I am completely humbled and amazed by the love we continue to receive from so many friends and family members. Your prayers and words of encouragement mean the world to us. While I may not respond to every single person right now, please know that we feel your prayers, we keep your loving comments and messages and emails and are treasuring all of them. Honestly, most days, I don't feel strong. I don't feel courageous or brave. Most of the time, I feel like I am just clinging with all I have to His Word and His promises, and that is what gets me through the day. And please know that your prayers and encouragement helps.
Throughout this time in our life, I'm discovering more things that I just absolutely LOVE about our God. One of the things that I love and appreciate about him so much is how he knows EXACTLY what we need, and he uses his children to be his messengers. I cannot tell you how many times I have been struggling with a specific thought or feeling, and without fail, God has sent a person into my life to either send a message, lift up a prayer or encourage me with the perfect Bible verse for the moment.
I often worry that Whitney won't be "real"... that she will be forgotten. I know this is silly, because Sean and I could never forget her, but I'm just afraid that for everyone who doesn't get to hold her and know her will forget that she is real. That's why I am hoping and praying that we will have enough notice of her birth for my parents and in-laws to get here. (My folks are flying in from Egypt and my in-laws will be coming from Ohio!) That's why the maternity photos we took are so precious to me. They show the she is here with us and that she is real. Most people wouldn't understand this feeling, but God has sent a wonderful woman into my life who totally "gets it."
Her name is Christina, and she lost her dear daughter, Savannah, to Triploidy a little over a year ago. She carried her baby as long as she could, 27 weeks, until God took her home. She knows so many of the thoughts and emotions (rational or irrational) I am going through and is such a blessing. Though we live in completely different parts of the country, our stories are so similar. Her strength and perserverance continues to give me hope that things will get better. She continually reminds me that our God has a plan, and though we may not ever fully now his ways in this matter, he continues to love us more than we know.
She sent me this beautiful prayer shawl that she knitted... butterflies came to have a special meaning to her on her journey, as she thought about the new creation that Savannah now was in Heaven. So the prayer shawl has a precious little butterfly on it. She sent it to me so that I can always feel wrapped in the arms of God, and surrounded by prayer. Just another amazing example of how God uses his children to be messengers of comfort, love and hope. I took the shawl with me when we took our maternity photos, she here are a couple shots with it. Christina, I am forever thanking God for you, your friendship, and your willingness to so frankly share in my journey. And I am thankful for Savannah, your precious angel, and the wisdom that she brought to you,the joy she brought, and the new creation she has become.
(You can click on the pics for a bigger version to see detail of the butterfly. So pretty! Also, these are from the pictures that Hannah G Photography did for us. Thank-you, Hannah!)
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