*UPDATE*
Guess who has power? God does! And so does our office! Praise Him!
“God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good.” (Gen. 1:3-4)
Yippee! It is good indeed! Thanks for praying, everyone. The staff will be back in action tomorrow.
Thanks for being excited with us! We are so surprised and thrilled to be having a baby girl. My first waking thought this morning was, “It’s a girl!” Then I had to call mom and talk about it…again. You should have heard us carrying on when we had a minute to ourselves yesterday. I said, “Mom, we’ll have dress-ups and purses and shoes and…oh mom…you’ve only begun to spend money!” We died laughing because it is just so true.
We all drove home from the ranch on Monday after hearing that my house had power. My parents spent the night with us since they did not have electricity until last night. Mom babysat Jackson while Curtis and I went to my OB appointment yesterday morning. After we got the fun news, we ran over to a nearby Macy’s and bought these sweet things for Baby Girl.
We put them in a gift bag and when we got home we let my mom open them. That’s how we told her what we were having. She totally freaked out. We sent a picture of the clothes to Melissa’s cell phone and she called us bawling. My dad has this memory of Melissa and I wearing our dressy red coats when we were little girls and I told him we would be sure to find one for our princess. Curtis’ whole family was rooting and believing God for a girl and they were thrilled. Curt said his dad was giddy and I know my sweet mother-in-law is excited to pay a visit to the pink side of our favorite baby boutique in her hometown (Jelly Beans in Springfield, MO). I had a blast calling my friends Sunni and Janelle, who both have little girls born within a month of Jackson. Knowing and loving their precious daughters makes me so excited about getting to have this experience, too!
It’s pretty surreal that we actually got to have our doctor’s appointment yesterday (and even shop at Macy’s), given the state of this community after Ike. There are some areas in very bad shape. Gasoline, ice, and groceries have not been easy to acquire and a ton of people still do not have electricity. (Things are getting better in some areas.) Galveston residents are not even being allowed into their city right now. My understanding is that it is basically unlivable. There are so many things to pray for. One huge praise is that God sent a cold front this way and we have had MUCH cooler temperatures. We praise Him for His mercy! Houston is generally very unpleasant in September. Please pray for the great weather to continue and for God to meet the Greater Houston Area’s electricity, gasoline, and food needs. Pray that the poor and those without homes to return to will be provided for abundantly. We know of some people who cannot locate loved ones who were living in Galveston before the storm. Please pray that they will be found safe and sound. Most of all, pray that God will use this situation to humble us and prime this city for spiritual awakening and revival.
We do have a couple of prayer needs directly related to LPM. Our office still does not have power, but we are eager to get back to serving! Will you all please ask God to restore our power, even today? Most of us got together for lunch today to fellowship and go over the game plan for the rest of the week. One of my co-workers was able to peek into her work email account and she already had 400 emails waiting for her. We all have lots to do! Will you also ask God to power up our ministry director’s house? I believe she is the last one of us to lack electricity. Thank you so much, sisters!
Bethie will get on an airplane and head to Montana tomorrow. She will speak to some women at a prison on Thursday night and then have the Living Proof Live event on Friday and Saturday. I’m not sure if our prayer memo will go out to our prayer warriors this week, so I wanted to be sure to mention this prayer need to you, too.
May God bless each one of you today and may you have a keen awareness, as many of us in Houston do right now, of God’s faithfulness to provide every single thing you need to live and breathe. He is always at work caring for us. We praise Him with you today.
Love,
Amanda
Amazing!!! God is so good!
What a wonderful way to let your family know the baby is a girl! I can just see Beth smiling and screaming for joy. 😉 Congratulations.
We will be in prayer for all that you listed.
Praying now!
We love you all so! : )
Praise the Lord! He is an awesome and wonderful Father. Me and mine pray for you and yours. May you have an amazing pregnancy and a wonderful healthy baby girl!!! A girl what fun. I am doing “A Woman’s Heart God’s Dwelling Place” and Jackson’s infant pictures have been splashed across the screen for all of us to smile at. I wonder what Bible Study your precious little girl will get to star in! Praise be to the Most High.
Lovingly
Kristin in Camden
Amanda,
Congratulations as you await that sweet princess.
