I said "I do" to the man that I knew I would spend the rest of my life with!
If you were to ask both of us we would tell you that it feels like it has been more like 20 years. We say that not to say the past 2 years have been dreaded and long, but because we have been through so much.
The first year of marriage: in-laws, opinions, letting go of "it's all about me," sacrifice, leaving and cleaving, learning what to say and what not to say, dealing with each others "habits" etc...I'm sure you can relate?!?!?!
On top of all that we lost our first baby. By far the hardest thing I have ever endured. From seeing our lifeless baby on an ultrasound screen to actually experiencing a miscarriage, it was all a very emotional time for us.
The second year of marriage: lost our jobs, got pregnant AGAIN, some issues during my pregnancy, possible move, our sweet baby boy is born (after a long and complicated labor) and a family in the process of being restored...
The birth of our son was by far the greatest event that occurred during our 2 years of marriage; Trey would concur. So much so that after minutes of giving birth he looked at me and said, "we can have 15 more of these "things" if you want!" haha Definitely was not the time, but I was letting him bask in the moment.
Barington Stephen Sheneman was born on Dec. 9th, 2010 at 12:20 am 7.3lbs and 19.5 inches long! He overcame so much during the first week of his life. We were thrown with so many scares, it wasn't even funny. As his parents, Trey and I both held onto our faith and onto each other and Bear came through a champ!
Now here we are...celebrating 2 years of marriage! Considering all that the 3 of us have endured, we can rejoice singing the lyrics of this song:
We have overcome and as a result we are stronger and more united then ever!
To my love, I look forward to living my life with you for the next 70 yrs.-God willing! I truly believe that God has allowed us to go through all that we've gone through to one day help other young couples in their marriage! So, here's to our past, present and our future! Let's continue to praise Him for all that He has done and all that He is going to do...
All my love,
Your "Jenni-Bug"
Monday, February 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Overwhelmed with gratitude...
by God's goodness and faithfulness in my life!
Today was a BIG day for our lil' man...but let me back track to bring you up to speed on a few things.
The Sunday before Bear was born Trey and I spent the evening at church worshiping our Heavenly Father. After worship was over, a sweet friend of ours (who was sitting behind us with her husband) came to me to tell me she had received a Word from the Lord for me. Now, if anything like this freaks you out, I would encourage you to KEEP reading because afterwards you will have goose bumps running up and down your body! There's no denying that we serve a risen Savior. :)
At this point, we had no idea that Bear had any issues with his ears because that is not something they can detect on ultrasound. Got it? Ok. So, she proceeds to tell me that the Lord told her, "Bear will be quick to hear and slow to speak." I really was in shock, not knowing how to respond. I mean how do you respond to that? My thoughts, "of course my son will be able to hear." Ok, so he is slow to speak, no biggie.
Goose bumps yet? haha.
Bear is born and "ta-da" we have a son who is born with "supposedly" no ear canals and small ears. The Dr.'s inform us right off the bat that Bear CAN NOT hear and they didn't even bother doing a hearing test.
From there, they ran a BUNCH of genetic tests. We just got the results back from Emory and he has no SYNDROME'S (but his chromosome 13 was inverted-No biggie, apparently).
We were advised to get genetic testing as his parents and we will do just that!
Speed up to the last week or so...I keep getting a Word from God about the number 20 regarding Bear. All I could think was that he would only have 20% hearing loss...so, I finally said something to Trey and lo and behold Trey was getting the same thing. Coincidence? I think not.
With that being said, during his test they measured Bear's response to various different frequencies. Starting from 20, they worked up to 45. Basically, 20 is the lowest, softest sound that is emitted from the hearing test and 45 is the loudest. With me?!?!?
After an hour and a half of holding my son, the test was finally over. Mind you, I was praying over my son the entire time, "by Your stripes my son is Healed in Jesus name." What else would or could this momma do? I was helpless, so I did what I only knew to do, lift high the name of Jesus!
I also was taking glances at the 2 audiologist's faces trying to figure out what each facial expression meant...I couldn't help myself...the suspense was killing me!
