With good comes bad

I've found out some good news and bad news in the last few days. I always like to hear the bad news first but today I'm starting with the good.

Good: Andrew and I were able to hear the baby's heart beat again on Monday. The doctor said his/her heartbeat is strong and read 163. I've started my second trimester which has made me feel a little better now. My odds of miscarriage have dropped significantly! I haven't let myself think that way or let that factor control me, but seriously...what pregnant woman doesn't think about that during their pregnancy? Needless to say, it was a relief. I'm glad all is going well! I'll be 14 weeks on Friday. Very exciting!

Bad: In the midst of all of this, we've had a couple of relatives come down with serious illnesses lately. Grandpa Lozano has gone downhill after going to the hospital last week for congestive heart failure. He's not my grandpa by blood, but I sure do consider him a close match. He's the grandpa of one of my childhood friends. I've been friends with her and her family since I was 5. Her family lives next door to mine. Not only that but Grandpa Lozano resembles my grandpa SO much. I lost my grandpa 11 years ago, and I feel like I'm losing him all over again. I'm encouraging, praying and talking her through it all, and while I know that we must all go through the pain of losing a grandparent, I can't help but to feel for her...more than others.

Not only that but today we found out that Andrew's aunt has cervical cancer. She is a breast cancer survivor but over the last few years she hasn't been taking care of herself like she should. We'll find out more tomorrow or Friday what stage the cancer is at and how far it's spread. She's only in her 50s. I hope it isn't as bad as every one's thinking.

The crazy thing is, when you hear about things like this, it makes you change your way of thinking, if it's gone off course. All the things that mattered before don't seem to matter as much. Sometimes we can get so far off track. For instance, "I have nothing to wear today," or "the oil needs to be changed," or "he said/she said," but those things seem so small in retrospect. Don't they?

Well I'm off to bed but before I do, could you please keep these two individuals and their families in your prayers? It would mean a lot to me and them. After all, prayer is powerful!