Welcome to the world Leah Joy Pomares Bellin! 

 

 As most of you are preparing for Christmas, we´ve been preparing for the day our little daughter would arrive.    The night before we had our Christmas dinner with our AIA team, and boy was I grateful for a wonderful BIG meal since little did I know we had a big day ahead of us.  Labor started early around 7:30am with mild contractions.  My doctor suggested I stop in her office to check on my progression and I was already 3 cm at 11:30am.  She sent me to the hospital to wait for her and said the baby should be here that day.  As I was leaving for the hospital my contractions were already 3x 10 minutes.  In our short trip to the hospital my contractions were strong and she was ready to come.  On Thursday, December 15th at 15:15pm (3:15pm) she made her grand entry.       

Friday we spent the day getting to know our Leah, as well as having a few visitors at the hospital.  We were all set to be discharged early Saturday, but our plans changed.  The nurses had Leah for some routine tests as well as an immunization when they noticed some unusual movements. They called Luis down to the nursery where he saw one of these convulsive episodes that were lasting up to 4 minutes.  The Dr. sent her to ICU for tests and observation.  At this point we didn´t know what to think.  We placed our precious daughter in God´s care and asked for His healing touch.  When we were able to see her during the first visiting hour we had wonderful news, her ultrasound came back negative for any brain damage!  Although we were still awaiting the neurologist's review as well as blood work we had a sense of relief.  In a few hours the neurologist explained that she was on an anti-convulsive medicine, but as far as he could tell she was perfectly healthy, and that we should see him in 2 weeks to check on her progress.  Praise the Lord!  Her blood work confirmed that the episodes were a hyperglycemic reaction to lack of nutrition.  They recommended that we supplement her feeding with formula to insure she is eating enough and said we could take her home in the morning (Sunday 18). 

Since being home Leah has been doing extremely well.  She is eating, resting, growing stronger, and more alert with each passing day. We are so grateful to have her as our daughter. 

LEAH JOY-

Luis and I like the story of Leah in Genesis 29.  Jacob worked for 7 years to marry Leah´s younger sister Rachel, but their father, Laban, gave him Leah, the eldest daughter, instead and said he could work another 7 years to marry Rachel.  Leah had 3 children and with the birth of each child she hoped that maybe her husband would grow to love her (because it was Rachel he had loved).  With the birth of her 4th child, Judah, her heart changed and she said, “this time I will praise the Lord”. Interestingly enough Jesus came through the line of Judah, in other words a descendant of Leah, not Rachel.  The name Leah actually means weary, but that is why we really like Joy as a second name. Just as Leah´s joy came later when she decided to praise the Lord.  That is why we chose the name, Leah Joy.

From our family to yours we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.  

¡Feliz Navidad!       

Luis, Elizabeth, and Leah Pomares

Prayer

Requests

-That Leah would continue to grow strong and healthy.

-That Leah´s neurologist would give the ok for her to go off of her anti-convulsive medicine.

-For wisdom in how to raise our daughter to fear the Lord.

-For strength, patience, and grace, throughout the many sleepless nights as we adjust to being new parents.

-To give thanks to God for being with and protecting Leah in ICU.

        We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  So often it is easy to catch ourselves grumbling (especially when you are 38 weeks pregnant), but what a blessing it is to find contentment in every situation.  Luis and I are grateful for so much; the students involved in the ministry, the love we have from our family and friends, a wonderful supportive church, and our little baby girl that is due in just a couple weeks.  We are also grateful to have been able to share Thanksgiving with almost 50 friends and co-laborers in the ministry..

         Monday, November 21st the students at BUAP had off of school since Sunday was a national holiday, Mexican independence day.  I invited some girls over for a Woman’s time lead by a fellow Cru staff, Tawny Williams, who used to serve in Mexico, and is currently serving in Colorado with her family.  She shared with us from Ephesians 4 about unity in Christ as women.  Two of the five girls who joined us for the talk, sisters Ana and Carmen, are just learning more about what it means to follow Jesus.  It was exciting to be able to encourage them in this journey and give them a Bible and notebook to write down what they are learning about and the questions that they have.  Please pray that Ana and Carmen would read their Bibles and that they would come to know Jesus personally.  

On Thursday we had an end of the semester social at our house.  It was an amazing time for students to connect with one another and grow deeper in friendship.  Starting the next semester Luis is will not be able to be on campus full time due to all Mexican staff undergoing a training class in January.  We asked the students if anyone would like to give a talk to be able to continue having the weekly meetings.  Immediately four students volunteered to give talks!  What a wonderful response.  It is encouraging to see them take initiative and ownership in the movement.  

A friend of ours from our church was kind enough to bless us with a  pregnancy photo session.  We had a wonderful time going to a park, which was  where Luis took me for our first date in Puebla.   With only 2 weeks away from our due date we are getting more and  more excited to meet our little girl.  So far everything is going wonderful in this pregnancy.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers. 

Luis and Elizabeth Pomares