Prayer Letter

Th/: proseuch/: proskarterei:te

                 Colossians 4:2 "Be devoted to prayer"


For those who are interested in knowing how they can be praying for us, here are a few prayer requests that we have. Thanks in advance for lifting us up in your prayers :)

1. Please be praying for our precious baby girl's arrival (on or around October 19th). For a healthy delivery and recovery for both our baby girl & Tif.

                                (32 weeks)
2. Wisdom and guidance in decisions that we need to make regarding Tif's Family Medical Leave and Insurance once she is done working.
3. Jacob's busy schedule as he continues to work full time and begins classes this coming week.
4. Patience as we eagerly wait to find out our placement for Jacob's internship next summer.
5. That Jacob & I will continue to grow together in our marriage as well as in our personal relationship with the Lord.
6. Praying for Tif's sister & brother as they are currently serving the Lord in Costa Rica (sister) and Peru (brother).
7. Wisdom in handling our finances as we plan and prepare for Baby Kallman.
8. Praise! God has been providing for our needs in preparation for this sweet little gift He has given to us. (Thanks again to everyone who has showered us with gifts & has helped us prepare for her arrival!)
9. Praise! God has been providing for our financial needs by allowing Jacob to have some good sales the past couple weeks.

Baby Recap: God's Faithfulness

                      Coming Soon...Baby Kallman

                             October 19, 2012

                      (Ultrasound at 17 weeks)

I realized the other day that it has been way too long since I posted in our blog. A lot has happened in the last 6 months! It has definitely been an emotional roller-coaster to say the least. Now, where to begin?! Jacob and I found out on February 18, 2012 that we were expecting :) I surprised Jacob with the news by giving him a "late" Valentine's Day gift. When he unwrapped it, he found this shirt along with the home pregnancy test inside. We were both extremely excited and a little nervous about this BIG change that was going to take place in our lives.

February 28, 2012 is an important day as it marked what seemed to be the beginning of a long road ahead. We had our first appointment with the OB nurse in which we found out that I was 6 weeks pregnant. In addition, I began getting the symptoms of a UTI. By that evening, the symptoms had progressed so quickly that I was too miserable to wait until the following morning to call the doctor. Thankfully, I was able to get the OB doctor on call and was able to get my first round of antibiotics for 10 days. By the second weekend of March, the UTI had returned full force. Once again, I had to call the Primary doctor on call as my primary doctor was not open over the weekend. I was then put back on another antibiotic for 10 days. By this point I was completely overwhelmed and so tired of being on the antibiotics and throwing up every day. I was so anxious to finally be feeling better! Then on April 16, 2012, Jacob had to take me to the ER as I was doubled over in pain and had yet again more symptoms of a UTI. The test results came back that the baby was ok, that I did have another UTI, and that I was dehydrated. After an IV and another 10 days of antibiotics I was finally feeling better! 

By this point, Jacob and I both were hoping that the rest of the pregnancy would go a lot better than the past few weeks had. However, May 14th brought with it a whole other set of trials. I received a call from my OB office informing me that my blood work to test for Neural Tube Defects came back abnormal for Downs Syndrome. This news completely scared me to death! They bumped my ultrasound up from June 1st to May 17th so that they could begin looking for any possible signs of Downs Syndrome. Praise God the ultrasound tech said that all of the measurements were coming out fine and the baby looked healthy! To top it all off...we found out that we were having a little girl :)

                     (Ultrasound at 17 weeks)

The doctor sent me to see an OB Specialist for a more detailed ultrasound to look for any possible abnormalities or signs of Downs Syndrome. Thankfully, we walked away with a good report that our baby girl looked completely healthy and yet again met all of the normal measurements. There were so many times throughout my first and second trimester that I felt completely defeated and discouraged by everything that was going on. But God is faithful and he was with me each step of the way. Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who have been there to encourage us and support us through prayer during this difficult time. 

I will be 27 weeks tomorrow and we are counting down the days until we get to meet and hold our precious baby girl. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have already blessed and spoiled our baby girl with your love, prayers, and gifts!

Prayer Letter

     

Th/: proseuch/: proskarterei:te

             Colossians 4:2 "Be devoted to prayer"

Last year, Jacob and I decided to send out prayer letters to our family and friends so that they could play an active role in our lives by knowing how to pray for us. Unfortunately, we were not very faithful in doing so. We decided to try to do our prayer letters through our blog in hopes that it will help us be more faithful in making them on a regular basis.  We would really appreciate your prayers!

