Hey friends! I know it has been a little while since I've touched base, but here I am ready to give you a glimpse into what's happening in our lives. We are anxiously waiting for Baby Levi to make his arrival, and there is still so much to be done! However, we have been blessed with some perspective. Many of you know, Lincoln was delivered at 34 weeks and we had basically nothing ready! So, we know that everything will work out. I was just checking to see if I posted about that experience and this is what I found. I had no idea what was coming.
Long story short, I had severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome that came on viciously at week 33. I wasn't even starting to show symptoms yet in that post. But, a few days later, I would be admitted to the hospital! They had to deliver by emergency C-section at 34 weeks and 5 days because my liver was starting to fail. Chad was called out of a meeting June 19th and the doctor asked him, "Are you ready to meet your baby?!" He rushed right over and it turned out being one of the best days of our lives.
I was reflecting this morning on how God walks with us through these struggles and makes us stronger. Because of what we have gone through in the past, we are strong enough to handle what's coming. Life is not ever promised to be easy. Christian or not, life is hard and full of struggles, doubt, disappointment, pain. God's word promises us that we will have trouble:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
We are told to count our struggles as joy:
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
I have had a hard time accepting this, but God has shown me that He is working in me through these struggles. Please do not misunderstand! I do not believe that God has given me or anyone a hard road of sickness. I do not believe that illness comes from God, but He is sovereign and uses these trials for His purposes. I have become a stronger and braver person because of what we have walked through. The following verse has given me the most trouble in the past, but I am starting to understand it more and more:
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." 1 John 2:15
Whenever I read it, I think about all the blessings that God has given me and wonder if it is wrong to enjoy those things. I have been convicted because I have wanted to hold on to this world and all of the pleasures and joys in it. Thinking of not being here has brought me sadness. I have stayed awake at night thinking about how much I love my family and worried about what I would do if something were to happen to them. But, I have come to realize a few things. If I put my hope and trust in the things of this world, I am foolish and I am not trusting God. If I put the joys and pleasures of this world before God--if they distract me from Him--then I am not following His word and, in the end, I am not doing what is best for me either. And, like I have said previously, so much of this world is trouble and heartbreak, evil and ugly. It is comforting to know that there is a life beyond this world that does not include any of that evil. I don't have to rest all of my hope in what is happening right now, my circumstances or current events, because there is more for me beyond that. Thank you, God!
I pray for a long life with this family that I love. Thank you, God, for the joys you have given me--and continue to give me--in this world, but most of all, thank you for the hope of a future full of joy and love and without the heartbreak. Thank You for Your guidance and Your strength.
Long story short, I had severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome that came on viciously at week 33. I wasn't even starting to show symptoms yet in that post. But, a few days later, I would be admitted to the hospital! They had to deliver by emergency C-section at 34 weeks and 5 days because my liver was starting to fail. Chad was called out of a meeting June 19th and the doctor asked him, "Are you ready to meet your baby?!" He rushed right over and it turned out being one of the best days of our lives.
I was reflecting this morning on how God walks with us through these struggles and makes us stronger. Because of what we have gone through in the past, we are strong enough to handle what's coming. Life is not ever promised to be easy. Christian or not, life is hard and full of struggles, doubt, disappointment, pain. God's word promises us that we will have trouble:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
We are told to count our struggles as joy:
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
I have had a hard time accepting this, but God has shown me that He is working in me through these struggles. Please do not misunderstand! I do not believe that God has given me or anyone a hard road of sickness. I do not believe that illness comes from God, but He is sovereign and uses these trials for His purposes. I have become a stronger and braver person because of what we have walked through. The following verse has given me the most trouble in the past, but I am starting to understand it more and more:
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." 1 John 2:15
Whenever I read it, I think about all the blessings that God has given me and wonder if it is wrong to enjoy those things. I have been convicted because I have wanted to hold on to this world and all of the pleasures and joys in it. Thinking of not being here has brought me sadness. I have stayed awake at night thinking about how much I love my family and worried about what I would do if something were to happen to them. But, I have come to realize a few things. If I put my hope and trust in the things of this world, I am foolish and I am not trusting God. If I put the joys and pleasures of this world before God--if they distract me from Him--then I am not following His word and, in the end, I am not doing what is best for me either. And, like I have said previously, so much of this world is trouble and heartbreak, evil and ugly. It is comforting to know that there is a life beyond this world that does not include any of that evil. I don't have to rest all of my hope in what is happening right now, my circumstances or current events, because there is more for me beyond that. Thank you, God!
I pray for a long life with this family that I love. Thank you, God, for the joys you have given me--and continue to give me--in this world, but most of all, thank you for the hope of a future full of joy and love and without the heartbreak. Thank You for Your guidance and Your strength.
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