14 Weeks

Originally written August 24, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a peach, 3.4 inches and 1.5 ounces in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 165.5, up 5.5 lbs so far. Since I started this pregnancy overweight, I'm going to do my best to not gain over 25 pounds total. But I'm also going to try and not stress too much about this. Apparently second trimester is week 13 - week 27, and if I can gain no more than 15 pounds total by the end of week 27, I'll be a happy camper.

Maternity Clothes: So far this week I wore a normal dress Monday, maternity jeans Tuesday and today, and yesterday black maternity work pants a friend gave me. I loved them. They were SO comfy.

Movement: Still too early to feel movement.

Sleep: My snoogle has helped alot. I'm only getting up twice in the night to pee, and most of the time I'm sleeping pretty hard in between those 2 wake-ups. My dreams have continued to be outrageous. One night this week I had a dream about my Varsity cheerleading squad being asked to perform somewhere so we had a week to pull a routine together. I came up with the whole thing in my sleep, and I was the only girl who couldn't fit into my cheerleading skirt from Jr year of highschool.

What I Miss: Jimmy John's! We had a work meeting yesterday, and Roger suggested we order JJ's, but I asked if we could have pizza instead so I wouldn't have to make a big deal about heating up my sandwich.

Cravings: Still been thinking about Caesar salads. Lunch meat, which is ironic. And yesterday, I started craving the cream cheese red pepper dip that Debbie makes. It's so delicious. And served with big Fritos scoops. I will be making myself some of that for this weekend.

Symptoms: Still dealing with some nausea. Heart burn. Headaches, about 2 this week. Raging hunger sometimes. Oh, and the one no one talks about...constipation. Time for me to break out the Miralax again.

Best Moment this Week: Amber sent the sweetest pregnancy box. It had tons of teas, ginger chews, Baby Wise and oils and lotions.

Moments with Dave this Week: We did Baby's First 5K together on Saturday morning in Muskogee. We had no idea before we got there, but it ended up being cross-country style. Thankfully I was already decided on walking the whole thing. But when it started as running across a football field and then going into random fields, I was super glad I was just walking. It was the perfect set-up for twisting an ankle.

I still managed to keep under 45 minutes and did it in a 14:33 pace, or something like that.

Dave and I have also been purging stuff from the house and Saturday we went through alot of pictures. Please look at how cute he was.

Milestones: Dave finally told Kevin and Hannah at family dinner on Sunday night! I'm so glad that cat is out of the bag. They were our last big people to tell before we do a FB announcement.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing if the nausea and exhaustion really go away with the 2nd trimester :) Cause so far, no dice.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: Hmmmm, can't think of one. So I'll tell you my food aversions instead. Sugar, fruit, specifically pineapple (although I did eat some on pizza yesterday), ground meat (makes me gag). And pizza pretty much sounds good for all meals, 3x a day.

(East Village Bohemian Pizza Monday night for Dinner Club)

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor's appointment is September 6.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: I skipped dinner altogether last night because of headache plus exhaustion. And then I woke up this morning to read The Bump update and baby is growing more than ever and needs nutrition. So today I've had raisin bran with milk, a butt load of Chex Mix (trying to keep nausea away), yummy Hide-Away salad leftover from yesterday, and cantaloupe. Oh, and one piece of pizza :)

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 139 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." I love it, the whole chapter! Same as last week.

13 Weeks

Originally written August 17, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a Meyer lemon, 2.9 inches and .9 ounces in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 164.5, up 4.5 lbs so far. First trimester is officially over! So I have met my weight goal of not gaining more than 5 pounds so far!

Maternity Clothes: I got another HUGE bag of maternity clothes from Laura Corbin on Saturday. After going through them all, I really shouldn't have to buy much.

Movement: Still too early to feel movement.

Sleep: Dave had to sleep in the guest room a couple of nights because I was waking him up too much. He might sleep great in the guest room. But I sleep horrible without him. It takes forever for me to fall asleep.

