Life gets busy with beautiful people, places, and things. Glory be to God, who accomplishes it all!
Last week, we celebrated five years as Mr. & Mrs. ~ and what mercies the Lord has shown to us!
Steven and I were able to return to the chapel where we were married, as well as the hotel where we celebrated our reception. We had delicious food and drinks, fun walks around downtown and a beautiful park full of cultivated gardens, and time to simply relax & enjoy one another while reminiscing about God’s hand in our married life thus far & looking forward in hope to what He is yet to do.
I love my husband more than I can tell you. The respect and honor in my heart for him is immeasurable. Living with him, being his helpmeet, supporting him, sharing myself and my everything-else with him… it is all such a gift! It sounds cliche, but I couldn’t ask for anything more. And that’s simply the truth.
May the Lord continue to provide for us as we continue to live out our life together before Him, and as we uphold our covenantal vows by His grace. And may these first five years be simply a foretaste of the sweet delights the next fifty have yet to hold for our family.
“Every time I look at the photograph of us in the delivery room–our eyes closed, lids swollen, faces pale and dreamlike–I think of survival and yes relief, but also a certain sadness. How terrified you must have been, jolted loose from your cave of water and my heartbeat, then pumped and squeezed roughly along by hard, rubber-like muscles. And then for you to emerge bloody and blue with the cord around your neck, the doctors hurrying to free you, the shock of light, the distress of your body being pulled every which-way. I wanted you on my belly…
It will be days, no, a lifetime before the sense of awe leaves me, for your birth, my son, is somehow connected to the heart of the universe where pain has presence because of divine decree. Jesus, Lamb of God, was torn by wolves of pain as we were, but his was unto death and more terrible because he took our sins upon himself. That was so you could have eternal life. There is meaning in our suffering, for we tasted in some way I cannot explain, the Lord himself. It is so for every child and his mother…
I love your hands, cloud puffs, pillows. Soft or not, the hands are bossy, going for my hair, nose, ribbon on my blouse–anything they desire the hands grab, to go of course into the mouth with its voracious gums.
There are also your cheeks, soft as dumplings, dimpling when you laugh. I love your laugh, proceeding first from the eyes, then spreading to your mouth in a grin that seems as big as you are–and on to the belly that shakes as you laugh, fat puppy’s belly, plush toy, marshmallow boy…”
~from “Sketches of Home” by Suzanne Clark, pp.43, 44, 45~
It’s true. That excerpt above pretty much nails it on the head.
Our sweet boy, whom Gabriel calls Asher-boy and we often refer to simply as “the happy boy” (he lives up to his name!), has been our arms for half a year now. Wow. Our hearts are full.
For the first time, not long ago I was told (much to my surprise, I might add) “two little boys? you’ve got your hands full.” I brushed my surprise away, smiled, and said, “believe me when I say that I could not be more thankful or blessed to have these boys filling my hands.” Beaming and nearly brimming with tears, I kept walking through the grocery store.
I feel that, similar to Mary, I too am most blessed among women. Perhaps every mama feels this way. 🙂
Asher is 14 pounds of contentment, joy, rest, and determination all rolled into one slobbery, sweet, happy bundle of wiggly, squealy bliss. He lights up my world. He wins over everyone who sees him. And I realize that I don’t just have an apple of my eye ~ I have a whole tree of apples in there.
Amen.
When you ask Gabriel, “who are you?” he will reply, “Gabriel David ~ beloved of God who is my strength.”
To which I say, amen & amen!
This little boy is SO beloved! Of God as well as of us. And it is so obvious that God IS his strength, in so many ways. Physically and spiritually. The way Gabriel’s faith is growing and flourishing and sending out shoots to strengthen others is just beautiful.
After a day full of fun food and playtime and being with people Gabriel loves, that evening we had family over for a Birthday Express party which was a hit ~ Gabriel loved it, right down to the pinata and wearable cardboard trains I made. The train theme was fun to run with (chuff with?), and we enjoyed sharing a light meal, playtime, and an ice cream sundae buffet together.
At four years old, Gabriel loves to ride bikes, swing on his swingset, go for hikes in the woods, examine dead bugs under a magnifying glass, sing at the top of his lungs, listen to music and dance or play along, read books, do schoolwork, and is so good at his memory verses & catechism. He still loves to cook and clean alongside of his mommy, and loves to learn handyman skills with his daddy & grandpapa. To see him growing & flourishing in faith under God’s kind hand is marvelous, and he is excited that Asher will have his first communion this week on Pentecost.
Gabriel is beginning to read and write, which he excels in and enjoys. His imagination is probably his best friend and most constant playmate: it amazes me.
The Lord’s kind and tender mercies astonish us every day, and we are bowled-over by Him. Our little boys are both a constant source of joy and reminder of our Father’s good pleasure. It was fun to celebrate Gabriel’s life this week; he is an amazing little boy. We are so thankful that God placed this covenant child in our family!!
I can’t hold all of my children today, but I am dreaming of them. Here I am with all of their names on my necklace and on their arrows in our quiver. I never thought I’d be mommy of nine!
How I love my precious littles! Gabriel (without prompting) told me this morning in the car that he can’t wait to get to heaven so he can meet God and his sisters. That boy melts my heart in so many ways.
He wrote me a Mother’s Day card for the first time. And he picked me wildflowers! (In addition to helping his daddy make me breakfast in bed!)
Here I am with my two redheaded miracles. My heart overflows with gladness. They rise up and make me blessed!!
