Here's how it went:

#2 - Again, in an attempt to display confidence in my team, I accepted a wager with one of our students, "Mark Sanchez" (not the students' real name; his identity will remain anonymous!) Here was the situation: The Cowboys and the Jets were both in for a post-season run. I receive a text message that begins a bit of a conversation. Here's how it goes,

"Mark Sanchez": "Oh hey, u wanna make a wager?"

Me: "Bring it son!"

"Mark Sanchez": "I bet my nfl team goes farther than urs!"

Me: "You're on!"

"Mark Sanchez": "Ok! Wat u wanna bet?"

Me: "Lemme think on it and I'll text you tomorrow."

(the next day)

Me: "If the Boys advance farther than whoever you waste time rooting for [:)], then you have to clean the Summit House (our youth/multipurpose building), top to bottom."

The other end of the bargain was not so glamorous for an OSU fan who doesn't like OU . . . if the Cowboys did not go farther than the Jets in the playoffs . . . um . . . yeah . . . then I'd have to PREACH IN OU GARB!!!!!! Garbage that is! Here's the unfortunate evidence of this endeavor:

Looks like I've gained a lot of weight (it's just the shirt) . . . and a lot more humility . . . lesson learned!!! (by the way, in the background is the Summit House that still sits dirty as a result of the loss of this wager)

Things That Make Me Up-Chuck

Whit and I recently upgraded to the ever trendy, awesome, handy, (near-idolatrous, in fact) iPhone. I've been waiting and waiting to get this phone. No lie, ask Brian Barton. So here's where God kindly reminds me that my joy comes not from the created, but the Creator! :)

The story on my iPhone . . . We both upgraded at the ATT store, immediately had to go to an annual meeting of Baptists in Enid. At the meeting, I had to 'use the room.' The iPhone slipped out of my chest pocket and into the toilet, no lie, within the first two hours of owning the dang thing. I immediately grabbed it - gross - and dried it off. It worked through the meeting, but then quit working when we got home. I googled some remedies and found a possible, slight chance of fixing it: I put it in a bag of rice over night, and to this point, it works. . . except the camera, the shutter won't open...

Aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh!

But for now, I am enjoying the multifaceted quality of our iPhones . . . God, you are the joy of my heart, not this piece of machinery, but Lord can I keep it?