I Will Carry You

I've been blest again recently to have this absolutely amazing blog shared with me:

 I Will Carry You

This is the story of faith filled parents who have recently given birth to a beautiful baby girl named Nora, who has Trisomy 18. Despite doctors telling her mother before birth that she was "incompatiable with life," Nora arrived safely and is now 16 days old and is continually blessing and ministering to her family and complete strangers (like me) alike. I thought this reflection from Nora's mother was meaningful for me and was well worth sharing with you.

I try to think back to an occasion or time in my life that it was of benefit for me to have worried or to have been fearful of the future. I can’t come up with anything. Of course it is our human nature, primal instinct, maybe even a survival mechanism? I suppose it is appropriate to be “worried” about a tornado during a tornado warning, or sharks in shark infested waters. It’s when we mull over things in our minds, imagining and fretting about all of the “what ifs” and worse case scenarios as they relate to instances and situations in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. I can only describe that type of worry as self-induced misery. When we are so used to that way of thinking it is almost impossible to let go of that worry. By letting go of it, we somehow feel out of control. But are we really in control any way?

This morning as I walked through my bedroom with this sweetest of baby girls in my arms, I looked down at her. We were standing in the same spot where I had fallen to the floor 3 months ago, screaming in sheer angst over the news I had just received… “incompatible with life” echoing in my head. If only I could have had a glimpse 107 days into the future. All of the fear, anger, worry in that moment would have been alleviated to see this sweet girl. But life doesn’t work like that. We’re only able to live in the present moment. In the present moment we have the choice of self-induced misery or we can let God simply be in control. In the situation we were suddenly thrust into, I feel like I didn’t really have a choice. There was JUST NO OTHER WAY but to give it to God. It was too incredibly tormenting to handle something like this on our own. If God can handle the big things like this, why should it ever cross my mind that he couldn’t handle the little things?


Praise the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness :-)

Romans 8:28

Been loving the scripture art I've stumbled across on Etsy lately....especially this one, as it is the scripture that my mum has chosen for Isaac and Jubilees headstone ('we've been trying to incorporate things that mum and dad wanted as well as what we would like onto their shared headstone. Its been such a privilege designing it over the past couple of weeks and hopefully I'll be able to share the final proofs with you soon). Its certainly a promise worth clinging too!

Overcoming Fear

'...Joshua...summoned all the men of Israel and said..."Put your feet on the necks of these kings..."' Joshua 10:24 NIV

When Israel entered the Promised Land there were five kings with armies determined to stop them. But God helped Joshua to defeat them and all five kings ran and hid in a cave. So Joshua told his soldiers to bring them out and put their foot on each of their necks.

That day God's Word to His people was: '...Be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.' (v25 NKJV) What a promise! Are the forces of fear trying to take up residence in your mind today? Are they causing you to think the worst instead of believing God for the best? Are they telling you that you're unworthy to receive what He has promised, that you'll never fulfil the destiny God has in mind for you?

With God, your victory is assured, but you have a part to play in it. You must go into that dark cave, bring each king out, place your foot on their neck and put them to death. These five kings represent your five natural senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching, and God doesn't want you to live according to their dictates.

Your senses are susceptible to every negative thing going on around you, but your faith can lift you above it and give you victory. But you can't just sit down and do nothing. Your passivity gives them the right to rule you. They have no power over you, except the power you give them. So put your foot down!

Amen to that!

Pray Without Ceasing

Recently just found another blog which is becoming a favourite:

 Pray Without Ceasing

God always knows when I need to stumble across some fresh inspritation- this time, I wasn't even looking for a blog but this it came up via Google whilst I was searching for images to use on the Interactive Whiteboard with my class.

Like us, this lady lost a baby (twin girls actually) at a similar stage to Jubilee. At first they thought it was from an incompetent cervix but then they found out through testing that the premature birth was brought on by infection. Then they tried for another baby and unfortunately, miscarried at 9 weeks. And now they have a lovely little boy. What makes this story twice as special is that the whole time, they have also been dealing with infertility: praise God that we have been blessed abundantely in this area and have had no trouble falling pregnant thus far (we just have troubling keeping pregnant!)

This lovely lady has been where I am walking and she has been providing some much needed encouragement for me as I begin to re-deal with the feelings of loss on so many levels.

I think and wish many things. And I have accepted that this is my life but it's still a tough path to walk.

