The Newest Blog Member's Journey

Posted by  | Sunday, March 23, 2008  at 3:16 PM  
Hello, all of you beautiful moms! My name is Stacey and I am the newest member of the POH blog team. I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Matt, for 16 years and we have 3 beautiful (and very animated :) children. Twenty years ago Matt and I began our romance. We married during our sophomore year of college and immediately began ministry together. Oh if we had known what God had in store for our journey together!!! It is so comforting to look back and know that even when we don’t know what our future holds, we can have confidence in Christ who “began a good work in us and will carry it to completion.” When Matt and I had been married for 3 years we decided to start our family. We thought that would be an easy and painless task. It turned out to be just the opposite. After trying for a year we finally conceived and soon miscarried. Two months later…a second miscarriage. We had so much sorrow and grief over the loss of these precious babies and wondered if God had children planned for us. Eight more months of trying and waiting brought us to the great news that we were expecting for a third time. At last, God saw fit to allow the pregnancy to be healthy with no complications!! Nine months and 70 POUNDS :)later we gave birth to our first born, Meredith! Obviously after losing two babies and gaining 70 lbs with the third, we were ready for a break.

When Meredith turned three we were ready for another newborn in the house. Again…waiting…waiting…third miscarriage…more grief…many doctor visits…waiting. At this point we thought, “Well God, do You just want Meredith to be an only child?” We decided that that may be the plan of God for our family but a bigger family was always a desire in the back of our minds. More doctors’ visits resulted in a determination that we were inexplicably infertile and therefore should consider ourselves lucky to have conceived our first child. Almost immediately after that doctor’s diagnosis and when Meredith was 5 ½ we conceived for the 5th time. This pregnancy was healthy, easy and caused only a 30 lb. weight gain which resulted in our second born, Madison. At this point in our journey to build our family, we became very relaxed in our thoughts of conceiving quickly. This relaxation turned out a surprise conception! I had been working out diligently and eating very little to lose all of the baby weight because we were planning a trip to Brazil when Madison was three months old. After returning from Brazil, I became very sick and thought I had some kind of parasite from bad food. Oh no…this was no parasite! Baby number 3 was on his way! First, shock…followed by more joy…followed by cancer resulting in more uncertainty in our lives. When I was 7 ½ months pregnant, Matt was diagnosed with liposarcoma in his thigh. The last two months of the pregnancy were spent with him in two surgeries and radiation. During this difficult time in our lives, God gave us such peace and reminded us that He is in control and our lives are in His hands. Our third child and only boy, Matthew Ray, came along just one year and two days after the birth of Madison! Whew! What a roller coaster ride!!!

These last four years as a family of five have been a whirlwind and a joy! And God has continued to lead us on new adventures with Him. Just 15 months ago, we began a new chapter in our lives as He led our family to move overseas. Being a mom in Egypt has its difficulties, but I love getting to see my kids learn and grow to love another culture and begin to understand His plan for the their lives.

Our oldest, Meredith, is now eleven. She is such a joy and always has been. She has always been quick to obey and has such a tender heart. It has been amazing to watch her approach these pre-teen years with such spiritual maturity and consistency! Our middle child, Madison, is five. She shows leadership qualities, is creative, verbal, photogenic, and our most strong-willed child:) Our 4-year-old baby is Matthew Ray. He is a typical boy who loves running, jumping, climbing, sword fighting, boxing, sports, and making every sound to go with all of the activities listed above. He also holds his mother’s heart in his hands and can make her melt!:)

I’m excited about being part of the POH team, and look forward to growing with you in the journey we call motherhood.

You are welcome to check out our family blog that was started just before we moved to Egypt. www.thedunavants.blogspot.com

11 comments:

Rachael Davis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matt and Stacey said...

Rachael,
Great to have you reading! I will be glad to give you any info you need or desire from life here! It would probably be better to reply to this with your email address and we can chat about life! I will email you as soon as I get your email!
His,
Stacey

Rachael Davis said...

Hi Stacey,
My e-mail is RachaelMDavis@earthlink.net It seems my original post has been deleted by the blog administrator...did I say something I wasn't supposed to???

Sandra said...

Stacey- Thanks for joining the team! It will be nice to hear from a mom with older children (than the other contributors!). Looking forward to hearing more from you!

Matt and Stacey said...

Sandra,
thanks so much for the sweet welcome. Yes, I will be contributing but I don't know how much help I will be! :) Checked out your blog...those boys are too sweet!!!
ALL for HIS GLORY,
Stacey

Ashley said...

Matt and Stacey,

Are you in Egypt now? My parents live in Cairo! Where are you? Thank you so much for sharing,

ashley

avmartindale@gmail.com
www.ericandashley.blogspot.com

Jeffrey & Shannon said...

Welcome! I am super excited that you are joining the POH group, and I'm really looking forward to hearing advice from a mom who is a little further along in the journey than I currently am. Though Jeff and I are older, we started late, so we are young at parenting, and will take all the seasoned advice we can get.
Blessings!
Shannon H.

Matt and Stacey said...

ashley,
yes, we live in Cairo! Would be glad to meet your parents!

Stacey
dunavant@pobox.com

Matt and Stacey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt and Stacey said...

Shannon,
Thanks for the sweet welcome! How old are your kids and how old are you guys if you don't mind me asking?! Thanks for checking out POH. I would be excited to chat anytime!
His,
Stacey

Jeffrey & Shannon said...

Hey,
My girls are 21 mo. and 6 mo. old; they are 15 mo. apart! Jeff and I are 36 and 33. That seems a bit crazy to me. I feel like we're in our 20's! I logged on to your family blog and found some great pics... we can chat there.
Blessings!
Shannon

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