What I Miss: Jimmy John's! And beer. There was a moment this week when I was thinking about wings, pizza and beer :)

Cravings: Caesar salad! I can't stop thinking about it.

Symptoms: On August 13, I woke up early. I had no bloat, but I had a little pointy bump under my belly button. I think it was the baby!

Best Moment this Week: Sleeping with my Snoogle for the first time last night! The Snoogle is truly amazing. I sleep like a rock in between my bathroom wake-ups.

Moments with Dave this Week: Dave and I had a wonderful Saturday morning. The Philbrook does a free Saturday the second weekend every month, so we took advantage of it. While we were there, we ran into his friends Ruth and Blake. He proudly told them that after 5 long years, we are expecting a child! He was beaming. It was SO cute. We followed up our museum visit with a stop at Corbin's house to pick up the clothes. Dave got tons of advice from her hubby Ryan while we were there. And we finished our day date with burgers and rootbeer from Weber's. It was awesome.

We also had a Thursday night date night, the end of our 13th week, where we would normally take the picture outside. So we got inside pictures instead :) We started at Foolish Things Coffee for, ironically, beer and lemonade. And then we went to The Tavern for burgers. I will be skipping that for a while. The burger was way too heavy and fancy for being pregnant.

Milestones: I told my boss at work, Monica. I also told my old boss, Roger. They were both so happy for me! Both of their eyes teared up :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Dave telling his brother!

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: I told the owner at Weber's I needed lots of extra pickles, cause I'm pregnant. He said "The pregnant lady gets what she wants." :)

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor's appointment is September 6. I have been taking my blood pressure at work, and it is MUCH better when I'm not at the doctor's office.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: I can't really think of anything too weird.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 139 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." I love it, the whole chapter! Same as last week.

True confessions: Work got super busy, and I'm filling this out mostly on Monday, August 21. My brain is already fried and has forgotten most of the 13th week. I'm too busy enjoying Week 14! Lesson learned. Must fill out this questionaire on Thursdays :)

12 Weeks

Originally written August 10, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a plum, a little over 2 inches and about half an ounce in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 164.5, up 4.5 lbs so far. I really wanted to stay within the recommended 1-5 pound weight gain for first trimester. One more week to go till first trimester is officially over! Yesterday the baby measured 12 weeks and 2 days. But I'll still count Thursdays as the beginning of a new week, since the due date is 2/22.

Maternity Clothes: I'm in them most of the time now. This week I've worn lots of dresses, including my new yellow one and red one from the Loft. The yellow one isn't maternity, but the red one is. I wore the maternity skinny jeans to my appointment yesterday.

Movement: I know I won't be able to feel the baby for a while. But a couple nights ago as I was trying to get comfortable and fall asleep, I was laying on my side, and I could feel a pulse or flutter on my skin in my lower left belly. It kinda felt like blood pumping. I'm sure it wasn't the baby and was probably some weird muscle twitch or something. But I loved it cause I think that might be what the baby will feel like in 8-10 weeks.

Sleep: Pretty darn bad this week. Last night I ended up going into the living room at 3, and I was up till 4:15 with the lights on. And then when I went back to sleep I had the weirdest dreams! One was about socks jumping around the living room by themselves. And the second was me trying to protect kids I was babysitting from some imminent danger, that I don't know what it was, but I was telling them to wield knives and such. So creepy!

What I Miss: Wine. Twice this week I have had meals where a glass of red zin would have been lovely. I had a Myrtles leadership team meeting at Laura's, where she served lasagna with salad and garlic bread. And last night, Dave and I went to Flemings to celebrate the wonderful appointment we had yesterday.

Cravings: Hmmm, cravings fell off this week. I can't think of anything I was particularly craving. I still crave meat and salt in general though. Sweets, even the idea of them, make my stomach curl.

Symptoms: I was going to report that this week had been pretty good since Monday. And then this morning, I brushed my teeth and promptly started dry heaving and vomiting yellow bile into the toilet. D I S G U S T I N G! I hate throwing up. But baby is doing good, and right now, that's all that matters.

