She's Her Father's Daughter

*UPDATE*
I am overwhelmed by all of your kind words, encouragement, and prayers. Thank you. It means so much. The update is that there isn't an update yet. Annabeth's doctor will not get to see the x-rays until this afternoon due to her schedule, so we won't know anything until later. Thank you again for entering in with us!


Dear Father in Heaven
On this day, May 17, 2009,
We ask You to set apart our beloved
Annabeth Ellen Jones
To Your great glory.
Grant her a heart to love You,
To love Your Word,
And to love Your people.
With grateful hearts
For this precious gift of life,
We pray in Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! Luke 1:45

These are the words I saw tonight - displayed in a beautiful frame in Annabeth's room - when Curtis and I knelt down with her at the soft pink ottoman. We were about to ask something really big of God - a request we are desperate for Him to grant.

I saw those words and remembered that we had dedicated our Annabeth Ellen to Him one year ago in front of friends and family.

She is Yours, Lord. Use her for Your glory. Let her know and love You.

My daughter has a purpose and it has nothing to do with me. It extends beyond the five years she'll be in my constant care, beyond the 18 years she will live in my home, beyond my own lifetime and into eternity. God has a plan for her.

As we knelt down to pray and I held her squishy little hands, He reminded me that my baby belongs to Him. My child, who delights me to no end, is the apple of her Father's eye.

Yesterday I took Annabeth to her 15 month check-up. She had to get three shots and it wasn't very pleasant. But the most unpleasant part was when I had to remind the doctor of what she'd said a while back about the asymmetrical creases on Annabeth's thighs. She'd suggested that AB might be favoring one side, which could indicate hip problems. At that time Annabeth wasn't walking yet, so we'd hoped it would even out. Now she's walking 100% of the time and there's been no change.

I did not want to bring this up. I don't want to face the possibility of Annabeth having hip problems. We'd already had a hip ultrasound done when she was two weeks old and everything turned out to be normal. But if I avoided this and found a problem farther down the road, I would never forgive myself. The older a child is when he or she starts treatment for hip dysplasia, the worse it is for them.

So this afternoon I took my daughter to have her sweet little hips X-rayed. The results will either rule out the problem or send us down a long and ugly path of treatment (surgery and a body cast, from what I can tell). To say that I have been a wreck is an understatement. The films were sent to her doctor's office and we were supposed to get a call an hour later. Unfortunately, it was late in the day and it just didn't happen.

We're waiting, fervently praying that this will not be, and rededicating our daughter to her Father as often as we have to. But if this physical challenge in His plan, we will resolve to believe God.

I do hope to be writing less dramatic posts in the near future.

Thanks in advance for your prayers for our girl.