From a Father's Heart...

My husband Sean shares his story...

Joeli Grace
When I think about what happened that night, everything comes flooding back like a terrible dream. No matter how far separated from the event by days, months or years I will never forget how I felt. It was the absolute worst night of my life.
It was Wednesday January 29, 2008. My wife Abi was pregnant with our second baby. The day started like any day should. I went to work in the morning and that evening we had plans for dinner at our close friends’ house. It also just so happened that we had a “routine” five month checkup scheduled in the afternoon and an ultrasound for the following day. I mention the ultrasound scheduled for the following day because we were very excited about it. We were going to find out if we were having a baby boy or girl.
I thank God to this day that I was there for that five month appointment. I could not imagine Abi being there alone. Up until this point I was so preoccupied with work that I had only been able to make one other appointment.
I vividly remember sitting in the waiting room. I was trying to entertain my two year old daughter, Seana, with a typical waiting room-like wooden playhouse and kitchen set. We were one of the last appointments of the day so there weren’t many people in there with us. What happened next started a chain of events that I wish God would have somehow spared us from.
Abi came out of the room with a desperate look on her face. All she said was “Sean, they can’t find the heart beat”. I had no idea what to think. My heart immediately sunk but I went straight into denial. As we walked out to the car I called our friends to cancel our previously arranged dinner plans. I asked my friend to keep the baby in prayer. I said something like, “I’m sure everything is fine but we just need to go in for an emergency ultrasound to find out what is going on”. I reassured Abi over and over again that everything was going to be okay.
We arrived at the hospital and were told to sit in the normal waiting room with another expecting mother, but Abi couldn’t handle it. She froze at the door and would not go in. We waited by ourselves outside of the triage until Abi's sister arrived. She was able to watch Seana for us.
Finally, we were called back and given a room. The technician got Abi ready for the ultrasound. Abi couldn’t see the screen but I could. She asked me to squeeze her hand if I saw a heartbeat. Until this point I was still convinced that somehow everything was going to be fine and the baby would be ok, but I was wrong. I stared at the screen in total disbelief. There was no heartbeat. I stared blankly at the screen for some time. I wanted to squeeze Abi’s hand so badly but I couldn’t. Everyone in the room was completely silent except for Abi. She screamed “No! Why God? Why?! “. I had never felt so helpless.
At this point we did not know what to do but we had to somehow come to accept the reality of what was happening so we asked them to use the Doppler. We thought that maybe if the baby was positioned strangely that we could at least hear the heartbeat. This brought a fleeting glimpse of hope when even the doctor could not tell whether he was hearing a slow baby heartbeat or Abi’s. They did another ultrasound only for us to view the lifeless screen one last time.
We were given two options. We could either go home and wait for nature to take its course, allowing Abi to go into labor naturally or be induced that night. I was overwhelmed by confusion and doubt. I still could not 100% believe that our baby was dead. Abi still kept telling me that she thought she felt movement. I did not know what to think but we had to face the facts. We had the results of two ultrasounds and the Doppler saying that there was no longer life in my wife’s belly. If we went home, we had no idea how long it could take. We didn’t think either of us could have handled that emotionally so we decided for Abi to be induced.
We were taken to another room were Abi would have the baby. It wasn’t the wing were healthy babies were born. It was different. It was such a weird and terrible feeling. I struggled with how to even define it. Abi wasn’t giving birth, our baby wasn’t alive. She was just going into labor.
We had been at this same hospital to give birth to a healthy baby just two years prior. The room this time was vaguely similar. There was a bed, a birthing ball, a room to take a hot shower but it just felt like we were there in vain. It was very eerie.
I stayed up with Abi all night waiting for the Pitocin to kick in and start contractions. There was no bed in this room other than the one that Abi was on so I just laid on the cold tile floor with a blanket. After several hours the contractions started. There was something very scary about this for me. I still wanted to believe that our baby was alive but when labor started it was the beginning of reality setting in. This was the point when I knew it was really over and I just erupted into tears. I was helpless.
Labor went into the following morning. It seemed like an eternity of drawn out, excruciating, emotional agony. I hated every second of it.
Nevertheless, God was still in control. He sent a terrible trial into our lives that day but He provided ways for us to get through it. There were not many things I could count as blessings at the time but I will say that He sent the most amazing nurse I think we could have possibly been given. Her name was Eleanor. I hope she somehow reads this someday because at the time I could not express to her just how much she meant to my wife and I. She was gentle, courteous, considerate and went out of her way to help us that day. Nothing could lessen the pain but Eleanor was a ray of light sent by God to let us know there was a way to get through this.
We had our baby late that morning. No doctors came in for the delivery because I guess there was no need. We had a baby girl. We named her Joeli Grace Dougherty. It was a very strange thing because I knew deep down that our little one was in heaven with Jesus and she probably had been for several days already. So we never really got to meet Joeli, we were just looking at her shell.
We spent some time with her shell that morning. We held her and kissed her, we took some pictures too. But most of all we cried. Abi and I sobbed for hours.
Later that day they told us we had to leave. Abi was in good health and there was no need to spend another night. Leaving was very hard for me. It felt so backward to be leaving my little girl wrapped up in a pink blanket all by herself in that cold, strange room. I just kept thinking that we were not supposed to be leaving there with empty arms. I had a lot of flashbacks to the first time we were at that hospital with our first healthy baby. Everything seemed completely opposite now. We got in the car, just Abi and I and drove away.
Abi and I got in a lot of arguments over the next couple of days. We were handling things very differently. At the time, I felt like we needed to be strong and I was not giving Abi adequate time to recover emotionally.
My parents traveled to be with us and to attend Joeli’s funeral. The night before we buried our daughter was the culmination of all of our frustrations. Abi and I got into the worst argument we had ever been in. We just screamed at each other at the top of our lungs and I think I got hit a few times while my parents probably just sat downstairs and listened. They must have felt so awkward.
Our argument ended in tears just like most all of our other arguments over the preceding several days. Together, we decided to go out and buy some nice outfits for the funeral. Also, at that moment I decided to just remain weak for awhile and forget about trying to be strong.
The funeral was an amazing outpouring of love from our friends and family. The funeral director said it was the most people he had ever seen for a stillbirth burial. Joeli’s body was very small. She actually fit into a small rectangular urn. We put her body into the ground that day at Mellinger's Mennonite Cemetery and said our goodbyes.
Although we never got to meet Joeli, I will never forget the precious time we had with her while she was still in the womb. I treasure the times I was able to put my face on my wife’s belly to be close to her. I cherish the kick I felt only a week or two prior. I will always remember that first ultrasound we had of her and seeing her little heart beating away.
One thing that I have always said about my little Joeli is that she taught me more in the short time we had with her than one would ever imagine a child could teach her father in a lifetime. She was such an amazing gift. After we lost Joeli I made a very purposeful choice to not be angry for the time I lost with her but to cherish those moments we had.
Joeli you made your daddy a better man. This story is in honor of you and the blessing you were to our family. Thank you.

