Where do I begin?

So I've been catching up on blogs this evening, because I truly did miss being in the know this week. Luckily, a lot of you hadn't done any new posts, so I didn't have too much to catch up on. I've also been sitting here debating where to pick up on my own blog. Do I blog about the surgery, what I've learned, what we've been through this week, what the future holds, or do I let it simply pass by, because truthfully, thinking about it all is overwhelming.

Then, I get to Sue's blog and read the post about the front steps, and suddenly the tears that I have held back for a week begin to pour. I don't know where to begin, and I probably will just post for the next few days as things come to memory or the Lord leads me to share.

I think it is only fitting that I start with giving the Lord, our Maker and our Healer, 100% of the glory that He deserves. We prayed from the moment we found out about Anna's heart defect that He would heal her - knowing full well that He had that capability. And as the weeks progressed and her prognosis stayed the same, I cried out again and again, begging for Him to do just that. But, that was not His ultimate plan. He planned for this surgery and to allow the surgeons, whom He gifted and prepared for this moment, to do their work and mend our little Anna's heart. We haven't fully learned all that we are going to from this experience, but we've seen glimpses of His plan in the works.

One such lesson I personally have learned is the power of prayer. I know with no uncertainty that on Monday morning half of the Hampton Roads area was praying for Baby Anna. What a testimony to her life to know that so many people were praying for her and coming together all over the city to lift her up. Whether on their front porch, the treadmill, the office desk or inside the waiting room, the prayers of many were being lifted up - for MY little girl - how overwhelming that thought is. I know that without this prayer, Joe and I would not have made it through this situation the way that we did. I also know that most of you must have been praying for peace for me - because I had a peace that passes all understanding. It was an unexplainable peace and I could feel the prayers lifting me up.

I want to personally thank each person that lifted us up on Monday and every other day of the week, but I know that is impossible to do. I hope each of you know that your prayers were answered and the Lord has done a mighty work. Thank you for your friendship and support throughout this week.

I'm going to close for now, but I will continue to recap last week throughout this week. I want to do it to give testimony to the things God has done, and to have it as a journal for Anna to read one day to show her how her testimony began and what the Lord did for her on this her 10th week of life!