Celebrating

Let me tell you about my Mother's Day. It was my first, and even though I didn't have a sweet little baby in my arms (or even in my belly) I chose to celebrate. I will be honest with you, I thought it was going to be a pretty crummy weekend. I had even prepared myself for the crummiest of crummy days, but I should have known better.

On Saturday, I had just gotten off of my lunch break at work, when this really hot guy, I mean, my husband walked in the door of the store. Hiding behind his back was the most beautiful bouquet of lilies. My favorite.

He took me in his arms and gave me the most comforting hug. There were several women around drooling at his hotness and sweetness. He didn't have to say much, but I could tell from the look in his eyes, he was saying, you're not alone in this. When I asked him what the flowers were for, he simply said "You know what they are for!"

On Sunday, Mother's Day, my heart was heavy and my arms were empty, but the Lord was protecting me. He knew long before all of this would take place what I would be able to handle and what I couldn't. I had been considering not going church, but that was until one of Brad's coworkers asked him to preach. Of course Brad accepted, and that morning we drove an hour out to Lake Gaston. It was a small country church, but it was a great experience for Brad.

Guess what? His sermon was on the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. If you know anything about Hannah, you will know that she struggled with infertility. The sermon was amazing, to say the least. The Lord used Brad, my precious husband to speak to me on Mother's Day. It was such a blessing! And the Lord protected my heart and gave me such a peace!

After church, Brad took me out to the lake, for a relaxing day. We went to spend some time together, but we also went out there to spend time in prayer. It was Mother's Day, and we were wanted to remember our sweet little baby.

I believe that the Lord was there too. Matthew 18:20 says that if two or more are gathered in His name, He will be there too! Satan must have known of our plans too, because he tried to scare me away with this snake. Do you see him?

But I was not going to let anything ruin my first mother's day. So we took pictures of the snake, and he eventually slithered away.
At first, Brad and I just spent time together enjoying the beautiful weather. We talked about his great sermon, about life, and laughed together. It felt so good to laugh and have fun with the love of my life at my side!

We enjoyed God's creation around us!

And then we prayed together.

We prayed for strength to continue on because this has been a long, difficult road. We prayed for our sweet child who we miss daily. We prayed for our future children and family. We prayed for a healthy pregnancy soon! And we prayed for our marriage. It was such a wonderful time. When I opened my eyes, I saw beautiful blue skies, and felt an overwhelming peace!

And as we were leaving, we saw the hope of new life.

This was my first Mother's Day, and I chose to celebrate.