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her.
Proverbs 31:28
Some pictures:
A Scripture passage:
Colossians 3:1-17
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
A prayer:
Worker of wonders,
Continue to make my [family] righteous, so that [we] may have peace, quietness, and security forever. O Lord, be gracious to [us]; I wait for You. Be [our] arm every morning, [our] salvation in the time of trouble. For You are exalted, for You dwell in high; fill [us] with justice and righteousness, and be the stability of [our] days, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; let the fear of You be [our] treasure. Arise, O Lord, lift Yourself up; be exalted in [our family].
Help [us] to become [a family] who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes [our] hands, let they hold a bribe, who stops [our] ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts [our] eyes from looking on evil. Then [we] will dwell on the heights; [our] place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; [our] bread will be given [us]; [our] water will be sure.
Let [our] eyes behold You in Your beauty. Be with [us] in majesty, for You are [our] judge; You are [our] lawgiver; You are [our] king; You will save [us] (Isaiah 32 & 33).
~Andrew Case, Prayers of an Excellent Wife~
A quote:
“Our whole relation to God is rooted in this: that His will is to be done in us and by us as it is in heaven. …[O]ur first object ought ever to be to ascertain the mind of God.”
~ Andrew Murray~
A poem:
As the misty bluebell wood,
Very still and shadowy,
Does not seek, far less compel
Several word from several bell,
But lifts up her quiet blue–
So all my desire is before Thee.
For the prayer of human hearts
In the shadow of the Tree,
Various as the various flowers,
Blown by wind and wet by showers,
Rests at last in silent love–
Lord, all my desire is before Thee.
~Amy Carmichael~
Our family enjoying one another and Christ’s goodness on Resurrection Sunday… thankful that the Resurrection means (among many other glorious things) we will see the rest of our children again someday! Hallelujah!
In the fall of 2011 an idea was conceived.
God placed a desire in two hearts, to grow and nurture something that we would keep for a while and then send out into the world to do His work.
There has been waiting, growth, anticipation, expectation, nail-biting, anxiety, and much prayer since then.
Now we are anticipating completion.
We are ready for arrival, for the big reveal.
We don’t know what will happen, we can not see tomorrow…
We don’t know what the Lord’s plan is, and we know that only He is in control…
Sound familiar?
But I’m not talking about a pregnancy. I’m talking about a project.
One of my dear friends and I have had the great joy of coordinating and editing a devotional created for women on the Pregnancy After Loss journey by women on the Pregnancy After Loss journey. And today we are ready and eager to begin sharing it and sending it out to the world to do God’s work.
But why today? Why have we been using Easter weekend as our deadline?
Because no time of the year could possibly be more fitting. Life after death. Redemption. Glorious hope.
The Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is like a picture of the entire PAL journey. Death has happened before, and you are still reeling from it. You have seeds of hope growing within you but you have no idea what tomorrow holds. As my friend and co-conspirator Kristi wrote once in her article Stuck in Saturday:
Saturday begins when the worst pain is behind you, but a throbbing ache has taken its place. When the sun dares to shine, but your world is still dark. When the abuse is in the past, but not the hurt and shame. When you are no longer hemorrhaging, but neither are you healed. When the rest of the world expects you to be “over it”, but you’re not.
Where are you? Have you experienced the darkness of Good Friday? Do you feel stuck in your Saturday, not really sure where God is and why He withheld His hand of protection from your life? We, too, can follow the example of Jesus’ followers.
Rest. Reflect. Retreat from the frenzy of the world. Talk with others. Don’t be afraid to ask God the hard questions. And do all of this with an element that the disciples didn’t have.
Hope.
They didn’t know what Sunday would hold. They weren’t waiting for a miracle. They were just waiting.
But we know that Jesus rose, and just as He did on that first Easter, God longs to move us from Good Friday to Resurrection Day.
When that resurrection comes, it will not erase the past. Easter Sunday did not change the fact that the crucifixion, in all of its ugliness, had happened. His followers would never forget that day. And there was no “getting back to normal” either. They didn’t return to their former lives of following an itinerant teacher and healer around Judea. No, they went forward into their “new normal” characterized by God’s power and presence in a way they had never dreamed possible.
But first, you have to get through Saturday.
So please, without further ado, come visit our new website Rainbows and Redemption to get a glimpse of what the Lord has been doing. Allow us to journey with you through your Saturday, through your Pregnancy After Loss.
Please contact us to receive your own PDF version of the e-book devotional. This is a free resource to bless our sisters and glorify our Father. And if it particularly encourages you, we would love to have you make a donation to Hannah’s Prayer Ministries as a way to further promote encouragement to others who may be walking this path, now or in the future.
To God be all glory.
Jesus has risen! Death has been conquered! Hope has been restored!
Psalm 30:3-5
O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes the morning.
Of course it’s a winter wonderland on the first day of spring. Hehe. 🙂
When my leaves fall, wilt Thou encompass them?
The gold of Autumn flown, the bare branch brown,
The brittle twig and stem,
The tired leaves dropping down–
Wilt Thou encompass that which men call dead?
I see the rain, the coldly smothering snow;
My leaves dispirited,
Live very low.
So the heart questioneth, white Winter near;
Till, jocund as the glorious voice of Spring,
Cometh His “Do not fear,
But sing; rejoice and sing,
For sheltered by the coverlet of snow
Are secrets of delight, and there shall be
Uprising that shall show
All that through Winter I prepared for thee.”
~Amy Carmichael~
