The Motherhood Chapters
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4 Prayers for Your Child | The Power of a Mom on Her Knees {with free prayer cards}
“Please, Lord, help him sleep through the night. Keep him safe and healthy. Amen” This is the end of the prayer I pray for my son before I lay him down to sleep. I’ve prayed this prayer every single day since he was born. Mostly, I emphasize the “sleep through the night” part and sometimes this is the first of the prayers for the night. Many nights I’d pray this particular part four, five, six times as he’d wake screaming through his first year of life. “Please, Lord, help him sleep through the night. Please, God. I’m so tired.” And yet, this particular night, with his warm body snuggled close,…
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Pick Up Your Pen | The Treasured Work of a Heaven Scribe
I found out I was pregnant on Christmas. Well, sort of. The second pink line indicating a positive was ever so faint, I didn’t believe it. I swayed between hope and doubt so much so that I put the test in a bag early Christmas morning and stuck it under the tree only to have paralyzing doubt overtake, stuffing the bag deep behind the tree at the last minute until I could dispose of it without Hawk seeing. I’d already had months of hope being deferred and couldn’t allow myself to sit in the excitement without first being sure. Two days later I bought one of the digital tests –…
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Against His Chest | Experiencing the Presence of God in Motherhood
He hasn’t been an easy baby, we say. As his personality continues to develop, his stubborn streak appears. We think he’s going to be a strong-willed child. It’s a good thing God made him so cute, we say. Even in the overwhelming cuteness, our sanity dangles at times. The challenging newborn phase isn’t so far removed that we’ve began talking about expanding our family further. Not yet, but one day, we say. Of course we say all these things totally in love and absolutely captivated by the little boy who does indeed have bits and pieces of both of us wrapped up in his two-foot frame. And yet our humanness,…
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Rocking Chair Hymns
It’s 2:14am. I sit in the nursery rocking. Back and forth. Back and forth. The chair squeaks in cadence to the rhythmic movement. A half asleep son is in my arms. He slept so well during months two and three, but I’m finding myself having these middle of the night rocking sessions once again in month four. Thump. Thump. Thump. My hand pats his bottom as I rock. Back and forth. Back and forth. The room is dark, except for the illumination of a lone nightlight in the hall radiating shadows throughout the room. I peak down – his eyes blink heavy. Back and forth, I go. Back and forth.…
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Fletcher’s Birth Story
Fletcher Ridge joined our family on his due date, September 5th at 2:26 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Hawk and I decided to go ahead and move forward with elective induction on my due date. I started progressing at 37 weeks and my body was ready, we were just missing the contractions. We enjoyed our long weekend together, the last one where it was just the two of us. On Labor Day, we went on our last date night and I called the hospital as we left the restaurant to see if everything was still a go. We were to report at 8:30…
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Letters From Mom – Part II
June 13 – Week 28 Dear Baby, I’m pretty sure you’ve grown while your daddy’s been away for training. I’ve missed him. I think you have too. I think you miss his voice and large warm hand. We are officially in the 3rd trimester! 28 week today. It’s hard to believe how fast it has gone. You’ll be here so very soon. You’re not just kicking me now, you’ve started to roll more – doing those aliens type moves. The sensations are so cool and weird at the same time. I’m enjoying this one on one time with you. I’m not ready to share you with the world yet. You’ve…
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Dear Baby | Letters from Mom
January 3rd – 5 Weeks Dear Baby, We found out about you two days after Christmas. After months of disappointment and “Not yets,” God answered our prayers and the desire of our hearts. I started a new journal in early November with this verse: Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5 I dedicated the empty pages to record the great works He was bound to do – hoping beyond all hope that one of those great works would…