I passed the time talking to the other audiologist about cases such as Bear's. The many questions I asked were: "Have you seen this in many children? Were the children born with it in both ears or one? More common in girls or boys? etc....She then proceeded to say the job is rewarding but can also be sad when babies come in with no nerves whatsoever. GULP. There's no help. NOTHING. GULP again.
While fighting off the attack from the enemy, I kept going back to the Word that was spoken over me, "Bear will be quick to hear, slow to speak!"
Once the test finished, the other audiologist said, "Your son hears at a NORMAL level!" The 20 you see is the softest setting and he can hear that at a normal level.
PRAISE THE LORD! Seriously. She went as far to say that Bear could very well have developed canals with a skin flap covering them! Now that would be an even bigger miracle!
For those of you out there who doubt that prayer works, you need to rethink your approach!
God IS AWESOME!
Please continue praying for fully developed ear canals and we look forward to sharing in that victory.
To God be the Glory!
Daddy Bear, Momma Bear, Baby Bear
Today was a BIG day for our lil' man...but let me back track to bring you up to speed on a few things.
The Sunday before Bear was born Trey and I spent the evening at church worshiping our Heavenly Father. After worship was over, a sweet friend of ours (who was sitting behind us with her husband) came to me to tell me she had received a Word from the Lord for me. Now, if anything like this freaks you out, I would encourage you to KEEP reading because afterwards you will have goose bumps running up and down your body! There's no denying that we serve a risen Savior. :)
At this point, we had no idea that Bear had any issues with his ears because that is not something they can detect on ultrasound. Got it? Ok. So, she proceeds to tell me that the Lord told her, "Bear will be quick to hear and slow to speak." I really was in shock, not knowing how to respond. I mean how do you respond to that? My thoughts, "of course my son will be able to hear." Ok, so he is slow to speak, no biggie.
Goose bumps yet? haha.
Bear is born and "ta-da" we have a son who is born with "supposedly" no ear canals and small ears. The Dr.'s inform us right off the bat that Bear CAN NOT hear and they didn't even bother doing a hearing test.
From there, they ran a BUNCH of genetic tests. We just got the results back from Emory and he has no SYNDROME'S (but his chromosome 13 was inverted-No biggie, apparently).
We were advised to get genetic testing as his parents and we will do just that!
Speed up to the last week or so...I keep getting a Word from God about the number 20 regarding Bear. All I could think was that he would only have 20% hearing loss...so, I finally said something to Trey and lo and behold Trey was getting the same thing. Coincidence? I think not.
With that being said, during his test they measured Bear's response to various different frequencies. Starting from 20, they worked up to 45. Basically, 20 is the lowest, softest sound that is emitted from the hearing test and 45 is the loudest. With me?!?!?
After an hour and a half of holding my son, the test was finally over. Mind you, I was praying over my son the entire time, "by Your stripes my son is Healed in Jesus name." What else would or could this momma do? I was helpless, so I did what I only knew to do, lift high the name of Jesus!
I also was taking glances at the 2 audiologist's faces trying to figure out what each facial expression meant...I couldn't help myself...the suspense was killing me!
I passed the time talking to the other audiologist about cases such as Bear's. The many questions I asked were: "Have you seen this in many children? Were the children born with it in both ears or one? More common in girls or boys? etc....She then proceeded to say the job is rewarding but can also be sad when babies come in with no nerves whatsoever. GULP. There's no help. NOTHING. GULP again.
While fighting off the attack from the enemy, I kept going back to the Word that was spoken over me, "Bear will be quick to hear, slow to speak!"
Once the test finished, the other audiologist said, "Your son hears at a NORMAL level!" The 20 you see is the softest setting and he can hear that at a normal level.
PRAISE THE LORD! Seriously. She went as far to say that Bear could very well have developed canals with a skin flap covering them! Now that would be an even bigger miracle!
For those of you out there who doubt that prayer works, you need to rethink your approach!
God IS AWESOME!
Please continue praying for fully developed ear canals and we look forward to sharing in that victory.
To God be the Glory!
Daddy Bear, Momma Bear, Baby Bear
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