I'm still super tired. I pretty much want to nap every day at 2pm, which is not a surprise since I'm sleeping horribly at night.

Best Moment this Week: This week has been SO amazing. So many wonderful things have happened.

I got our first onesie gift! Laura Corbin gave me this when I left her house Monday night. It immediately made me tear up.

Tulsa had a horrible tornado on Saturday night. 4 tornados are confirmed to have touched down, and the one in Tulsa was an EF2. It caused tons of damage at 41st and Yale. It was baby's first time to hear the sirens and run to the bathroom (while in my belly of course). But we survived - everyone did. And there was no damage in our neighborhood that I could tell.

Friday, when I got home from work, I noticed 2 packages outside our door. As I got closer I saw they were from destinationmaternity.com. I freaked out, cause I thought I had ordered maternity clothes without realizing it. I immediately texted my mom and asked if she had ordered a bunch of clothes, but then I saw the packing slip, and they were from Aunt Joanie!!! I was so surprised and excited. She got me so many items that it took 3 days before I had tried everything on. She did awesome!!! I will go to the mall tomorrow and try to exchange a few things, but for the most part, I loved everything. But more than that, I loved that she was thinking of us.

Here are a couple of my favorite tops she sent.

Moments with Dave this Week: I loved being with Dave at the appointment yesterday. First off, he calmed me down when I was crying at home before we left. I was a mess with anxiety. But he washed it away and prayed for me and our baby. During the ultrasound, which lasts maybe 1 minute, 2 minutes at most, he kept leaning over in front of me to see the screen Dr. Martin was looking at, even though there is a huge TV monitor on the wall. I had to tell him 3 times to move out of my way so I could see the baby. He was clearly excited :)

I also loved going to Flemings with him last night. I'm guessing we will need to soak up as many of these date nights as possible now. The chef gave us some truffles to take home. I wonder if the blue bow means it's a boy!

Milestones: Apparently baby has fingers and toes and is moving them! For me, I think it's time to tell a few people at work, like Monica :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting the uptick in energy and the nausea ending. But more than anything, I want to enjoy and savor every single day of this pregnancy. I have been looking forward to it for so long. I am going to continue to push the anxiety aside and just truly enjoy it.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: When I made our reservations for Flemings, I put that a "new baby" was cause for our celebration. So the hostess and our waiter both said "Congratulations on the new baby!" I had to explain it's still inside, but it was awesome to hear the congratulations!

What the Doctor Said this Week: She said the baby is doing great! She didn't appear to measure the baby's neck, and she didn't say a word about blood testing for genetics. She is laid back, and I love that about her. Because that's what I need right now to counter my anxiety. She said baby was measuring 12 weeks 2 days yesterday, and that next appointment she will be able to tell us the gender. She said she was proud of me for actually making it 4 weeks between appointments. She has not once said anything about my weight (which again, I love). My blood pressure was high 157/87, but she wasn't concerned because she knows how nervous I am when I'm there. I took it again this morning and it was 132/78.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: I can't think of anything super weird. But I did tell Tia a couple days ago I was pregnant, because she saw me unpack my food for the day. I brought pork tenderloin, a huge serving of mashed potatoes, a brand new jar of olives, an orange and 2 string cheeses.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 139 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." I love it, the whole chapter!

11 Weeks

Originally written August 3, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a lime and as long as 1.61 inches!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 164.0, up 4 lbs so far. I really wanted to stay within the recommended 1-5 pound weight gain for first trimester. So hopefully this slows down a bit, because I don't think first trimester is officially over till 14 weeks.

Maternity Clothes: I scored a big bag of clothes from Melissa. There are tons of t-shirts and 3 pairs of maternity jeans that are perfect for where I'm at right now and hopefully will last another month or two. They have a low belly band, and 2 of the pairs fit perfect through the butt and legs. One pair gives me some room to grow into. She also gave me a belly band, which I wore once this week, but I didn't really feel like it helped smooth things out that well. I did the whole rubberband trick with my pants. I can still squeeze my pants shut, but I'd rather not constrict baby J.

