Hem of His Garment

There are some amazing stories in the Bible that don't get much "page time". With only a few sentences used to tell a radical story or give some very important advice. Things like this are so easy to just skim over and I sure have for many years, but during this season in my life God has been challenging me to really really read every word of his word and dig into the deeper meaning of things.

One of these stories is about a woman who is ill and receives radical healing from the Lord. A story I have just skimmed over many times because it is only four sentences long.

Matthew 9. 20-22 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his garment. For she kept saying to herself, "If only I could touch his garment I will be restored to health." Jesus turned, and seeing her, he said, "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well." And in that moment the woman was restored to health.

Now, when reading this story in context of the book of Matthew it is so easy to just read quickly over it. It is sandwiched between many other miraculous healings and words of wisdom. In the past, I would just read these four sentences and think,"Cool...another healing..." and move on to the next one. But today when I read this story it stopped me in my tracks. Today I identified with this woman and was blown away by her reckless audacity. Here she is a bleeding woman, most likely rejected by the community, considered unclean. So, even being out in public must be a big deal. She climbs into a crowd full of those who reject her and toward Jesus, a very controversial man, just to pull on his clothes. Wow. If this were a scene in a well scripted movie we would all be biting our nails as we watch her put herself into a potentially embarrassing and maybe even dangerous situation. I mean, would you do this if you were her? I know if I were her I would be at home watching the crowd from my window thinking, "I should go, he will heal me, I know it....No, maybe he wont, he will just think I am crazy...wait, I have to go, I can't live like this any longer...but, will I even make it to him?" Can you imagine her mental battle before she took those first steps in his direction? Wow.

Just thinking of this story in this way changed it for me. But, more, what made this story stick out to me is its connection to me personally, today. I know a woman who is subject to bleeding. Not a woman of the past, put a woman I love and care deeply for. I know the woman in this story and have had many conversations with her of her pain and lack of comfort. I have listened to her tell me of the many medical efforts that have been make over a 20 year span to restore her health. She may not be reject by her community, for not many know she has had to deal with this issue for so long, but it has sure brought embarrassment more times than she would have liked. I have been able to watch her reach out to God recently and I am ready for Jesus to turn to this sweet woman and speak, "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well." That is my prayer.

What an amazing God we have that he is capable and desires to heal us of all our ailments.

I believe.

Beck

Guylan: The Meaning

Nathan and I have given our little boy the name Guylan because we like it. (I told the story of the creation of Guylan's name in a previous post.) So, I was having a conversation with one of our friends, Nick Self, just a few days ago and he encouraged me to look in to the meaning, origin and definitions of his name. So I did and found some very interesting things!! Here is the meaning of his name:

When I looked up "Guylan" I got nothing. There were only two websites who even acknowledged Guylan as a name at all. So, I decided to look up "Guy" since that is the name we started with. According to a few different sources Guy could mean a few different things. From a German origin it means, "wood." Not so exciting, I know. From Welsh it means, "lively." Now, this one has already proven to be true. I could feel Guylan dancing in my belly at 16 weeks!! We definitely have a very lively baby. In Old German Guy means "warrior." This one is pretty cool. I also really like that in French Guy means "guide." Very cool, huh.

I think my favorite part of the Guy name research was when I wondered across the definition of "guy" in the dictionary. Of course it could just mean "a young man", but it also means "An object to steady , guide, secure of embrace something with." How cool is that!! That was by far my favorite definition!! :)

I sure can't wait to watch our son, Guylan, grow and fulfill his purpose in this world. We love you little Guy.

Belly Pictures and a Video

We have taken some photos over the last two months and a video documenting my belly growth. Its so interesting to look back at every photo. I remember feeling SO BIG at for each one, but I just keep getting bigger. Hehe... So, here they are:



19 weeks along...




21 weeks along...


24 weeks along...


Still 24 weeks...

Here is a video from our last appointment with our AMAZING midwife, Brande. Nathan was able to catch Guylan's heartbeat on our camera. It is really quiet at first because Nathan's finger is blocking the mic. Give it a sec and Nathan moves his finger and you can here the 'woooosh wooosh woooosh" of Guy's healthy heart!! Best sound ever!!



