March 6, 2012 --First Doctors Appointment

What a great first visit to the Women's Wellness Center. First off, I would like to say "Wow!" to how quick we got in our room and how quick the whole thing went. We were only in the waiting room for no more than 5 minutes. As soon as we got to our room a nurse came right in and right after she left two more came in right afterward to talk more about what to expect. The ladies were so polite and made us feel super comfortable with this new season we are coming in to.

Second, I would like to tell everyone how amazing the visit went. It was confirmed that I AM pregnant...after taking two test I had already made that assumption but it was nice to hear it confirmed by a nurse. We were in our room when the nurse came in and told us: 1.) I'm pregnant 2.) I'm about 6 weeks and 4 days and 3.) The baby is due October 26, 2012 ! It was such a relief to finally put a date and time on all of this. Up until that point I had been guessing that I was almost 7 weeks and it was guessed that October 26th would be the due date but again to have it confirmed was very reassuring.

The biggest event at our doctors appointment was getting the first ultrasound. We got to hear the little ones heart beat and see it on the screen. While it is still approx. the size of a piece of rice it's heart beat was so loud and steady I almost fell off the bed in shock. Everyone has asked me if I cried and the answer is no (I think James was about to though) but I did have this rush of falling in love with another human being right there in the room--and I have yet to meet the little one. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. In that moment our little baby became real to us. I can only imagine how much our love will grow each doctors visit.

Look who made it to the fridge! :) You see that spot in the corner of the black circle? That's our little one.

I'm so glad that I had James there with me. I believe that even though we may have hard times where we pick at each other we still make a great team. He balances me out so well. I am more of a "I'm 22 therefore I must learn how to grow up and be an adult" where he is more of "I'm 24 and if I want to be silly still I will!" He makes me laugh so much with the things he says and does. One funny moment at our visit was when we were waiting to get our next appointment scheduled and I turn around to see James weighing himself on the fancy weigher. HA! I tell him to get off the machine and that it isn't a toy and he just looks at me and says "I weigh this much. How much did YOU weigh?" At the moment I was irritated because I just wanted him to act all "mature" but looking back I think I would have been bored without him there and I know he'll make all the visits to come so much better with his humor and carefree attitude. I'm one lucky lady and this little one is going to be blessed with a great and hilarious daddy!

I watched Part I of the last Twilight last night with a couple of girls and the whole time I was thinking: "Man! I wish pregnancy was as quick as what Bella had!" Now if you haven't seen the movie then I apologizing for ruining it for you. Bella gets pregnant on her honeymoon and in a matter of weeks is huge and feeling the baby kick and soon after giving birth. In real life you have to wait NINE months. Now I know it's a miracle that shouldn't be rushed but I'm so excited to meet our little one and I just can't help but think that these next months are going to be so slow.

Well I must go eat something before work tonight. I hope to keep everyone updated and I hope everyone wasn't too bored with the details of our visit. Also, as a quick side note: I never claimed to be amazing at writing so try not to critique anything wrong with my sentence forming.

Sincerely,

Excited Parents

Today is Confirmation Day!

Well it was just two weeks ago that I took a pregnancy test and received two lines = PREGNANT! Since then it's been a roller coaster ride up. I've had so many people ask if I have been sick yet and the truth is I've only had one or two times of major nausea for only a few hours. Outside of those couple of days I've been trying to "control" to the extent that I can how sick I get by snacking on a lot of fruit, crackers, and veggies. SO FAR I'm good to go!

This will be the first time I'm mentioning being pregnant to the public outside of my friends and family simply because it still soon in the pregnancy. The reason I decided to blog about it now is because today we are going to our first doctors appointment!! Prayers would be much appreciated today. James and I just finished our last class for the day and are snacking on corn chips with retried bean dip - yummy! 30 minutes till the appointment and we're so excited!

I will keep updating on here more often now that the news is getting out. Please be praying for the health of our little one growing and that I would give my fear of having a miscarriage to the Lord and trust Him with his plans.

Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. Draper + baby

I'm going to try this again--

I always make hasty decisions when new things happen in my life: I turn 18, I get a piercing-I get married, I start a blog. The piercing is still in my ear but I have long forgotten my blog. But I have decided, even though nothing has recently happened in my life, that I will get back on here and try this thing again.

So here I sit on my couch with a large cup of coffee wondering what I will write about first. Oh, I know! I'll give you an update on our life. Let's see, last time I wrote we were living in Monroe, Ga in a little barn house on James' grandmother's property. We had a huge garden, chickens, we were canning, James was working construction and helping his grandmother in her thrift store, and I believe we were youth leaders at Campton United Methodist. BUT NOOOOW, we live in a little house in Toccoa, Ga attempting to finish the degrees we started in 2008. I'm working on my Counseling/Psych major while James is working on his Interpersonal Communications major. We also work at a place called "Shepherd's Hill Academy" which is a wilderness program for teens in crisis. We couldn't be more thankful for everything God is doing in our lives here in Toccoa. We've grown so much as a couple and as individuals.

I think the biggest lesson I'm learning right now is finishing what I start. James has a pretty great grasp on this idea. He never wants to quit anything he starts...even if he has a million things he's started. I, on the other hand, have a bad habit of quitting most of the things I do. Ex: the blog, gardening, Arbonne (ha), working out, the 3 or 4 crochet projects I've started, the 2 baskets of laundry that should have been folded two days ago. Do you see the issue here? It's only been a semester and two months since being back in college and I already feel like quitting because "it's just too hard". So maybe this week I'll work on finishing things I've started. I'll fold the laundry and do homework, I'll finish a crochet project and work on the other ones I've started. This will be a week of finishing things!

Oh, I just remembered: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Although I've never been a fan of this holiday and James and I never celebrate it I will acknowledge on here that I am very thankful for the love I have from Jesus Christ, my family, and my wonderful husband. I am one blessed little girl.

-Mrs. Draper

Busy busy fun!

It's been a while since I've had the time or desire to get on here and write but here I am! I made myself sit down and read, comment, and write. I'm glad I did. I have enjoyed it thus far :)

Big recent news: I HAVE A JOB!!! I am officially employed (sp?) at Target! Woot! Woot! I will be doing stock and floor organization! I'm so so excited. Not only will it keep me busy and allow me to meet new people that live around here but I'll be getting a pretty good full-time pay check which would help out a good bit! I can't wait to start next week!

Me and James have been super busy this past week. He was out of town Mon.-Wed. and then Thursday we left to go meet our cousins, Whitney and Bethany, in Alabama at their house to do a "fake wedding shoot". They're photographers, Glass Jar Photography if you wanna look them up, and they needed to shoot a wedding for the "Once Wed" blog and also to send examples to help them book a wedding in another area. We were pretty pumped to be asked to be their "fake" Bride and Groom. A wedding all over again! This time with less stress and strictly photos. We got their and took some engagement photos then I put on my wedding dress and James wore sweeeet khakis, blue button up, a tie and a handsome vest :) He looked SO good! ha ha All their friends and family were there and we went through all the motions of a real wedding. We even got to cut the cake, feed it to each other, and throw my bouquet! It was so much fun. I have never enjoyed an evening so much!

We spent the night with them and Friday James dropped me off in Ringgold to be spend the night with my sister at home for the last time before she moved to Toccoa for college! Saturday we got up and packed her stuff and headed to Toccoa!!! I'm really excited for her new journey. She's going to LOVE college. It's going to be unlike any experience she's ever had. It'll really grow her too! Being there and in the girls dorm and seeing all my friends back again made me kind of sad. Part of me wanted to go back in time and be there again and live on the hall with everyone. I miss it so much. It really took some time to shake the sadness and jealousy of Lauren off. I love James and being married and being here and I know God has us here for a reason! I'm just so excited for sister!

Well I have to go get a drug test for work! I love all of you! It won't be FOREVER till my next blog. Promise!

The storm.

Let me just say from the start, I've never experienced such a hard long week or two of my life. It's been pretty stretching and pretty tough. I think I'm just not coming out of it and the fact that I'm writing this blog means that I survived it. Thank goodness!

