Gratitude Friday…

Shoot. I. Am. Exhausted. This week has been 12 days long and I took Monday off.

This week, I am, surprisingly, grateful for my job. I say surprisingly because it’s really the reason I’m exhausted. And honestly, things have been so rough at work, I often question why I continue. But then this week happens and I remember. These weeks are truly a blessing.

So here we go: What I Did This Week and Why I Am So Blessed to Have My Job

This is where Chris and I spent Monday night:

In case you can’t tell, that’s the view from our 5th row seats at the U2 concert. I know. There’s something about singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” at the top of your lungs that’s just freeing. All teenarergy. Although, my life as a teenager was never 5th row cool.

On Tuesday, I worked like a dog to plan this event (and lots of other “stuff” around it) for Wednesday:

We had some cross-cultural executives came to visit. The funniest part was them asking if the pumpkins were part of the lunch. My boss reminded me there is no Halloween or Thanksgiving in their country (although, why not Halloween?) and I said yes, but don’t they have FALL? Apparently not. Regardless, the tables looked fabulous and they were impressed.

Thursday, I had another ob/gyn appointment. This time there was nothing forcibly shoved inside me which made it a rather refreshingly nice appointment. E looks good. I’m healthy. All is well. At the end of the appointment, the receptionist presented me with a bill for the rest of my prenatal, delivery and post-partum services. It was ridiculously small. Really, I kept asking her if that was all and she kept assuring me it was correct. Thank you Lord.

Today, well, was almost too blessed to explain. We had a fundraiser for charity and it was a HUGE success. We hosted and OU/TX Tailgate party. Pay 10 bucks and eat as much tailgate food as you can shove in. Apart from having to listen to Texas’ band CD in addition to OU’s, it was fabulous. We decorated a car for each school. Here’s OU’s (I’m not putting Texas’ on my blog. Sorry, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want to.)

But the absolute best thing about this week was this morning. We had a dedication ceremony for a new office building. The CEO was in town. Having worked for him for several years, I really love seeing him at our company social events. He’s darn charming and it’s nice to see the employees clamor to shake his hand. Anyway, we got to talk for a few minutes when he arrived.

He knows a pretty good bit about our infertility struggles. He was genuinely surprised to find out about a year ago that our insurance did not cover infertility treatments. He was even more surprised to find out how much it costs.

A couple of weeks ago, rumors started buzzing about our 2010 benefits. Nothing major, most said, just some discounts for being healthy and something about infertility treatments.

Um…excuse me?

Last week, the numbers finally came out. I immediately started crying. Sitting at my desk, looking at my computer screen, I thought…

Oh. My. Gosh. We might be able to have a second child.

This morning after we hugged and he asked how far along I was, how I was feeling and when we’d find out if it was a boy or girl, I took a moment to thank him for the infertility coverage that’s been added to our insurance. And he says, oh yeah, you know you’re completely responsible for that, right? I mean, until you, I had no idea what that was or how much it costs.

My heart was racing too much to cry but I just said, you don’t know how many families you will help because of this. It is just a blessing.

And then, as I was listening to the dedication ceremony, I started thinking about all the other women in my company who saw that coverage and started crying just like I had. Women who have been trying for years. Women who couldn’t have afforded IVF. Women who’ve tried IVF and now have adoption coverage too!

Folks, we just do not know how the Lord will use the struggles in our lives. He has such an amazing plan and we are just a small part. Who knows how the Lord will use the children created thanks to this coverage? Maybe another Billy Graham? Maybe a future President? Maybe just a loving, God-serving wife, sister or friend? The best part is God knows. And He is at work. We just need to follow Him.