Labor Day??

We went in for another appointment today, and Machel says that not a whole lot has changed.  I'm at a 3 and 80% effaced.  What's new??

Anyway, she has been really worried about my swollen legs and feet and the fact that my blood pressure is still slightly high every time I go in.  She called Ogden Regional Hospital to talk with them about it, and 'viola!' we have an appointment with our baby on Monday morning at 6am.  

I'm not in love with the idea of being induced, but she's been worried about it for a while now, and wants to make sure that the baby will stay healthy.  I still don't completely understand why swelling (even if it is really gross and bad) would be such a worry at this point, but I trust her judgment and know that she knows better than I. She has promised me that we would be at the lowest dose of pitocin possible and would take it off as soon as I started having regular contractions.  

However, she did strip my membranes when she checked me, which caused some pretty significant contractions for about 7 hours or so (moreso than the last time we went in to the hospital), and we thought that maybe that would do it instead of having to wait until Monday, but they have tapered off a lot in the last little bit.  

Hopefully we will go into full-blown labor this weekend and avoid being induced, but if not, at least there's an end in sight!

There's Negative Out There for Every Good Thing

No one reading this will completely understand my reasoning, except, maybe, for those of you already involved with Team.  Hopefully, though, this will help.

Robbie and I have been involved with Team, a leadership development service provider, since shortly after we got married, and MonaVie, a fabulous business, for about 5 months or so.  It has taken us about this long to come to the point where we wonder why we resisted it for so long.  It is said that if everyone in the world is doing it, it is probably wrong.  Case in point:  Team and MonaVie.  

Robbie was reading in one of the books we have called The Centurion Principles the other day, and came to me to read a paragraph he stumbled across.  I feel like it exemplifies the why behind our perceived lunacy.  This is what it says:

"Most of us never produce a life of creative achievements because we have not connected to the Great Creator Himself--the source of all creative energy.  If God endows each of us with that energy, then it is up to us to find it within ourselves and use it.  If you leave it lying dormant, you miss those moments we define as extraordinary.  If we settle for common wisdom, then we cannot produce uncommon ends.  If we listen to what God is saying to us, then we open ourselves to the possibility of living exceptional lives.  

"Take a breath.  Maybe it's been a long time.  Reflect back upon the dreams that once lived in your heart.  Perhaps it's been decades and you've given up all hope of achieving what you once desired.  Those creative dreams are seeds that have been waiting for you to water them.  If you would be a creative leader--a Centurion leader--you must begin by being a creative individual.  Like anything worthwhile, it takes time.  The oak tree takes nearly a century to reach its full height but begins as an acorn.  Those who are too fearful, lazy, or busy, end up growing, if at all, to the size of a bush, stunted by a leadership philosophy called 'expediency.'

"Your future can be so much greater than that.  God is a destiny shaper and destiny maker, and scatters seeds of creativity freely.  The question is whether you believe it and whether you are willing to water the seeds planted inside you.  At the end of your life, as you examine the significance of your days, will you see an oak tree or a bush growing there?"

We have so much invested in this because we feel it is the vehicle we need to accomplish our dreams.  We have yet to see anything negative in it, and have seen more positive growth and understanding and been surrounded by such positive people, we cannot believe that it would be anything less than we are expecting it to be...and we want to help others see the things we can now see.