You know, when you start writing all this "godly and encouraging" stuff for other people I think you got to be careful because you begin to be tested in it and let me say something again, I failed.

The world can deceive me and look so good. It can look so harmless and so happy and carefree. It's hard not to desire it or want what others have. It's hard to remember that even though they are looking like they're living the complete happier life than say, me, a Christian, the end for them is so much worse than I have it right now and everything the do, fun or not, is in vain apart from our Lord. I've really been struggling with being a good person, a "happy" person, a satisfied person. It's like this massive storm cloud hit me out of no where and took me down this super muddy track in the woods. It's been a long since I had felt that "out of myself" and empty. It was really hard to get out of and it began to have an effect on me and James which crushed me.

We spent the morning at the kitchen table after breakfast just talking about anything that is hurting us or working on communication and working on how to communicate hurt feelings and pain. Even after the talk I was still down for some reason but, as spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning everyone room in the house, the rain stopped and the thunder stopped and the lightening stopped. The sun is beginning to peak through the clouds and I can feel the warmth and joy it is bringing. I pray so hard that things stay this way. I don't know what it was that brought me down so much but I'm going to work hard to stay in the Word and keep encouraged and try to have a good and positive attitude. I know this trial/storm is almost over and I'm so ready for the sunshine.

I love it when no one has any idea what you're going through but they decide to comment on your wall and tell you they miss you and love or send you a text and tell you they love you or send you a message with a favor to ask because they CHOSE you to help! Those kinds of things help the sun shine a little quicker and a little brighter.

This message is kinda dull and boring but it's all I got to give today. Thanks for sticking around and reading this stuff ha ha It'll only get better from here.

I love you all!!!

Devan Draper

Available and Obedient.

These past few days have been great! Well, except during the day yesterday when not having a job or friends hit hard and i was a little annoyed with the day. Other than that, everything has been wonderful. Me and James went on a fun little hike yesterday evening in the woods behind our house. We took all these different directions and ended up walking to our church ha ha. It was really dark on the way back and not-so-smart us forgot flashlights so I really had to trust him to know where he was going to get us back. It was tough but we made it back home! :)

Have I mentioned how encouraging it is to see so much feedback from these post? Amanda Hare actually made her own blog spot for the same reason I did. Props to her!! I pray she follows through and learns to be real about struggles and imperfections like she wants to do. I think that starts to be a little difficult when you know people are actually reading this. You start wanting to sound great and wise and like you know everything. I just want to make it clear now, I'm none of those. The wisdom comes from God's word and from other women who have spoken truth in my life and I definitely don't know everything. That's why I have this!

God Can Use You. This is another chapter from David Nasser's book "A Call To Die". In this chapter David is talking about how much God can use us if we just make ourselves available and obedient. He says,

"We are not always promised that God will show us the "big picture". It's not obedience if we only obey when we know the great things that will come out of it or when it is convenient for us. God wants our availability and obedience to him simply because he asks. If anyone has the right to ask for this kind of obedience, it would be the sovereign, Holy God, right?

Our availability allows us to do the things that we can do to set a backdrop for God to do the mighty things only he can do."

WOW! If we were available and obedient everyday how much do you think God could use us? I bet we would be surprised when we got to heaven and, because of our obedience and availability, met a lot more people that we had introduce Christ to. This is a struggle for me though. I have MY plans, MY will and a lot of the time I let get in the way of HIS will and plan. There are so many times where I know God could have probably used me but I was being selfish and doing what I wanted. Some may wonder, well how might God use me throughout the day? If you see a lady at your work eating lunch by herself everyday...be a friend. If you pass someone on the street who has a flat tire...see if you can help (if you're not alone ha ha). Little things and people that go unnoticed everyday...notice them. Be on the look out. Wake up and spend time with the Lord and in your prayer to him, ask him to use you. Let him know that you are available even though your busy schedule says otherwise. I promise. He'll use you in some way and you may never know the outcome until you reach the other side.

