Testimony Tuesday {Courtney’s Testimony}
"It doesn't get any easier, does it?"
You meet kindred spirits in some of the strangest places sometimes. As I nervously stood in line at my local drugstore I dreaded what I was about to do. I knew I needed the medicine in order to have some form of closure and to complete the miscarriage, but something felt so wrong about it all. Deep within my soul I wanted to scream to all who were around me:
"I'm not having an abortion. I promise. I was pregnant. I wanted this baby!"
Thankfully I didn't have to. But that didn't make the situation any less uncomfortable for me. ...
Rhiannon’s Story
My husband Steve and I started our journey for a family in December 2013. We’d only been married 9 months, but we knew we wanted children (at least 3!) and felt like the timing was right. I found out I was pregnant only 3 short months later, and we were in happy bliss dreaming of the family we would have. For a month we called him or her by our funny nickname, made sure I did everything exactly by the book, and eagerly waited for my first appointment. We never dreamed our journey would be anything but perfect, so the news at my 8 week OB appointment that ...
Testimony Tuesday {He Didn’t Heal My Daughter, God Is So Good}
I’m sure you’ve not heard that phrase posted on many a Facebook status. We are great (I am great) at declaring God’s goodness when He does something for us, when He shows up in the way we had prayed for and hoped. When He provides, when He heals. I heard a story of a man who was reading his Bible on a train when it crashed and killed many. He told a reporter, “I don’t know why I didn’t die, why I’m still alive…God is so good.” While I do not disagree with his statement, nor do I think we shouldn’t declare God’s goodness when He spares our lives, ...
Lauren’s Story
My husband and I and our three small children moved from Nevada to Texas in the summer of 2014. Soon after, we were thrilled to learn I was pregnant with our fourth child. Our other three pregnancies and births had been so straightforward and we had no reason to think this one would be any different.
On November 14, 2014, my husband and I went to our 20-week anatomy scan. During the scan, my husband and I happily chattered away, totally oblivious to how long the doctor was looking at our daughter’s brain and heart. After the doctor finished the anatomy scan, she ...
Joy Rising in Pregnancy After Loss
Sometimes I wake up and feel the stillness, I wonder if I’m empty again. I wait, trying just to breath when everything feels too quiet.
And then I feel her. She moves so deep within me. That pulse inside—the universe shifts—I feel her intertwined with my body and blood, nestled deep inside, everything that I am is protecting her. And yet I am completely out of control, this seed growing and growing takes no thought from myself. I don’t knit her together. I don’t form her blinking eyes, curling fingers or kicking feet. Yahweh does—the One who has always been ...
Nelly’s Story
“God doesn’t make mistakes” was a simple comment written on Facebook to offer condolences for the loss of our firstborn son, Corbin. I struggled to understand that. How can a good God allow this to happen? I reverently questioned, Why? How could this happen? But God…I prayed for this baby.
I met the love of my life and about one year after dating we were married. He is my best friend, my partner in life, and the one that God made for me. We prayed about the best time to start trying to conceive. In our hearts, we felt like enjoying our marriage for one year ...
Links for Hope Moms: March Edition
{"Today Would Have Been Our Daughter's First Birthday," by Jackie Gibson via The Gospel Coalition}// "Today should have been our daughter’s first birthday. The great enemy—death—has stolen something precious from us. Robert L. Dabney, who lost two sons, described death as a 'cruel destroyer.' In a letter to his brother, he wrote: 'Ah! When the mighty wings of the angel of death nestles over your heart’s treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness.' [...] And yet today was ...
Sam’s Story
2016 began with great joy as my husband and I celebrated our first pregnancy—one that quickly ended in miscarriage on January 14, around 7-8 weeks. I had never felt devastation, disappointment, and pain like I experienced over that next several weeks as I grieved a child I had never known.
A few months later, we were again expecting. At 12 weeks, we learned that we were having a son and that he likely had Down Syndrome. We were overwhelmed by fear of the unknown and sadness for what we thought would be a difficult life for our son. As we waited for additional scans to ...
Julie’s Story
In the Stillness
There’s a worship song that I use to sing quite often back in my high school youth group days. You might be familiar with it. The opening lyrics say,
“In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You, ‘cause I want to know you more…”
I had always thought of those lyrics as a portrait of the author rising early in the morning before the hustle and bustle of the day, cracking open her bible and waiting for the Lord to blow down fresh fire with His word. The Lord, ...
