It's been truly amazing to see the number of visits to Gracie's blog in the last day! 659 visits to be exact! Praise be to God!
One of my very best friends, Michelle, encouraged me to post the link on Facebook when I first started writing back in May. Being the incredibly self-conscious person I am, responded back about how horrible of a writer I am and how I have spelling and grammatical mistakes up the wazoo. As any good friend would, she kept up the encouragement and explained that the mistakes didn't matter; Grace's story is what people will focus on. I battled with the thought ever since she suggested it, and felt God telling me yesterday to go ahead and share it. Waking up this morning to the number of visitors, e-mails, comments, and messages via Facebook about Grace's story made tears fall from my face. Come on people, like I didn't do enough crying yesterday. Just kidding! :)
In all seriousness, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read about our (well, mostly my) journey with Grace. I understand how busy your lives are and to sit and read about someone's life may be the last thing on your plate...and I get that. But it is my hope, that through my writing, you may see the beauty in what God is doing through such a difficult time in my life. Never for one second will I take credit for the strength to continue on or the decision to carry our sweet Grace. Yes, I ultimately had to submit to His will for me, but I couldn't be more thankful that He taught me what it means to be obedient. I will say this over and over again, I've been so blessed for the opportunity to have my faith rocked to the core because it taught me to trust in Him even more. I'm even more thankful for the opportunity to draw closer to Him and to know my Lord and Savior in a different light. And if He had to take away one of the things I wanted most so that my relationship with Him would change, so be it. Perhaps, because the one thing I wanted most was a child and not a deeper relationship with Him was one of the reasons why this happened. I may never know, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I don't need to know the 'why' behind my journey. I'm just thankful for the opportunity to see what I really want and need most in my life...a deeper, stronger relationship with Jesus Christ.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Jessica, I am amazed by your faith and ability to verbalize what you are going through. Thank you for sharing your story as I know that it will give so much hope to many. I shared your blog with a friend who just lost her baby and my hope is that she can know that she's not alone. I honestly can't seem to get the picture out of my head of you holding sweet baby Grace and laughing. Instantly I thought, "The joy of the Lord was her strength". You will be in my thoughts and prayers and if you ever need someone to talk to, I enjoy listening. Oh, this is your friendly yoga instructor by the way.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I want to thank you for sharing Grace with us all, sharing the hope and love you found in carrying her. May God continue to pour His strength upon you and continue to use you to bless others.
Love in Jesus,
Rose