Heartfelt Gratitude

"He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD." Psalm 113:9

I will never forget the first time I read this verse. My eyes swelled up. The world around me stopped. This was too close for comfort...and ooh, too painful! I felt like the ugly word "barren" was tattooed on my forehead. I knew that God could bless us with children, but would He? Joshua and I had already been asking the Lord for children for years and had gone through the pain of a miscarriage. What if His answer to me was simply "no"? That thought at times was to heavy to bear. Yet there were times I felt brave and would pray this verse back to the Creator of all, asking Him to remember us.

On December 19, 2008, Joshua and I welcomed with tears of joy our sweet daughter, Charis Noelle. Our hearts overflowed! A friend teased me after Charis was born that I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't believe and some days still can't believe that He granted me my desire to be a "happy mother"!

This week marks another answered prayer for another part in that verse - "settles...in her home". After Charis was born, I needed to go back to work. While the Lord provided amazing daily care for Charis from her Nana (my mom), Aunt Hannah (Joshua's sister), Great Aunt Cameron (my aunt) and other wonderful people, I begged God to allow for me to care for our own daughter. Leaving her every day was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life. The Lord opened some doors and this week I am working part time from home - settled in my home as the happy mother of Charis.

Joshua and I have absolutely loved and enjoyed being parents. That is why we have created Grato Animo which means "with a grateful mind; heartfelt gratitude". Even though we have a website (www.JoshuaandJoanna.com), it is more about our future ministry. We wanted to have a place to share with our family and friends about Charis' milestones, about our family, and about things we are learning.

To complete the verse, we would like to "Praise the LORD"and ask you to join with us!