What a Difference a Year Can Make

Last year on this day, a Tuesday, I woke up to a puddle of blood on my bed. When I went to the bathroom, I “gave birth” to our 12-week old baby. What could I do but flush the toilet?! Oh the tears as I watched my little one disappear! I would never know this little one, at least not this side of heaven. The pain and grief of the following days and weeks were almost unbearable.

God was good though, and faithful too. We had absolutely no idea where He was leading us, or why He was even taking us this way. We didn’t understand why this was necessary and certainly didn’t like this part of the journey. BUT, we followed…one step at a time.

We have come such a long way since then, experiencing both ups and downs as we have done our best to stay the course God has laid before us.

How glad I am that this morning is so different from that fateful Tuesday one year ago. Today, I woke up with Kellah nestled by my side. She was nursing when Coralyn woke up and made her way to our room. She climbed onto the bed to join the fun, and we hung out as a happy little family for a bit. Eventually we made our way to the kitchen where we made and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of French toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, and yogurt. Then we cleaned up the dishes and got ready to take our first outing as an entire family. Our destination: Chick-fil-A, of course!
Wednesdays mean Kids Korner at Chick-fil-A, so we knew Miss Julie would be there, and we just had to introduce her to Kellah! I can’t say enough good things about this amazing lady. She was thrilled to see us, and Coralyn was just as excited to see Miss Julie, running up to her and giving her a huge hug. We had planned on just saying hi, but we ended up staying to see Mr. Oggie, the “Magic Tricker,” a friend of Miss Julie who had come for story time. Coralyn had a blast throwing Mr. Oggie’s imaginary ball into his “magic” sack, which he would make pop everything a kiddo threw the ball. An added bonus was seeing our friend Heather and her two boys Bennett and baby Wyatt.

Since then we’ve just been chillin’ at home. Coralyn was supposed to take a nap, but she ended up just singing and talking to her animals for about an hour before she just had to go potty :) As she “rested” in her room, I used the opportunity to journal, with Kellah resting contentedly on my chest. Just a little later, Amber, our midwife, came over to check on Kellah and me. We now have Kellah’s cute little footprints on paper (which reminds me that I need to paint her feet so I can finish a Big Sister/Little Sister t-shirt project I am working on).

As I was writing in my journal, I couldn’t help but bending down to kiss Kellah’s tiny head, every two minutes. I am so in love. My heart is full of joy, hope, and peace. I am overwhelmed by God’s grace as He has blessed us so abundantly.

Yes, we still have our difficulties – financial uncertainties mainly, BUT we are in a much better place this year than last. And just as God proved Himself faithful and good last year, we trust He will do the same this coming year. Again, one step at a time.