Light, Love, Hope

It’s no secret that I am over-the-moon happy after learning that our family will be blessed with another baby in the year 2019.

I am a firm believer in praying over your family and even your future family members.  I think I’ve written in the past about how I prayed for my oldest daughter to find a man that would treat her like a queen.  Long before she ever met him in college, I was praying for their love and future together.  Now, I pray for their union when they do decide to take that step and for the future babies they will have together, if it is God’s plan for their lives.  I pray for their love to stand the test of time; for them to keep their love alive and as a priority when things of this world pull at them.  I pray that no one nor nothing will ever take them away from each other; that they will be like the tall unbending oak tree with deep roots in the ground where nothing shakes them nor uproots their love for each other.

And I pray for their unborn babies.

While I would never push my wishes upon them or anyone else, if they ever should decide to have children in the future, I will be there to spoil them completely rotten!  If they choose not to have children and prefer to only have the four-legged kind, I will spoil them, too!  (And I have … Fancy, their “rescue” pup is a prime example right this very minute!).

I’m even praying for my youngest daughter’s life so that she will find a lasting love as well.  It is my desire for my children to come to know the kind of love I never really had in this life.  If I had it, it was short lived or fleeting; never a constant.  One time I even told my oldest daughter how happy I was that she found the love of her life.  I’ve watched how he treats her so respectfully and noticed the sparkle he gets in his eye when he looks at her.  My heart grows more fond of him with each passing moment.  My husband got a little offended when he heard me say this, but the truth is the truth.  It’s no secret that we’ve had our share of problems in the past, and if everyone is honest, NO ONE out there has the “perfect” marriage.  Problems crop up in every relationship and marriage from time to time.  It’s how you handle it that matters and keeps you together.

Back to the subject at hand.

I’ve prayed for my niece all of these years, and now I take great pleasure in praying for her “bun” she has in the “oven.”

And in all my prayers, I make sure to give thanks and praises to God above for all of the blessings He has given to us!

“When are you due?” I asked with great anticipation of the date.

“May 12,” my niece replied.

My oldest daughter sat across from me at lunch as I told her of what I had just learned.  I watched her eyes light up as she leaned forward with delight while a huge smile formed across her lips!

Ten weeks and two days. That is how far along my niece is at this point.

I can’t help myself as I am already shopping for this baby!

Neutral colors are a must at this point … but I am drawn to baby blue …

Oh the cute little boy suits … the baseball hats … I could snatch them all off the rack and buy every single one of those cutie patootie outfits!  She really believes she is having a boy, but with us not knowing for certain at this point, I resist the urge  …  to  … buy!

Will it be a boy?

OR

Will it be a girl that we can dress in lace and frills?

I have two girls … and my niece, of course.  So it stands to reason that girls could run in the family.

But what if that doesn’t ring true this time?  We just don’t know … other than what she feels in her heart … and what a psychic medium told me last year.

This is where I will lose a lot of my reading audience, I’m almost sure.  However, I feel the need to risk that and put it out there.

A year ago I went to a psychic medium that my friend in Illinois knows.  She predicted that my niece would come back into my life at some point when she was no longer under the control of her paternal influences.  I was not sure if any of this “reading” was real or would come to pass, but I held on to each word that she spoke with great anticipation.  Hoping.  Wanting.  Almost willing it to be …

Fast forward a little over a year and a half later, and it has come to pass!  My niece is back in my life after moving to be with her boyfriend.

Part of that has come true.  So we wait to see if the other half comes true as well.  What that other half is will remain a secret at this time.

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!