Light, Love, Hope

Today my beautiful niece went to the doctor.  Not just any doctor, though.  An OB/GYN!

I realize I’m not even writing in correct sentence form either.

But who has time for that when you’re trying to make a point?!

MY NIECE IS PREGNANT!!!

She is so incredibly smart that she finished high school a year early.  Having just graduated in June, she moved shortly thereafter to live with her boyfriend in North Carolina.  We were so sad to see her go but looked forward to our visits together.  We took them to Carowinds this summer and had a great time, and she’s been back here a few times since to visit with us as well.  I have enjoyed every bit of time spent with them!

I’ll never forget the phone conversation with her when she said she had news to tell me.  Immediately I responded with, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!”  and she hadn’t even said anything beyond that yet.  Ha!  When she told me the news, my heart leaped out of my chest!

My sister’s baby is having a baby!!!

Oh, what joy filled my soul upon learning this.

Now I realize she’s probably already heard people saying things like, “You’re so young …” and she is, but she has graduated from high school and has been attending college. She still plans to continue with college and building her future.

Me?

I want to be a part OF that future!  NO matter what it holds.  And … in her future, WE will be HOLDING her baby!

She messaged me after the appointment today, as she goes back in a week for an ultrasound and blood work.  I was having lunch with my oldest daughter at that time, and we were both so excited we could hardly contain ourselves!  My daughter told me to ask if we could have a gender reveal party for her.  I had just picked up balloons at a store about 15 minutes before that which would be appropriate for a gender reveal OR we could use them at her actual baby shower.

Now, I was nervous asking her such a question.  I don’t want to intrude, but I want to be a part of all of this.  Only if she wants me to, though.   And I pray she does!

There I go again with the incomplete sentences.

But … the greatest thing has happened.  When I told her I wanted to be there for the ultrasounds, she responded with, “COME ON then!”

~SQUEAL~

And my heart did a back flip!

My niece has invited me in to be a part of this.

Let me say that again.  SHE HAS INVITED ME IN TO BE A PART OF THIS!

Not only has she invited me to be a part of the appointment when she has the ultrasound, but she has agreed to let them tell ME what the gender will be so we can have a gender reveal party for her!!!!

We are soaring!!

And the tears form in my eyes as I think of such an exciting time that I was a part of years ago … when my sister told me that she was pregnant.  It was such a special time the way my sister announced her pregnancy also.  I’ll never forget her allowing me to be a part of this time with her as well.

I can’t help but think of the tragedy in losing my sister two weeks after my niece was born.  I think of how my sister should be here to celebrate the anticipation of her grandbaby’s arrival, and yet, she’s in Heaven watching over them as we prepare.

My heart hurts!

Honestly, I wanted to call my sister to ask her, “Did you hear the news ….”  My sister was always the very first one I’d call to talk to, and now I can’t.  A part of me thinks she already knows, though, because God whispered it in her ear before he placed this little angel in my niece’s womb.  I believe God sent a little angel to us, to provide joy and to bring lots of laughter as we watch him or her grow.  I also believe He did so in a way to allow my niece and I to further bond together through this.  That is my prayer, at least.

She wants me to be a part of this!

And I swoon!

Thank you, Lord!

Everyone needs to have a person they can talk to when times are rough.  The world can seem like such a lonely place without this.

Do you have that in your life?  The one person you know you can turn to about anything and everything.  The one that will not sit in judgement of you but will lend a helping hand if needed.  The one that will offer advice even if you failed to take their well-meaning advice in the past.

Here’s the thing, though.  They have to keep things confidential.  They can’t spill the beans when they get mad at you.  OR the absolute worst thing – use what you’ve confided in them against you later!  They simply cannot, under any circumstances, use what you’ve told them against you later during an argument.  That’s the lowest of low!  And, it feels like the ultimate betrayal!  If you’ve ever had that happen to you, it stings!  You sit there feeling their assaults with each word they launch at you, wondering who that person is that is doing this!  Surely not the one you thought you could trust and that said they love you and have your best interest at heart!

