Praises to the Lord!

It's been a long, rocky road we've been traveling here at the Henderson household, but with the Lord's strength we are making it each step of the way. On August 3 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. We didn't know much about the disease at the time, but since then we are now well aware of how serious it can be. After spending 8 days in the hospital due to severe dehydration and lack of response to medication, I am now home and remain in bed. I'm taking it a day at a time as no two are alike. At times I start to feel better and then almost as if a switch has been turned off, I'm doubled over in pain with a fever. I have no one to praise but the Lord as he has carried me through this very trying process, being completely dependent on friends and family around me. It has not been easy being incapable of getting food, walking up and down stairs or being able to take care of our 3 1/2 month old daughter.

God has been so faithful, as always, and continues to amaze me each day with His incredible comfort and peace. Brian's mom has been with us for a total of almost three weeks taking care of Abby. I am humbled by her care and patience as she has taken the time from work and putting her needs aside to be here for ours. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing husband either. Brian has served me in so many ways throughout this illness and I wonder if I will ever be able to return the favor in such a way. He stayed right by my side each night in the hospital sleeping on a cot (more like a human hot dog bun) just to be with me. Even though I know he is ready for me to get better, during the last 7 weeks, I have not heard him complain once about me being ill, or dealing with my demands and requests. He has been completely selfless and here again, I find myself humbled by it all. I praise God for allowing me to experience this side of marriage and what it is truly about. It is one of the most amazing gifts the Lord has given me.

As the days come and go I realize what a gift each one is. I long to be well again and be able to step outside to take a deep breath of fresh air. If you are able to do that today please enjoy it, at least for me. Don't take it for granted as I know I have done many times. I have never appreciated good health more than this and when I finally recover, which I realize won't be for awhile, I hope and pray that I will never forget what a blessing good health really is. I don't want to forget all the Lord has been teaching me during this time, because if I do, then these past 7 weeks and many more to come will have been wasted.

Keep checking back for more updates and photos. I'm dying to do another Abby photo shoot! When you see all the pictures you know I will have turned another corner!!!

Growing baby!

I can't believe how quickly this summer has gone by. It seems crazy that it is the middle of August already. Brian is back home for good and things are slowly turning into normal, but what is normal anyway? I have started back to work; photographed a wedding last weekend, a bachelorettte party to photograph coming up, putting together albums and doing some freelance photo editing. In the meantime, our little girl is getting bigger, laughing and developing quite a personality. Just when we think we are getting into a routine or schedule somehow everything seems to change. Whoever said it first was absolutely correct, "babies change everything!"















































Abby's favorite toy.

Joey expresses his thoughts...

So, the other night I came home to this...



















Yep, those are dirty diapers. Ugh, it was so gross to clean up the first time, let alone twice and all chewed up. I couldn't even be mad. I just had to stop and take a picture.



















The culprit. Like he's thinking, "Huh, what'd I do?" Guess I would rather him take out his anxiety on the dirty diapers rather than anything else.

Brian left for Germany yesterday on another mission trip with the youth. Crazy summer!

Highlights from our trip

We made it back home and survived our first road trip with a two month old. We had a great time seeing family and friends. Here are some fun pics.




















Brian's siblings, Kevin and Katie finally meet Abby.

















Our friends, Shelley and JJ, had their baby, Sadie, 12 days before Abby. It was fun to hang out and take pictures of the girls.











































Our friends, Terry and Sarah, were married on Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so happy for them.

Mexico

Now that I'm away on vacation (and praise God we are!), I finally find some time to reflect back on my Mexico trip with the youth group at our new church. We went down on July 1st for a week and we stayed in La Feria, Texas and traveled back and forth to Rio Bravo, Mexico each day.

Our group was able to build two houses (here in America we would probably call them sheds) for two families in Rio Bravo. In addition to giving these families a new home, we all chipped in and bought them a few additional gifts like a family Bible, pillows and some clothes. We also helped run a VBS for the kids in the village. I think we had around 100 kids attend that. During one of the days at the VBS, some of our girls had to opportunity to help with a foot washing ceremony for some of the women (mainly the mothers of the children at the VBS) on Wednesday that week. In addition to washing their feet, the girls painted the women's toe nails since these women never really pamper themselves normally. The girls work had a great impact on the women there. Four of the women (including the bus driver for the organization we worked with) came to know the Lord through their efforts.

In addition to the impact on the community in Mexico, God did some great things in the lives of our youth. The kids really opened up with each other and the adult leaders to share some struggles they are currently having in their lives as well as some changes they want to make now that they are back home. It never ceases to amaze me how God can orchestrate situations to benefit everyone involved in them. What a wonderful Lord we serve!

All in all, it was a great week. Here's a couple of pictures from the week...















Here's my half of our group and the house we built and the family we built it for.

















Here's our family receiving their gifts from us at the house dedication ceremony.

















The other family our group built for standing in front of their new house.

















Some of the children that hung out at our work site and played with us.

















A cool shot of our team leaving the beach at South Padre Island in Texas.

We are in North Carolina!

After a long drive through the night, we made it to the Outer Banks in NC. We are spending the week with Brian's side of the family, visiting friends, and going to a wedding. Looking forward to relaxing on the beach.

GG is in town!

Great Grandma Mary has been with us for the last two and a half weeks, visiting from California. We have had a blast with her and she loves her first great grandchild.



















Brian has been in Mexico on a mission trip with the youth the past week. I definitely appreciate him all the more now that I've experienced being a single mom. I have been counting down the days till his return. It's amazing how each week Abby seems to grow physically and mentally. I'm amazed how she looks around and will talk to her mobile above her bed for a good twenty minutes. Part of me wishes she would stay a baby forever, but it is exciting to watch her develop. My love for her grows everyday in way I can't describe. Now that I have a child I appreciate what God has done for me in a new way. I can see more of what a great sacrifice it was for him to give up his Son on the cross for such undeserving people such as myself.














Ladies day out! 4 generations :)














Aunt Jessica feeding Abby. If only every meal was in a beautiful garden! Hey Uncle Tim, Abby needs a cousin ;) hint hint.




















Joey has been great with Abby even though he seems to realize he isn't the baby anymore.