Catherine brought over a great pair of Loft Maternity work pants. I love them.

Movement: No real movement, but man, some serious pains if I move a certain way. I sneezed yesterday and it hurt my right ovary so bad. And then today I laid down to pop my back and when I twisted to the left, I got a pain in my lower left abdomen.

Sleep: Other than Tuesday night, where I only slept for 4.5 hours, my sleep has been decent this week. Yesterday I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30. If Dave hadn't moved me, I think I would have slept till 3 in the morning. And then I would have woken up starving, very starving.

What I Miss: Hmmmm, I'm going to give it to kombucha again. Dave has been drinking alot of it, and I kinda wish I could have some.

Cravings: Pizza. I feel like I could happily eat pizza for any meal. We had a Red Baron cheese pizza last night topped with mandarin oranges, and I loved it.

Symptoms: The last few days I have had some serious bouts with nausea and exhaustion. I thought I was on the upswing, but the last 2 days have proven otherwise. Yesterday I thought about leaving work, which I think was due to my lack of sleep. But since around 2pm today I have been feeling really nauseas, and it's 5:45!

My nipples have still been extra sensitive and my boobs very sore this week.

I've also been extremely tired, especially in the afternoons. I wish I could take a 2 hour nap every single day. It doesn't help that I've been having a hard time going back to bed after my 4am pee trip :)

Best Moment this Week: It was pretty awesome wearing maternity jeans for the first time on Monday :)

Moments with Dave this Week: Catherine asked me on Tuesday if I had started looking into daycares or if Debbie was going to watch the baby. I started doing some research on daycares and what was available around us. That night I told Dave "Hey, I started looking at daycares today." And he said "stop right there. Before you say anything else, I would really like to stay at home with the baby for a few years." That was huge. I had so many mixed emotions. And I didn't sleep well that night at all. But after thinking about it a few days, and making a pros and cons list, I think that it would be amazing for our whole family if Dave stayed home with the baby - at least for the first year. Then I would love for him to work 2-3 days a week after that. Or at least I think that's what I would want at this moment.

Milestones: I can't believe the baby is a size of a lime! We are finally out of the berries. And of course, wearing maternity clothes for the first time this week.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Now I'm really really really looking forward to our appointment on Wednesday morning.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: Nothing from a stranger, but Debbie sent me a text yesterday asking if she can tell her neighborhood ladies next Friday. I think it's so cute that she is so excited, but I told her let's just wait and see how the appointment goes on Wednesday.

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor appointment is August 9!

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: Hmmmm, I can't think of anything too weird I ate this week. But I did wake up absolutely starving Thursday morning...at 4:10 am!!! I went ahead and got out of bed, ate some Fruit Loops and blueberries, and I was able to be back asleep around 5:15. I have never done anything like that in my life.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: I haven't been very good about getting into my Bible this week. I need to do ALOT better. I did love my August 1 daily calendar "Let yourself believe in great things - God is in the habit of making them happen."

10 Weeks

Originally written Friday, July 28, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a strawberry and as long as 1.18 inches!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 163.0, up 3 lbs so far. I really wanted to stay within the recommended 1-5 pound weight gain for first trimester. So hopefully this slows down a bit, because I don't think first trimester is officially over till 14 weeks.

Maternity Clothes: Usually we get to wear jeans at work. But this week, our VP of Tax came in from Houston, so we had to wear business casual. I managed to wear a dress the first day, but Wednesday I wanted to wear pants. I quickly realized Tuesday night that I couldn't button most of my work pants. I messaged Melissa and told her what was going on. I messaged Jess and asked how the rubberband trick works. Luckily I found a pair of black slacks that had 2 buttons, and even though I couldn't button the top one, I was able to button the bottom one.

Movement: It's still too early to feel the baby.

Sleep: My dreams continue to be crazy. And most nights I'm not getting 8 hours of sleep due to the bathroom wake-ups.

What I Miss: The girls were talking about maybe doing sushi for next month's dinner club, and at that moment I missed sushi.