Enjoy.

It's been so long!!

So, here we are in Rushville, IL at "Peace of Earth." This is where Dale is doing his internship. Awesome place!! We decided to come to him this week for a band practice. It took us about 50 minutes to drive 31 miles. We aren't going to tell Dale we got a little lost. Oh well. :)

We are all just sitting and hanging out before we get to jamming. I realized that Nathan and I haven't written a blog in quite a long time!! So, here I am just writing to check in and give a little update about what has been going on since our last blog.

We have found out that we are going to be the parents of a little BOY!! We have already chosen a name: Guylan Micah Holland. We have had his name picked out for quite some time. Nathan has always liked the name Guy. I like it too, but it sounded like a very grown up name for a baby and I wanted something that we could shorten. So, Nathan told me to come up with something I liked to add to the name. So, I just started adding endings to Guy and Guylan was a perfect match. I was very excited to find out that when you look up Guylan on baby name websites they say it doesn't exist. So happy our son will have a unique name that is still beautiful and not way out there. We chose Micah for his middle name after Nathan's big brother. Nathan and I both admire and look up to him and look forward to him passing on all sort of wisdom to our baby boy. As a side note: If we have another boy in the future we plan on giving him Nathan's other and bigger brother's name as a middle name: Joshua. :) We feel so blessed that all of Guylan's uncles and aunts will be greatt sources of knowledge and wisdom. (Love you guys!)

We can't wait to hold you baby Guylan!! :)

Let's see what else has been going on:

-Well, we spent Christmas in Franklin, TN with the Cantlon/Davis side of the family. Always an enjoyable experience. :)
-Spent New Years with the Holland side of the Family!! Also very enjoyable. Can't wait till Guylan and Lilah can play together.
-Never Say When went on a 2 week winter tour through out the midwest to celebrate the release of our FRIST ALBUM!!!
-Oh, yes...NEVER SAY WHEN RELEASED OUR FIRST ALBUM!!! Give us a call or e-mail if you want to buy a physical copy or check it out on itunes, cdbaby.com or just about any other place you can download music.
-Nathan started his LAST semester of college

I am sure there are more exciting events to add to that list, but my brain is drawing blank.

Here are 2 pictures from our sonogram. Have fun trying to decipher them. :)


Here is "THE PICTURE". So sorry my sweet Guylan for posting your private parts...I promise I will take them off line by the time you start dating (when you are about 20 years old). :)


Here is Guylan's face. He is laying sideways. Look at those chubby cheeks!! :)

18 weeks pregnant tomorrow!!

We just had an amazing Christmas with my family here in Nashville, TN. Now, we are getting ready to head to Rockford, IL to spend a late Christmas with Nathan's family on New Years. We are very excited about that!! We will get to be with Nathan's whole family at one time!! It is so rare that all of us get to be together all at once!! Yay!!

Nathan just took some pictures of me for our 18 week celebration. Here they are:

Checking in...

I am 16 weeks and 2 days pregnant today. I am dying to feel the baby inside me. I want to feel it moving or kicking…something!! It is so weird to be getting bigger and feeling the effects of being pregnant, but not be able to feel my baby yet! I’m ready, God, let me have it! ☺ Man, I am just not very good a being patient. I want to be holding our little one in my arms already.

I read in my pregnancy book that the baby can now hear pretty well and is learning our voices. So, I have been singing to the baby for the last few weeks or so. I learned in college that babies can learn while in the womb and can show preference between songs, stories, and peoples voices. These things they heard a lot in the womb can also comfort them once they are born. So, I have been singing the same couple songs to the baby. Nathan also sings to the baby. Sometimes it’s a real song. Sometimes it’s something he made up just for the baby. While he is down there singing to the baby, I have him tell the baby, “It’s okay to kick mommy because she wants to feel you.” So far the baby hasn’t listened yet. I guess we are going to have to teach it the skill of listening to what daddy says. ☺

I have been feeling good lately. Very energetic. Very happy that my cold in gone. I just have some congestion, but it sounds worse than it feels. I have read numerous places that most pregnant women experience congestion for most of their pregnancy, so I am not concerned.