We continue to pray for the needs in the Houston/Galveston area. My daughter-in-law requested prayer at her Sunday night Bible study for power to be restored to her sister in Katy and within an hour, there was power restored.
Praying for all the needs you mentioned, including power restoration!
Love you,
Dianne
I’m praying with you, Amanda! And congratulations again on our new Siesta! I love the way you gave her the news!! How fun!!
Blessings
Michelle
This is wonderful. I am praying after 4 miscarriages that I can have a little girl. I have a 4 year old son and would LOVE to have a girl. So I can only imagine the SHEER delight you feel. All good things come from above. Thanks for sharing this news!
LR
Pink is my signature color! Isn’t that the official Siesta color???
Congratulations on the wonderful news!
Prayers for all those affected by Ike. Ike even affected us way up here in Indianapolis, IN. I can’t even imagine the devastation in Texas.
God Bless!
K
Aww those outfits are soo cute. I can only imagine the joy that burst forth from Beth when she opened the package! How fun!
Lifting up prayers now!
Congratulations Amanda! I have two little girls and they are the delight of my heart, next to Jesus and my husband. They keep me laughing constantly with their girlish antics! We have a third one cooking now, but it’s still too early to know if the girls will have a brother or sister. I am excited for you!! Grace and peace,
Shauna Okongo
Bless you Amanda, we’ll keep praying for Texas.
Love you,
April \o/
Yup! I’m praying for power to be restored.
Congrats, again.
~Cheryl
We mommas love our boys, but there is just something about a little girl that makes us giddy! Congrats!!
We are so looking forward to Beth being here in Billings in just TWO DAYS!!!! But what I am even more excited about is her speaking at the prison.
We had our Bible study last night and one of the ladies came in having just found out that her niece is in prison. This sweet gal so needs to know that even though men will fail you God will not. He loves her!!! Even if she does not get to hear Beth speak, just knowing that Beth will be there has brought comfort to our Bible study gal. Thank you Beth for being God’s servant!
I will be in prayer for those hit by Ike.
How exciting to find out you’re having a girl! I loved Beth’s announcement, she’s not in the least bit excited…a baby Siesta!
What cute outfits and way to break the news!
Congratulations on your little baby girl (baby siesta). How exciting! 🙂
Praying for those in Texas still impacted by Ike. Bless you all!
Jean in NC
Congratulations! Thanking God right along with you.
A
We know all about PINK! I have four girls 2,4,6,&9…THEY ARE FUN!!!
The best girl-mom advice I have ever recieved came from your mom, via Feathers From My Nest…Tie a hairbrush to your bathroom drawer!!! Or you will NEVER see/own one again!!!
Praying for all affected by Ike…We have family in Conroe.
I was just so humbled reading your update on the people affected by Ike. I am in a difficult job searching situation and have been so caught up in that, but after reading this I’ve realized that someone else always has it worse and I need to be thankful for what I DO have 🙂 Even still, God is so faithful!!! Praise Him for cool reprieve!
What a wonderful way to surprise your mom! I can just see her dropping her Starbucks cup and just squealing and dancing with joy!
Our son, wife, and little Jackson live in Houston and are unable to return to their home because there is no power. We are thankful for the cool weather because we were concerned that Jackson would be too hot and uncomfortable. We also have a brother & sister-in-law in Houston and they have a generator running. So, we are able to keep in touch.
Will continue to pray for all of Texas and for LPM.
May Blessings abound, Laurie in TN
You are going to have sooo much fun with your girl. I have two girls and two boys, one of my favorite memories is watching the face of my daughter as she watched the antics of her borther… Little boys think of things that a little girl would never dream of if she lived a million years!!! You are in for the time of your lives!
Sending love and many prayers to you all in the Lone Star State and our own LPM Family.
Judy
Praise the Lord that Beth, who has been given a gift from the Lord for his Glory, that she is going to speak to the women in prison! I pray that many will find hope in the LORD and that the Lord will do mighty works, and praise the Lord that he has chosen Beth! Praise you father, let your spirit fall heavy in the walls of the prison, touch the hearts and minds of all the women who will feel your breath in thier souls, let it be that they want more of you and seek you with all desperation, and be filled!
