Thanks!

I just want to kick this blog off by saying thanks to all of you who are praying for Michelle, Ryan, and I. We can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives more than ever.
For those that do not officially know the status of our little baby girl, Ryan, here is a synopsis.
Around week 18/20 we found out that Ryan has Spina Bifida as well as a heart defect (tetralogy of fallot - basically a hole in her heart) at our first big ultrasound.  We thought we were going to find out the sex of our baby and instead found out some pretty scary news. Of course we were initially broken hearted and shocked and needed some time for this all to settle in. We then went onto a whirlwind of testing and appointments. The doctors asked to do an amnio to look at Ryan's chromosomes and ultimately found that Ryan has rare chromosome abnormality. She has a duplication on her chromosome 2. What this means is somewhat unknown. There have been 25 documented cases of babies with this disorder and their symptoms varied from one extreme to another. Basically, if you can name it, it can go wrong. But the good news is that no two babies were alike and none of them have exactly what Ryan has. Heart abnormalities and Spina Bifida are more common symptoms, but past that it is like drawing a symptom out of a hat. There is no documented mortality rate, however mortality is always something to be concerned about when dealing with a baby with a chromosome abnormality.
Though the doctors have informed us of the worst case scenarios of what we are facing, we have chosen to have a faith and hope. The kind of faith and hope that does not doubt the power we have in Jesus Christ. We are praying for a miracle and we are asking for you all to do the same. We are finding rest and peace in God and trusting that he has His hand on this circumstance and will be with us every step of the way and at the end of the road something beautiful will arise.
On another note, we had an appointment yesterday to check Ryan's rate of growth. She is growing at a slower rate than normal but growing none the less. Her heart rate was great and she was moving and kicking all over the place. I think she's gonna be a soccer player.
Michelle is also doing really well. She is so positive and courageous. I'm so lucky to have her. I will leave you all with a a few verses from Matthew that Michelle and I are trying to memorize. We were looking for a passage to rally around to help us through this tough time and this is the one we chose.

"In the morning as He was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree on the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once? And Jesus answered them, Truly, I say to you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer you will receive, if you have faith." - Matt 21:18-22

Moving a mountain was a common metaphor in Jewish culture for doing the seemingly impossible. Though we have prepared ourselves for the worst, we have decided to not limit Christ in any way. Our faith and hope rests solely in Him. God bless, Jared