Not how we expected to start the week...

So this isn't what we expected our Monday morning to have in store for us, but we're rolling with it!

Mac woke up with a bit of a fever and by 8am was at 100.9, which is typically low, but for a newborn high.

We headed to the pediatrician where she said the word I knew was coming...hospital.

I think the doctor was waiting for me to flip out, but we've had several friends go through this so we knew what to expect. It's protocol with our pediatricians to admit newborns once fever reaches a certain point and run a battery of precautionary tests.  

So little man has been a trooper and endured being poked, prodded, tapped, x rayed, etc.

Once again, thankful for family in town and help for the big kids!!!

We are grateful tests are coming back clear as of yet!  Happy news!

Not sure what the tongue smiles are about.

We are actually enjoying some forced rest and quiet time with the most one on one time we've had since his birth.

I'd started rereading One Thousand Gifts last week...I needed the push to have a grateful heart.

Little did I know how much I'd need it!

Grateful for clear tests, normal temperatures, a quiet room, sweet nurses, one on one time, dates with my man even if they include a to go box and a hospital room, diet lemonade, encouraging texts and calls, friends bringing snacks & dinners, rides for kids, family help....

I love this from One Thousand Gifts...

I too had read it often, the oft-quoted verse: "And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).  And I, too, would nod and say straight-faced, "I'm thankful for everything." But in this counting gifts, to one thousand, more, I discover that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life.  A lifetime of sermons on "thanks in all things" and the shelves of sagging books on these things and I testify: life-changing gratitude does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time.

And from Jesus Calling for today...

As you bring Me the sacrifice of thanksgiving, regardless of your feelings, My Spirit is able to work more freely within you.  This produces more thankfulness and more freedom, until you are overflowing with gratitude.  

I shower blessings on you daily, but sometimes you don't perceive them.  When your mind is stuck on a negative focus, you see neither Me nor My gifts.  In faith, thank Me for whatever is preoccupying your mind.  This will clear the blockage so that you can find Me.

God has brought this story from Daniel to my mind over the past day, reminding me He is sovereign, and we are to praise Him no matter what any test result may say...

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, 

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, 

the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. 

But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, 

that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 

Daniel 3:16-18

"Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon Me in the day of trouble..."

Psalm 50:14-15

"He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart;
He gently leads those that have young."

Isaiah 40:11