You have to be wise about who you trust these days and how much of your life you share with them.  If you’re certain the friendship will stand the test of time, then share away.  However, be more reserved when you talk to someone that you really don’t know that much about.  That’s common sense, right?  But, a lot of people are in such desperate need to talk to someone – anyone – that they end up pouring their heart and soul out to someone unworthy of such an honor.

When someone comes to you to talk about what is bothering them, be the person you’d want to confide it.  Be the person that will keep things to themselves.  Honor the individual that trusts you so much to bare their soul to you.  Appreciate that they could talk to anyone about what is happening in their lives, yet they’ve chosen you!  Respect them enough not to share their business with anyone else and certainly never throw it back up in their faces later.

And here’s the biggest thing – BE THERE for them.

I’ve gone to friends in the past to talk about something I was going through just to come away feeling as if I “bothered” them with my stuff.  That is the biggest insult when you trust someone to confide in them, and they give the impression that they’d rather not be involved or would prefer not to be “that person” who will be there for you in your time of need.

There was a popular song by Casting Crowns a few years ago entitled “Praise You In The Storm.”  As I look back on that time period, I’m reminded of a gentleman who was struggling with cancer at the time this song came out.  This gentleman was my husband’s boss, but he became a mentor to my husband after he started working there.

He was a great businessman, but more than that, he was a man of God.  He believed in sharing his faith, and he set a good example for my husband to look up to.  He is the reason for all of the good things that came to pass while my husband worked under him, as he believed in looking out of his hardworking employees.

When he fell ill, he started a Caring Bridge page where he documented his journey through cancer treatments.  He had five beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed little girls, and it broke our hearts what they were going through.  Sadly, although he praised God throughout his entire ordeal, he lost his battle on Earth with cancer but gained his angel wings in Heaven.

He was an example of praising God through the storms of life.

This tested the faith of those around him, but he did not show any wavering in his own faith.  Instead, he held his head up high and continued to minister to people he encountered even as he struggled with terminal cancer.

The day he died, hundreds gathered in the church watching a video of his life on the large screens on both sides of the stage.  And his niece took the “stage” to sing a song in his honor.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, including her, as she had to stop at the end due to the grief she was feeling singing at her uncle’s funeral.

Would you be able to display unwavering faith in God through your storms in life?  I know for me, it has been hard not to question God with what all my family and I have had to face.  However, I think my faith has remained strong throughout each and every situation.  I know I could not have made it this far without my Lord and Savior.

In a situation within my own family, my father became angry with God when we lost my sister, Pamela.  His faith was tested, and he all but turned his back on God at one point.  Who can blame him, really, after he prayed for God to “take care” of his oldest daughter, and yet she killed herself in the end.  That isn’t exactly what my father had envisioned when he prayed asking God to “take care” of her.  And we were all heart broken over the tragic way in which she left this world.  We could not comprehend how this could happen, and yet praising in the midst of our hearts shattering was the very last thing we wanted to do.  It was hard to even breathe in and out at that point.  Yet years later, my dad turned back to God and mended his relationship with Father God.  And, our hearts rejoiced.  I’ll never forget my grandmother asking my dad how he ever planned on seeing Pam again if he was so angry that he turned his back on God.  I am not exactly sure what swayed my dad to turn back to Jesus, but I’m sure glad he did.  Maybe it was a series of things from my grandmother’s words to their prayers, or maybe the cards filled with bible verses that she and my aunt would send finally got to him.  I’m not sure, as at the time he’d open the cards to find what it said on the inside and toss it down immediately.  But maybe a combination of things allowed him to answer to the knock at his heart once more when Jesus stood there asking to come back in.

It’s been several years since my dad answered the knock, and he and Jesus have walked hand in hand together.  I’m sure my dad still has questions, as we all do, but he’s managed to come back to God … and in doing so, he’s dug deeper into his bible and is able to pray “preacher worthy” prayers.  It was not something that happened over night, but we are glad my father found his way back to Jesus.

And we praise Him.