My husband and I decided to get a second dog in January. It took a few months of coaxing but I finally got him to give in. Woohoo, go me! Once we get a bigger, non-California sized yard I'm going back to the coaxing board and getting a few more... I just love getting ahead of myself, I know. Any who, meet Jax.
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| Jax (on the right) with his sister on his first big boy walk |
This post comes to you courtesy of him. He has a new found joy in pulling the rugs out of the bathroom in the middle of the night and throwing them around. He also enjoys (hmmm.... does this sound like a dating profile for him or what.!?) pulling laundry from the handle holes, particularly socks or underwear, and making it rain the shreds he creates. So as I sat up last night baby sitting him and trying to do some damage control I got to thinking and reading and praying.
God is good. He truly amazes me.
Why do I say that you ask... well, let me tell you why! First off, His word is true and real and very much alive in our lives today.
2 Corinthians:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
This is one of my favorite from scripture. How great is this... what great news it is to read those words. Maybe you're not seeing it, or are unsure... or maybe even we see different things from this. Let me explain what this means to me and why I find so much joy in these words.
You may need a little bit of background to help you along my explanation.
My best friend was pregnant with her first child about two years ago. She was adorable pregnant. Before her belly she was miss high high heels and she didn't let her little man change that, she was strutin' her stuff right up until he was born. Her pregnancy was healthy and there were no indications of what was to come. Upon delivery her son displayed signs of something not quite right with his circulation. He was ultimately air lifted to a local specialty hospital where the heart defect that had caused his outward signs would be operated on multiple times. Weeks later her precious baby boy was called home to the arms of our Lord. I couldn't imagine her pain as I felt so heartbroken for her.
Another good friend not long before my best friends pregnancy was also expecting. This too was her first baby and a little boy. She had experienced some pain in her legs and went in to be checked. As a result of the doctors visit she was admitted to the hospital and delivered her son sleeping. He was not expected to arrive for a few months and his arrival was certainly not expected in the way in which he came into his mommies arms.
Last month I delivered my first child, my baby boy. He had a neural tube defect called anencephaly and lived for 6 hours 11 minutes before he was called home. As a result of my pregnancy there are many families of anencephaly angels who I have been in contact with. One of these mommies has held an especially dear place in my heart. This mommy also lost her first child, her son. He too had Zeke's condition, anencephaly.
Without faith our journey's seem unfathomable, impossible and down right defeating. And without the above scripture it is hard to make much sense of it all. In fact, even with the scripture complete sense may never be made of it... Not until we too are reunited with our boys may God share His upper story with us.
The reason I share our stories with you all is to demonstrate 2 Corinthians today. These women were able to comfort me in my journey because of their sufferings. In addition to the comfort we have been able to give to one another, God has comforted us. He has given each of us a comfort that no one else could possibly provide.
That is not to say that because we are comforted by one another and above all by God Himself that we are not heartbroken and left to feel the sting of a child lost for our days here on earth.
As verse 5 states, we share in sufferings but even more than suffering abounds the comfort provided by Him. Often times for me this comfort ties directly into verse 6 in which it is stated that our distress is for your comfort and salvation. While I (we) have faced these difficult seasons and distress... it has brought comfort to others. But even more than the comfort that has come from such distress, salvation. There have truly been moments/ days where knowing that my sons earthly life yielded to another's, even if just one other, eternal life comforts me.
On a final note I want to share the hope side of the verse that I have found with you. Verse 7 refers to a firm hope in Him knowing we will share in comfort as well. A few of these wonderful women I have in my life are currently awaiting their rainbow.
What is a rainbow you ask?? A rainbow is what families who have lost a baby refer to as the child after their baby has gained their wings.
There certainly is a comfort in your own rainbow, but also is the comfort in seeing a loved ones rainbow. Thank you, Lord!! Thank you for putting such wonderful faithful women in my life who I can share in You with.
Meet my best friend's rainbow
What sufferings and comforts have you shared in?? I would love to hear your stories.
May God Bless you and His comfort abound.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
This is one of my favorite from scripture. How great is this... what great news it is to read those words. Maybe you're not seeing it, or are unsure... or maybe even we see different things from this. Let me explain what this means to me and why I find so much joy in these words.
You may need a little bit of background to help you along my explanation.
My best friend was pregnant with her first child about two years ago. She was adorable pregnant. Before her belly she was miss high high heels and she didn't let her little man change that, she was strutin' her stuff right up until he was born. Her pregnancy was healthy and there were no indications of what was to come. Upon delivery her son displayed signs of something not quite right with his circulation. He was ultimately air lifted to a local specialty hospital where the heart defect that had caused his outward signs would be operated on multiple times. Weeks later her precious baby boy was called home to the arms of our Lord. I couldn't imagine her pain as I felt so heartbroken for her.
Another good friend not long before my best friends pregnancy was also expecting. This too was her first baby and a little boy. She had experienced some pain in her legs and went in to be checked. As a result of the doctors visit she was admitted to the hospital and delivered her son sleeping. He was not expected to arrive for a few months and his arrival was certainly not expected in the way in which he came into his mommies arms.
Last month I delivered my first child, my baby boy. He had a neural tube defect called anencephaly and lived for 6 hours 11 minutes before he was called home. As a result of my pregnancy there are many families of anencephaly angels who I have been in contact with. One of these mommies has held an especially dear place in my heart. This mommy also lost her first child, her son. He too had Zeke's condition, anencephaly.
Without faith our journey's seem unfathomable, impossible and down right defeating. And without the above scripture it is hard to make much sense of it all. In fact, even with the scripture complete sense may never be made of it... Not until we too are reunited with our boys may God share His upper story with us.
The reason I share our stories with you all is to demonstrate 2 Corinthians today. These women were able to comfort me in my journey because of their sufferings. In addition to the comfort we have been able to give to one another, God has comforted us. He has given each of us a comfort that no one else could possibly provide.
That is not to say that because we are comforted by one another and above all by God Himself that we are not heartbroken and left to feel the sting of a child lost for our days here on earth.
As verse 5 states, we share in sufferings but even more than suffering abounds the comfort provided by Him. Often times for me this comfort ties directly into verse 6 in which it is stated that our distress is for your comfort and salvation. While I (we) have faced these difficult seasons and distress... it has brought comfort to others. But even more than the comfort that has come from such distress, salvation. There have truly been moments/ days where knowing that my sons earthly life yielded to another's, even if just one other, eternal life comforts me.
On a final note I want to share the hope side of the verse that I have found with you. Verse 7 refers to a firm hope in Him knowing we will share in comfort as well. A few of these wonderful women I have in my life are currently awaiting their rainbow.
What is a rainbow you ask?? A rainbow is what families who have lost a baby refer to as the child after their baby has gained their wings.
There certainly is a comfort in your own rainbow, but also is the comfort in seeing a loved ones rainbow. Thank you, Lord!! Thank you for putting such wonderful faithful women in my life who I can share in You with.
Meet my best friend's rainbow
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| Sporting his camo gear in Zeke style. |
God is good. He truly amazes me.
What sufferings and comforts have you shared in?? I would love to hear your stories.
May God Bless you and His comfort abound.
Remember, We can do all through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13)
This post was so touching. I truly believe with all of my heart that the pain, the sting and the agony, is all for His Glory. I find so much comfort in that.
ReplyDeleteYou never ceases to amaze me. <3