A Gift

One of the sweetest things in my journey of barrenness I experienced was a letter I received from a best friend, I believe in 2005.  It was the most compassionate thing.  I remember where I was standing and how I was feeling as the gentle care she used to share her joy washed over me.  To tell me she was expecting, she wrote a letter from the perspective of the child now flourishing in her womb to the future child that she believed I would someday carry.  The experience blesses me still today and that day I believe brought healing in ways I didn't even know I needed.

That is my heart today as I share some sweet news of ours.  That miracle of life she wrote to all those years ago is now flourishing in my own womb.  Chad and I couldn't be more full of joy with "ok lands what's happening" mixed in... that combo of emotions feels like a new glue between him and me.  It's been humbling b/c of the wait and the many words spoken for this child... there just aren't words to explain the joy that bubbles up at any given time and I marvel at the arrival of this gift... even with the preparation and hope of this day coming, I just can't get it to sink in that it's here.

I'll back track a bit on the blog and share the recent journey with you in an upcoming post.

My prayer as I share this news today is two-fold; for those who's hearts well up and rejoice with us... let God add an extra measure of happy - and for those who felt that chasm grow just another inch wider, an ache remains within me and I pray his grace is near and allows you to "take heart."  I ask God to do what he does best and bring to us all healing in ways we didn't even know we needed.

Is. 54:1 Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD.

Is. 49:18 "Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you.  As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride" 

Is 49:23 "Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.  They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet.  Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed."

Heb. 11:39-40 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.  God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Luke 1:36-37 "Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God."

Ps 20:4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

Ps. 27:14  I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Is. 40:28 "Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom."

needtobreathe - multiplied