A

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job 1:21

Today, I want to focus on the first part of the first sentence: the LORD gave. In the midst of our loss, we do have reason to be joyful, and here it is: our strong survivor, Baby A at 10 weeks and 2 days old. When we started the ultrasound, he/she was moving and wiggling around, healthy and strong. (You can see part of Baby B nestled up close on the left.)

This is a "real-life" photo of what he/she looked like at the time--fingers, toes, eyes, ears and all!

To my baby, my strong survivor,

Out of His grace, the Lord gave us you. Specially, specifically YOU. Never has something been more clear to me: YOU have something special to offer this world. Already, I'm so proud of you and all that you've overcome. You definitely have your daddy's strong survivor's spirit. The verse that came to my heart today is what I believe your first gift to us is: "to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair" (Isaiah 6:3). We love you, we want you, and through our tears, we celebrate your precious life.

Love forever,

Mommy