Cravings: Rotisserie Chicken. Poor Dave got in trouble this week, because he didn't get a text I sent him about stopping for a rotisserie chicken on his way home from the gym.

Symptoms: I threw up for the very first time in this pregnancy this week. I was sharing a hotel room with 4 of my girlfriends in OKC. We had a great evening, first walking from our hotel room to Jazmo's for some Cajun food. We then had to run back to the cars to head to the brewery cause we left a credit card there, and they closed at 9. We met back up in the room, and after a bit, we headed back outside to walk to the Riverboat stand. Along that walk, I got overheated and needed to sit down for a minute. Honestly, after that I didn't rebound. By the time we made it to the riverboat stand, I was pouring water on my head and down my back. There were so many different sounds (music coming from various bars), many smells (the worst of which was funnel cake) and it was hot. I survived the riverboat ride, but I did start crying at one point, when the driver started spinning the boat. I made it all the way back to the hotel room, where the girls spoiled me and put icy washcloths on my forehead and neck. We watched a little SNL, and I was feeling back to normal. And then...I brushed my teeth. I immediately had excess saliva and not 10 seconds later lost my whole dinner in the bathroom I was sharing with my friends at the Residence Inn Marriott in OKC Bricktown.

Best Moment this Week: I've had so many great moments this week. I got to tell Adri, Anna and Lauren when we were in OKC for our girl's trip. Their reaction is some of my favorites so far. Megan and I came up with the clue word of "pineapple." Whenever I started talking about pineapple she would start videoing the conversation. I first tried at dinner Friday night, but our food came out while I was about to spill my guts. Saturday morning we were planning our day and talking about the brewery. All of a sudden I said "I wonder if they have pineapple beer there." The reveal came out amazingly after that. Adri was scrolling on her phone looking at the beers, and I kept saying, "nope, can't have that one. not that one either." Finally I said "Man, do they not have any beers pregnant people can drink?" It took the girls about 5 seconds before they got it, but then their reaction was priceless. I have watched that video over and over again.

I also got to tell Eva and Carolyn over the phone :)

Moments with Dave this Week: I've had some bumps around my belly button, that I thought were zits, but now I think they are in-grown hairs (either way, I think they are hormone related, cause I've never had this many red spots right on my belly). I usually use a Noxzema pad when I'm having zits, so I was swiping one all around my belly button yesterday morning. Dave stopped me and asked if that was ok for the baby. I shrugged, cause I wasn't sure. He called me later that morning and had googled it at work. There are mixed reviews on whether that sinks in past the initial skin layer, but the fact that he cared and looked it up on his own made my heart swell.

Milestones: Double digits week!!!! I woke up so happy that we are finally 10 weeks pregnant :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Our next appointment on August 9!

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: I got to tell our waiter at Jazmo's that I would like a Shirley Temple. He was encouraging me to get a cocktail, but I told him I was pregnant. I loved it! Not a favorite quote from a stranger, but an interaction with a stranger nonetheless.

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor appointment is August 9!

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: Meal-wise, probably dinner last night. I feel horrible admitting it, but I had chips with salsa followed by trail mix. Nothing else sounded good. And I had feasted on some mustard potato salad around 4:30, so I wasn't all that hungry.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 27:14 - I've been singing the Castle Hills school song in my head quite a bit this week. I just love it. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles! They shall walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint. Teach me Lord, Teach me Lord to wait." Well, He sure has done that. And now that I'm on the other side, I'm super grateful for all of the friendships, lessons and fires I've walked through in the last 5 years. It gave me an appreciation for not only motherhood and parenthood, but also for not having kids, and specifically not having kids not by choice. There are people out there who never will get what their heart desires. And I believe it's possible to be happy anyway. God has given each of us something, probably many things, that we can really delight in. It's up to us to do so.

