Meet Sophia Lynn Friederichs!

  

It's a girl! Last Tuesday we got to find out so much about our little baby. We looked forward to our appointment with great excitement, but also with lots of prayer. We know lots of people go into this appointment with excitement over finding out if it's a girl or a boy and we did too- it's completely natural. But we also know some people who found out their baby would not survive, some who found out their baby had significant diseases or deformities that would change their lives forever.

So we prayed a lot. We prayed for a healthy baby. We prayed for accurate information. We prayed for wisdom and peace should things not go the way we wanted them to. We also repented. We had to repent for finding joy and hope in a healthy baby, for knowing most of our wanting a healthy baby was for our convenience and selfishness. And we centered ourselves on the Lord and his will, our place in it, and our baby's place in it. We prayed that healthy or unhealthy, boy or girl, that God would capture our child's heart and take hold of its affections, that our baby would be forever changed by the gospel, that Jesus would be its greatest treasure, that it would give its life over to the God who has saved it from sin and death and condemnation. We asked God to do these things and to do them soon and to let us be a part of it.

So this is our prayer for Sophie. This is our greatest hope for her. We would love it if you would pray these things too for her and for us.

We got a great report: 7 1/2 inches long and 9 oz, she's tall and skinny. ;) Her heartbeat is strong and everything on the sonogram showed a beautiful, perfectly healthy, little girl. We also had two blood tests done for several birth defects and both came back today negative.

We are so excited every time we find out more about her. I started feeling her kick about two weeks ago and that has been such a sweet thing for me each day. I can't wait for Andy to get to feel it too, if he'll ever be patient enough to wait longer than 10 seconds for it! :) I was hoping for a girl, and was so shocked to find out she was a she! Immediately I have felt more connected to her, getting to call her by name. How sweet she is to me already! Looking forward to the days to come when we continue to learn more and more about her until we finally get to meet her face to face!

Radical Womanhood

I have read Carolyn McCulley's blog, also called Radical Womanhood and she is wonderful. So I was not surprised when one of my best friends recommended her book. In fact, it received such high praise from both my friend and her husband that I was afraid to read it. When I set up really high expectations, I usually find myself sorely disappointed. This has been an exceptional experience, in a lot of ways.

When I finished it, I couldn't wait to post it here, because I want every woman I know to read it. I want many men I know to read it too, including Andy, though I won't hold my breath on that one. ;) (I've already got him slaving away with another book!) I have been able to read him several exerpts as we lay in bed reading, and that has always prompted good questions and conversation, which was one of the many treasures this book brought me. It is hard to find good material written for women about women. I've had to get good stuff about women from men like John Piper or CJ Mahaney. This book was like a breath of fresh air. It's direct, relevent, and well researched. Carolyn's stance is rooted in a deep understanding of Scripture and the character of God. It will challenge and encourage you in many aspects of your life, particularly as a wife or mother.

The book was also so well written that it didn't read like a nonfiction. I found myself struggling to put it down. It has a great mix of historical fact, Scripture, Caroline's reasoning, and personal testimony. I frequently had to set it down so that I could mull over something or sift through where my heart was on a particular issue. On the flip side, I read part of it on a plane and had to set it down several times because people were staring at the girl who was sobbing while she read. :)

Overall, it's one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. You will learn tons about the effects of feminism on our culture, people we share our lives with, and even ourselves. You will be able to compare your view with what God has commanded in Scripture. I hope you will be pushed to repentance as I was, and that you will be encouraged to be a radical woman of God!