Congratulations!!!
Many prayers go out to your area. I pray for LPM and the Moore family and your new baby girl. I know you have to be so excited.
Congrats!
My prayers are with everyone in your area.
Congratuations! Everyone needs a baby girl to dress up – a live baby doll!!! Sweet blessings to you and yours, Amanda.
What wonderful news Amanda! After having two boys, I went wild with the pink when my baby girl was born just two months ago! Have fun with it.
We will certainly be praying for you all.
Kari
Washington State
There is no end to the joy of shopping for pink. Congratulations to all of you!
Many prayers going out to those on your precious coast…
I’m so excited for all of y’all and soon-to-be baby girl! Prayers are most assuredly going up from me about your and the baby’s health. 🙂
The people going through Ike’s devestation are going to need all the prayers they can get, so rest assured I will pray.
~Sarah
Congratulations! Girls are such fun!
Oh I love it! Congratulations…. It is funny, at the women’s Bible study at church we are on our second week of A women’s Heart God’s Dwelling place, where Beth is talking about the soon arrival of Jackson! And here you are, expecting “the pink one”! 🙂
so now…girl names….give give….what are you thinking?
Today is my little Olivia’s birthday, still waiting for me in Ethiopia…I hope to bring her home in November. A good day to think pink!
We are praying for those affected by Ike!
Praise the LORD for new life that is also so much fun! I had a girl first then a boy and now another cutie pie boy at 2 months old tomorrow. You are about to be in stitches for the rest of your life b/c of all of their differences. Here is a couple quick stories that describe the differences between girls and boys: Emma was playing with her magic wand and Andrew was playing with a transformer. He came running at her sputting shooting sounds to which she quickly replied, “Bibbity Bobbity BOO!” over his head. Then one night as I sang Andrew to sleep, he said the word “cars” after every line. Later that same night Emma explained to me how cute she would look in that outfit we saw at the mall last spring, “Remember the one with the butterfly on the shirt and the green skirt and the hat. I would have to get some brown and pink shoes to go with…I think it would look cute on me.” Everyday something happens like that! It is so stinkin’ fun! Love Sarah in MO
Amanda,
I’m so excited for you and Curtis-Jackson will be an awesome big brother! Little girls are so fun. You and Bibby can have a great time shopping and playing dress-up with her, and Daddy can take her on “Daddy date-nights” for the two of them until his gun is cleaned and ready for the guys to take her out!!
We drove to Houston this morning to help Wayne’s 84 yr old Mom in her yard. She has power and is very blessed to have no house damage, but had a couple of trees down and the pool had 6 large garbage bags of leaves and branches in it. We got that all taken care of and ready for her yard man to do his magic!! We noticed 6 or 8 large poles down with transformers on them on 290 this afternoon that were being worked on, so hopefully things will be up and running again very soon. I’ll keep LPM in my prayers for sure, power and enough time in a day to go through those 400 e-mails! Blessings for the lady that does that!
Have fun decorating the princess’ nursery-what a blast that will be.
Oh Congratulations! Personally, I love pink. I have three to dress in pink ;~) Of course, my older two are just now getting back into pink – i think i overdid it when they were younger 🙂 and recently went clothes shopping for their little sister (10 years younger) and decided she needed to expand her color scheme!!! But oh how fun for you all!
And we will continue to pray that God will be merciful and graciously abundant in His provision for all affected. We will pray for Beth too for this weekend.
we love you all!
What a great way to spill the beans about a baby girl! I can just imagine the reaction 🙂
Thanks for the update on the situation down your way. Will be in prayer…
We are keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time after IKE. We also are praising GOD for the wonderful news you have shared with us.
A baby girl is all about the cuddles, and tickles, and kisses she will rain upon you for many years. Jackson will REALLY enjoy having a little sister to watch after. Girls bring out the best in boys!