Well, just wanted to check in for the morning. I have to head off to work at the café 11-1, then teach music lessons from 3-6. I hope all my students show up today!

Hope everyone is doing well.

P.S. I have been looking at our wedding pictures lately. So, I thought I would post some of my favorites. Here they are:

We Missed Something!!

Becky here. As I was reading though our blogs I realized we have left out some recent events.

Nathan and I are in the car now, driving in raining weather, to Winnebago, IL to spend the week of Thanksgiving with Mama and Papa Holland. I thought, what could be a better time to catch everyone up than during a 4 hour car ride. So, here are a few recent happenings and some pictures for your enjoyment!!

MOVING AGAIN.

Just a few weeks after we found out I was pregnant, I went in to our rental office to pay rent. As normal, a conversation struck up with the ladies that run the place, Trina and Marlene. I have formed a great relationship with them. I am a talkative gal and they are as well, so they have always known what is going on in my life and I in theirs. They knew me as a single lady when I moved in to my one bedroom apartment. Then, they watched me change my name on the lease and add Nathan’s as we got married. And now, only 2 months after our wedding, here I am at the office telling them I am pregnant! They were very excited for us and immediately asked if Nathan and I would be moving into a 2 bedroom apartment. I told them that we would LOVE the extra space, but we surely could not afford the rent. At the time we were paying $540 a month for our one bedroom and that plus our other bills was expending our money each month just fine. We didn’t think it was wise or necessary to stretch ourselves with a much bigger rent (2 bedrooms generally go for $700-750 in our building). I also didn’t want to be moving in the 8th month of my pregnancy when our lease was up, then have to repaint and nest in a new place. I told them this and Trina thinking out loud said, “Well, we normally charge around $700 for a 2 bedroom because it is two students sharing the rent. Then they are only paying $350 each, and that’s a good deal.” I agreed with her there. Then she said, “But you and Nathan are married and expecting a baby. So, how does $595 sound?” I nearly jumped up and down. But thought an answer of, “I will have to run that past my husband, but thank you so much for the offer,” was the best thing to say. Then I thought to ask if there were even any 2 bedrooms open. They said they would have to check. I mentioned that when I was walking from one side of the apartment building to the other to do laundry I noticed an apartment on the second floor that was empty and looked like a 2 bedroom. “Is that one available?” I asked. Marlene said, “That one’s not empty. They have their lease until February.” I told them that it has looked very empty for a few weeks or so and remembered watching them move all their stuff a while ago. So, we went over that apartment to see what was going on and it WAS empty. The people who had lived there just picked up and moved out without telling them anything! I bet they are in trouble. But this was working out well for me. The apartment looked great except the carpets. They were really old and dirty yellow shag with brown speck that I could not be sure were supposed to be there or were just filth. There were also holes warn into the carpet or burnt into it. Whoever had lived in that apartment had not been very nice to it at all. Trina told me the apartment was ours if we wanted it. I was excited, but the carpets were a deal breaker for me. I explained this to her and asked her if they could replace them. She said, “Well, a baby couldn’t very will crawl on THESE carpets.” We painted the apartment that weekend. Thanks to Ma and Pa Cantlon for funding the repaint and to our great friends Dale, Amanda, Becky, Devin, Joel, and Jessica for helping with the labor and Grandma Dorothy for funding dinner for the laborers!! ☺ Maintenance replaced the carpets the next week and we moved in the week after!! We have lived for a month or so now and LOVE it. It is so much bigger than our old place. AND the baby has it’s own room!!!! We are so excited to meet our little Holland. Here are some picture of the place.

Here is the living room:


And the other half of the living room:


Our messy dining room/office area. As you can see I am not done organizing this part. :)


The kitchen:


Bathroom:


The baby's room - a work in progress!


Our bedroom:


The other half of our room:


Hope you enjoyed. Much love.