I don't say this because it's so easy for me. I actually think besides memorizing the Word and really writing it on my heart being available for God to use me is the hardest part of the Christian walk. I think about my daily plans more than I even think about my husbands plans for that day. But my heart desires to be used. I want him to bring opportunities in my life that I can share his love.

Now, be careful when you pray to be used...he'll use you so you got to make sure you are available and obedient. I love you all! I'm praying for you all and the struggles you go through as HUMANS, not just women. I pray that through this blog we all get encouragement from each other through Christ.

Available and Obedient,

Devan Draper

"Know the Word"

It's been so encouraging to read all the positive feedback coming from this blog. I'm really happy to know that, all who responded and may read this, are actually...enjoying it or getting something from it. It puts a smile on my face :) (<--See!)

James came home from Alabama last night and boy was I happy to see him! Today we had breakfast and did our devotions and then he took me Kayaking!!! For 5-ish miles down a beautiful river the Pocahontas song, "Just around the river bend!!", was stuck in my head. We had a great time but we're definitely worn out now from all of the paddling. Both of us flipped only once on a rapid. i almost lost our camera but realized it was floating away and caught it. Anyway, we're back home safe and tired.

So we're doing this verse-a-thon to help raise money for our youth group. We're making a list of 50-ish verses and people in the town or church will offer to give however much money for each verse the students learn. I have the job of making the list of verses. I automatically went to the book "A Call To Die" by David Nasser for some verses to memorize. This book is fantastic and he uses a lot of great verses. As I was on my 10th verse I came upon one of his chapters called "Know the Word". Years ago when I was going through this devotion I highlighted some things and this is one of them:

"Can you walk with God and not know His word? that's a good question. Many people believe that God will somehow give them his treasure of wisdom and insight by osmosis. It doesn't happen like that. We have to mine for it, and the mine shaft goes through the pages of the Scriptures.

We Christians, including many who have been believers for several years, are clueless about the truth in the Bible. We can't find Psalms or Matthew, and we think Ruth and Timothy are in a new sit-com. We can't even quote a Bible verse for each year we've been believers. We know the theme songs of television shows and movies and a zillion songs on the radio, but we are biblically illiterate." -David Nasser

This hit me hard and I had to stop everything I was doing and really let it sink in. Here I am coming up with a list of verses for these students to memorize so that they can, not only raise money for camps, but so they can also KNOW the word of God, when I couldn't say from memory, at the most, ten verses from the Bible to save my life. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you and it didn't until I really thought about it. I say I put my faith in God and I follow him but how can I ever know Him if I never open the Word He has given to me? People are in other countries dying for believing in Christ and I bet $100 that they have been hiding the Bible in random places so that, at times when they are alone, they can go and read it because they can't get enough of His truth. That's pretty challenging as an American Christian who can walk around with a cross on my neck, a fish on my car, a W.W.J.D. bracelet and Christian music blaring from my car.

I like what Bethany, Glass Jar Photography, said in a comment to my last blog: "our preacher once said if you ever get accused of being a christian may there be enough evidence to prove it" That's kinda what I'm talking about. Honestly, I'm not sure how much evidence I could give. I mean, I have a zillion Bibles laying around my house and i listen to Christian music but to say I actually know, in my heart, the Word, negative. I don't know why. I listen to music over and over and learn it, I actually hate listening to a song if I haven't memorized it yet. I watch some movies so much I know the songs when they play and the lines before they even say them. But why, when it comes to the God I put "all" my faith in, have I not "written His Word in my heart" (I would tell you what verse that is but I have no idea). My point exactly.

I think this blog is simply a challenge for anyone and everyone who give themselves the title "Christians" to really evaluate what they're showing the world. What evidence do you have to show for the Creator of this world, the Savior of your lives? I think I have been challenged to actually do this verse-a-thon myself. I want to memorize scripture and write it on my heart. I want to be able to talk to people about Christ and his word and not even have to have a Bible there because it's in my head. I really believe that, in order to KNOW God and his will and all that, we have to KNOW his word.

Being challenged to KNOW,

Devan Draper