Blessings
Kelli in Colorado
Congratulations! Bring on the pink! We are so excited for you all! With three girls of my own, I adore girls and I “get” them. Amanda, you better go to the mall lots and get that baby girl used to being there. I will be praying for all that you listed. Love you all so much and are so glad that you are safe and sound. I take it Bible study was postponed due to the storm? I have been praying for Sabrina, and will continue to do so. Love to all,
Lisa in Kirkland, WA
I’m so excited for you I had a feeling you were going to have a girl this time. God is so awesome! The outfits are so cute. Now ya gotta get the matching bows, and shoes, and socks. I know your Mom and Melissa are excited . I love my three boys but there’s that special bond you have with a daughter.
She was my second one also the Doctor told me I would have someone to bake cookies with , just an awesome feeling.
I prayed for everyone this morning and the ministry.
Congrats! Praying the most for you all…on all aspects. God is so awesome… ain’t He?
Congrats!!
Tears come to my eyes as I picture Beth in a prison. Probably not her first, but it is my first thought of her allowing Jesus to minister through her there. I will be praying for tender hearts and manifestations of the gifts there.
We all need more, but some of us are lucky enough to be at the dry places to realize it. I pray the flood gates open and a movement of Christ’s redemption becomes the MO of that prison.
Amanda,
I have One boy and four girls. While I loved the respite to the blue department, I was thrilled at having one more chance to hit the girly girl pink world when my Maggie arrived! Your littlest miss will rock your world and be so worth every moment!
Still praying here for you all!
Love,
Mair
Again…I am so excited for you!! I love love love my little girl!!
She LOVES the mall but she also had on a camo sweatsuit, auburn cheerleading outfit, and her bow in hand trying to shoot her dads buck on the wall Sat. night. I just had to grab the camera for that one. She is even now trying to tell me what to wear!! LOL
PRAYING FOR ALL OF YOU AND THE RESTORATION OF POWER!!!!
The Journey Continues ~
Amanda,
Oh you sweet Siesta!!!
I am thrilled to hear about your Pink Pumpkin within!
Jackson will be beaming with the pink toys he will attack in the near future! My boys had lots of little girl playmates and I giggle remembering how they took pink glitter wands and sparkle tiaras and made them into battle swords and treasures for their man world! JACKSON WILL BE SUCH A GREAT BIG BROTHER AND BLESSING FOR YOUR PRECIOUS PINK PUMPKIN ~
By the way, I loved the Macy’s purchases. Did your honey help pick them or did you do the choosin? 🙂
Happy Harvest!
With “Heaven Bound” blessings,
Kim Safina
Our family continues to pray daily for your pregnancy!
I am so excited for all of you! How fun to have one of each. Your baby girl is so blessed to have a wonderful big brother. We were excited to have a boy first, and there was rejoicing in the delivery room when our second was a girl – and more rejoicing 15 months later when our other daughter was born. And now I am blessed to have three incredible stepdaughters. The “girl fun” never stops in our family, and our men don’t seem to mind.
Thank you for the update girl! Nate and I will be praying
Definately in prayer for everyone down that way….
Love the way that you shared your exciting news! I can just hear your mama hooting and hollering with giddiness!
I’m sending a little gift of celebration for this little siesta your way so check the mail….(hint hint….she’ll be in fashionable shoes right away!)
A baby girl…another blessing. How wonderful Amanda and Curtis. Our prayers are with all of you at LP and those suffering from the storm.
Houston and LPM are on my prayer list. Wish I could have seen your Mom’s face when she opened that gift bag! Congrats!
Amanda, as the delighted Mom of 2 girls under 4, I am sooooooo excited for all of you!
Had to share this red coat with you. My Mom and I found it at a boutique store (not as expensive as NM) last fall and it's adorable. Esp. with the hat. You can't tell in the pic, but there are little beads sewn on the satin roses. The brand is Kate Mack.
Continued prayers for Curt, you, Jackson and your DAUGHTER!
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod67030024&parentId=cat14950733&masterId=cat14620741&index=40&cmCat=cat000000cat5160748cat10000733cat14620741cat14950733
Father, I pray for Your divine intervention in every need mentioned here. I’m asking for a healing wind to blow through this town and for families to draw close to You through these hardships. I love miracles. They are so breath-taking when we see them first-hand. Please spread some miracles around and light up this area with rainbows of promise. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Again we are so excited for you all. Jackson will have a blast learning to tear the heads off of Barbie’s (yes it will happen) and the little princess will love following her big brother around.