These are the pictures we took the night of July 27th after our walk. I was so bloated. The first one is normal, and the second one is me sucking in. I feel drastically less bloated when I wake up in the mornings, so the first picture from this post is Friday morning, July 28 :)

9 Weeks

Originally written July 20, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a cherry and as long as .9 inches!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 161.5, so up 1.5 lbs so far. Feeling good in this category. I do feel that I'm eating more, but maybe I'm not. I'm trying to split my meals into 2 each, so that I can eat every 3 hours or so. If I stay on top of my eating and hunger, it really helps with the nausea.

Maternity Clothes: No maternity clothes yet, but I think I've only worn pants one day this week. It really helps that it's summer, because I usually wear a ton of dresses in the summer. I did place my first clothing order with several maternity items in it today! I couldn't help it. Ann Taylor Loft was having 50% off and free shipping. I got a maternity cardigan, a maternity dress, maternity shorts and 2 non-maternity flowy tops. I got 6 pieces for under $130!!!

Movement: It's too early to feel the baby moving. The farther along I've gotten, I get less twinges and pings, which has been nice.

Sleep: My sleep has been pretty good, except for CRAZY dreams. I've gotten used to waking up to pee multiple times per night.

What I Miss: Jimmy Johns! I was craving a sandwich at some point this week and wanted JJ's with extra peppers. But they only serve their sandwiches cold, and Dr. Martin made it very clear not to eat any cold-cuts.

Cravings: Fried Chicken. I stopped Monday after my lash appointment to pick up Chick-Fil-A for lunch and brought it back to the office, and then last night I was craving fried chicken. I also had a cobb salad Monday night at dinner club with lightly fried chicken on it. I am SO glad I'm still able to eat chicken, since I haven't been able to stomach my protein shakes in the morning.

Symptoms: Nausea, Sore Boobs and Very Tender Nipples, A little moody, CRAZY dreams (so detailed, weird people in them, and I usually can remember then). This week I've had a couple headaches. I was worried about it because I never get headaches. But then my Bump update this week mentioned headaches as a symptom during this time because of the surge in hormones.

One symptom I've been having since before I even knew I was pregnant is blurry vision. I have heard of other women having it. But mine can get pretty bad sometimes in the afternoon, especially when I get tired. Apparently, this is normal.

Best Moment this Week: Friday - I received a gift that knocked me over. My friend Tyler sent me a lovely James Avery charm that says "Expect a Miracle." On the back she got it engraved with Baby Jordan.

Moments with Dave this Week: This week Dave has really started being sweet to the belly. He has talked to it, rubbed it and prayed over it. I love it :)

We had the opportunity to hike at Robber's Cave and spend the evening with our friends Jenny and Cody at their lake house in Eufala.

Milestones: Baby J is officially a fetus, no longer an embryo!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Becoming calmer and less anxious as time goes on. This is taking some effort on my part, but it is getting better. I had high anxiety Monday, because I noticed my resting heart rate had dropped 2 beats per minute. But I think it was due to relaxing over the weekend. By Tuesday, my resting average heart rate was back up to 65 bpm. And today it is 64 bpm. After thinking about it, the baby's heartbeat should drop a little by the time we have our next appointment, so it makes sense that mine would drop a bit too. I'm trying my best to pick up my shield of faith, and envision a beautiful, healthy baby being born in February.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: I can't think of one from a stranger. But I had my annual dermatologist appointment yesterday. She said I have time to have at least 2 more kids. She didn't have her kids till she was 39 and 42, and she loved being pregnant. She is probably almost 6' tall though and maybe 145 pounds :)

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor appointment is August 9!

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: Nothing too strange that I can think of. I was able to take the Goldfish crackers out of the car for a few days, but this morning they were back with me. I almost threw up while brushing my teeth this morning. It was a tad rough.

I bought myself 2 bagels at Panera Tuesday night at the Myrtle meeting. So I've been eating one half at a time up at the office. Asiago cheese bagel get in my belly!

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Ephesians 6:16 "Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." I got this from Jesus Calling. On Wednesday, the reading was about fear and anxiety (perfect!) and it talked about the enemy shooting arrows of fear at us. They recommend affirming our trust in Jesus, regardless of how we feel. With persistence, my feelings will eventually fall in line with my faith. Wonderful advice.