1) On Monday,  Tiffany finally convinced me to go to the doctor about a bruise that I have had on my leg for well over a year. After having my legs examined it turned out to be pooling blood or something like a varicose vein. The doctor was not too concerned but decided to send me to a specialist to have ultrasounds done on both of my legs to make sure it wasn’t Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).  No worries, the specialist informed me that I don’t have DVT or superficial DVT. However, following my appointment with the specialist, I was notified that what I do have is something I cannot pronounce and therefore cannot type. lol. Basically my valves in my veins are not working.  (When the heart pumps, valves in your veins close to keep the blood from falling back down your leg in between pumps). The ultrasound showed that those veins are not working. The doctor didn’t sound too worried and said  that there is really nothing they can do. By how he explained it, he said I will be more prone to get bruise-like varicose veins. He is scheduling me with a vein doctor expert person to make sure and rule anything else out. They will know more about preventative measures and will be able to make sure it doesn’t turn into anything else. Needless to say, Tif was very thankful that I went to the doctor to have this checked out :D

2) Please pray for Tiffany as she is learning to be content and trusting in God's timing. Being the "planner" that she is, it can be difficult to not know what God has planned for the future.

3) PRAISE! Jacob has been doing better in his Hebrew class :)

                                  Thanks for your prayers!

A Little Encouragement + Lots of Conviction= A New Goal to Work On!

      For those of you who may not already know, I work at Scranton Counseling Center in the Intellectual Disabilities Department. In short, my job is to set up services (ie. respite, employment, group home placement, etc) for individuals who are diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability or are Dual Diagnosed. In addition, I monitor my clients to ensure that their needs are being met & I monitor the services to make sure that they are being utilized appropriately.
     
      I apologize ahead of time for being vague, but for confidentiality sake this individual will remain nameless & the details vague.  This past Thursday, I was unexpectedly encouraged and convicted following my meeting with one of my clients. Due to the circumstances in his life, I expected my client to come to the meeting with a heavy heart, and an attitude of not wanting to put the effort into the meeting. For all I know, he has every right to be depressed and discouraged. Surprisingly....I was soooo wrong! If I had to guess, I'd say he spent at least 80% of the meeting laughing and telling his boss and myself all about his job and how happy he is. I was completely blown away by the joy he had!


     As I was driving back to work, I felt so convicted and could not get my mind to stop thinking about how happy he was. How could he be so happy despite all of the painful things that have happened to him in the past and the things he is going through right now? Here I am with an AMAZING God who has given me salvation and provides for all of my needs, a loving husband who puts up with all of my downfalls, a job for both my husband and myself, family that love and care about me, and friends to spend time with. The list could go on..... Yet how much of my day do I spend complaining about how stressful my job is, how miserable the winters are here in Clarks Summit, PA, how much I miss family at home & in Michigan, or the awful hours my husband has to work? The reality of it all is, I have absolutely no reason to complain or lack contentment! 


     This morning in my devotions, I read and was really encouraged by Psalm 34. I would really like to make it my goal that others will be able to see the love of God in me.  When people look at me, I pray that they will see joy in my life, not someone that never stops complaining. At work, I am not able to share the Gospel with my clients or tell them that I am praying for them but I really hope that they will see a difference in me and be encouraged. I know that God can work through me!  I hope that you are encouraged & maybe even a little convicted by this...no worries we can work on this together :)


                              Psalm 34:1,8
                                                             "I will extol the LORD at all times;
                                                          his praise will always be on my lips."
                                                       "Taste and see that the LORD is good;
                                                     blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."

New Years Resolution 2012

    Until last year, I was never really big on making New Years Resolutions. I never really saw the purpose of setting goals that I knew I probably would never keep past a month. Last year Jacob and I made a goal to have all of my college loans payed off by January 1, 2012. Although I was very skeptical, I was very excited at the thought of not having any debt. Thankfully with God's provision we were able to accomplish this goal!
    This year I have decided to make three New Years Resolutions. One of my three goals is to start this blog. As Jacob and I are from two completely different states, we have come to the realization that no matter where God leads us, we will always have family and friends that will be miles apart. We hope that this blog will be successful in keeping everyone updated on what is going on in our lives both individually and as a couple.
    We hope and pray that our followers will be encouraged by this blog. We hope to share what God is teaching us, our prayer requests on a weekly basis, things we are thankful for, and the fun times that will come our way. Please feel free to post comments or words of encouragement! Enjoy :)