YOUR NEEDS AND MY RICHES are a perfect fit. I never meant for you to be self-sufficient. Instead, I designed you to need Me not only for daily bread but also for fulfillment of deep yearnings. I carefully crafted your longings and feelings of incompleteness, to point you to Me. Therefore, do not try to bury or deny these feelings. Beware also of trying to pacify these longings with lesser gods: people, possessions, power.

Come to Me in all you neediness, with defenses down and with desire to be blessed. As you spend time in My Presence, your deepest longings are fulfilled. Rejoice in your neediness, which enables you to find intimate completion in Me. (Jesus Calling)

Now I need to do my part and keep drawing closer to God and bringing my desires to him.  

Keep Running...

I was just reading this in the 'Word for Today'-



 "Let us run the race...set out for us"

- Hebrews 12:1

Look what Jesus endured:

(1) Temptation. We imagine the wilderness temptation as three isolated events scattered over a forty-day period. No: 'The devil tempted Jesus for forty days...' (Luke 4:2 NCV) Every step, whispering in His ear; every turn of the path, sowing doubt; forty days of non-stop temptation! When it was over Satan would flee, angels would come and strengthen Him, and He would leave the wilderness to go out and minister as no one ever has. But first He had to get through the temptation. So do you. And the good news is, strengthened by God's grace, you can. 

(2) Accusation. '...Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, He deceives the people."' (John 7:12 NIV) 'The people retorted, "You...devil! Didn't we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?"' (John 8:48 NLT) They accused Him unfairly, but Jesus kept running. You must too.  

(3) Rejection. His family thought He was mad. The neighbours treated Him badly. When He returned to His home town they tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). But Jesus kept running. So must you.  

(4) Shame. At the cross He became 'sin' personified (2 Corinthians 5:21). Though He never stole, lied or lusted, He bore the shame of every thief, liar and adulterer. 

How did Jesus do it? What kept Him going? The Bible answers: '...Who for the joy set before Him endured...' (Hebrews 12:2 NIV) Jesus had already lived in Heaven, and knowing what awaited Him enabled Him to endure and finish the race. And the same joy awaits you too.

Gotta keep reminding myself of what Jesus endured for me, instead of what I seem to be enduring now. I have to keep running knowing that He has set joy before me;  that now is the time to run, and the time to experience that joy will come. Gotta keep reminding myself that when He is my running coach, I'm sure to succeed within His will and within time frame that He sets as the qualifier. God, give me the grace to endure the race.

He is our Hope...

And we know that in all things

God works for the good of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

In memory of our little angel baby...

21/04/12

Jubilee’s Daddy Book

After my husband bought me those beautiful pendants for my cross necklace in memory of Jubilee, I wanted to make something special for him to have as her Daddy. I ended up making him a photo book  through Kikki.K which is a Swedish Design company. He really loved it and he keeps it on his bedside table as a special reminder.

Little Girl, Big Dreams: Big Girl, Same Dreams...

For the past week, I've been struggling with mixed emotions. Originally, I took the full 14 week maternity leave that I was entitled to when I lost Jubilee and would see how I felt about returning to work when I was ready (hence why my blog is called 14 Weeks of Grace).  I felt so blessed that God had given me some time to sort me out; for me to do the thing that I needed to and get myself ready for the months ahead navigating life as a baby-less mum. Today, I’m going back to work- God has really worked a blessing for me there. I've got a new school and a different year level: a fresh start and its only part time which still gives me time to ease into things.

Until we lost Jubilee, I had this year all planned out- I was finally going to be a stay at home- my dream, for life forever. I was going to be a home with my own baby and the career woman identity, I feel my life so far has somehow squished me into living, was going to be a distant memory. God has other plans. Going back to work, for me, is also another realisation that these plans have been put on hold again and that again, I have to put on a brave face. I'm praying that God will give me the strength to embrace the wonderful opportunity that I have been given and that I’ll somehow get better at learning how to make the most of the measure the God has given me.

For a month or so now, the chorus of this song (which is an old gospel my grandma used to sing when I was younger) have been giving me some extra strength and guidance on this.

Memory Box

In hospital, my husband and I were given a special box with items in it to help us grieve and remember our little girl. Jubilees box is in the nursery cupboard and is full of cards that I received in sympathy, her pregnancy tests, things that she received from family for Christmas only weeks before her birth, the bunting from her memorial celebration cake, a copy of her memorial booklet and the list goes on. It was such a blessing to be given it. Since then, we have decided to pay for box in honour of Jubilee so that other families may receive the same blessing in their time of need.

http://www.littleamb.org.au/