Ok so heres the deal. I haven’t written an update about ANYTHING since we announced our pregnancy. A lot has happened, I will start by saying that. We are continually amazed at how God leads us and protects us. In this blog I’ll: 1) Give an update about the baby.    2) Tell about my job and things related to that. 3) Post some pictures of the spring flowers that are in the backyard.

The Baby!

Gosh, I am now at 29 weeks pregnant. It goes so quickly! I never thought I would say this… but I have loved being pregnant. This might be because of my previous miscarriage experiences. Having understood the preciousness of life and what a miracle it is to even be able to carry a baby to term is such an eye opener. It definitely gives you a special perspective. From day one until now and until week 40, I have celebrated this little lady.

My favorite experiences so far have been EVERY TIME she moves! Seriously, how can that feeling not take your breath away? I wish this was a feeling Nicholas could experience from the inside out. I understand what Luke meant when Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). Its like a secret message just for moms.  I have also had such an easy pregnancy, physically… very little sickness. Mostly just tiredness and heartburn. I think I might be sad for 2 seconds that I’m not pregnant anymore when Baby comes… But just for 2 seconds until I get to hold the little lady.

My Job

In December, you may know that I was working as a Para Teacher in an elementary school. I worked very hard for 5 months, one on one with a student who had incredibly horrific behavioral problems. In addition to behavior, he was a foreign (Chinese) student so the district thought that the lack of English language must be the cause of the behavior. Long story short, language was not the cause. Fairly soon after I began my job, I wanted to quit my job. But Daddy didn’t raise a quitter so I stuck with it. This student hit me quite forcefully in the belly (knowing I was pregnant) and spit directly into my face about 2 months ago.

I told myself that if it happened again, there could be no excuse and that it would be unhealthy for my pregnancy. Being denied proper CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention) training on the basis that I was pregnant and therefore would never need to preform de-escalation techniques with students. Hello… I did this everyday! I was soon in a position where the student struck me again. While the district should have held the student responsible, he went without punishment. I quit the next week. Looking back, I probably stayed longer than was healthy. The Lord totally protected me in my position in so many ways.

Now that I am unemployed and pregnant, there is very little I can apply for. I have already been for one interview for a mostly, work at home position and my belly was stared at almost the entire interview. Needless to say, I did not get that job. This entire experience has given me more insight into discrimination in the work force: whether from a hiring perspective or for training that I should have received. I am confident I will not get a job in America until after Baby is born. This makes me sad because my brain and work ethic are as strong as ever. We will continue to trust God with our finances and our future.

Thanks for reading! -JFD