Written 3 years ago in honor of Joeli's 2nd Birthday

This is Joeli's testimony...please feel free to copy and paste this or email it or share it with whomever as a way to keep her legacy going! Thank you for taking the time to read this and forward it and hopefully share the Good News:)

Happy 2nd Birthday Joeli Grace:)




I Remember You Joeli Grace Dougherty

I remember that day that I began to think, "Hmm is there someone forming within me?”

I remember the day that I took that test; the one that made me gasp with joy, the one that took my breath away, the one that put a sizzle in my feet as I leapt with excitement and thankfulness.

I remember the way I felt when I called Daddy to say, "Happy early Father's Day again", to which he replied, "No way!”

I remember the tears welling up in your Grandpa's eyes as I shared the joyous news of your growing little self and the silly way Grandma answered when I said, "By the way, did I tell you Seana's gonna be a big sister?" Now Grandma said, "Oh, yeah...wait, what?" and Grandpa and your Uncle Joe said, "Abi are you serious?"

I remember the sweet words my Dad whispered in my ear, that I treasure to this day.

I remember the first time I saw you bouncing around deep within me, growing, heart-beating, praising the Father just by your beautiful form.

I remember the thoughts I had of you, the anticipation of your arrival, and the plans for your future.

I remember your sister "feeding" you, through my belly button and always kissing you and saying, "Love you baby".

I remember all those treasured first kicks and squirms I felt, those tiny little movements in the hidden place.

I remember our times together when I’d sit and talk to you and tell you I love you and pray for you before bed.

I remember all the beautiful things that I treasure and am so thankful the Lord blessed me with before you left this world to see glory and experience true Light.

Then, there is darkness, a place where no glimmer of light shines, a place inside my mind I wish had no existence.

It is the place where all the awful memories lie, where they are stored away, where I try so hard to push them so far away that sometimes I forget they exist-even if for a moment- and I “pretend” you are here in my arms; safe, heart beating steadily, baby breath on my neck as I rock you to sleep, stinky little toes that I tickle while I change your little diaper, giggling with your sister in the back seat as we drive, you smiling at me as I kiss you goodnight.

Yet these dreams I had for you are starkly contrasted by the harsh reality that you are no more. Your precious little hands and feet, your body, so small yet so amazingly formed and knit together, lies in the grave.

I remember the things any mother who's experienced a loss would wish to forget.
“Why do you share this?” one may ask. To that I say, read on, and see; see how darkness is erased in the light, the True Light.

I remember that appointment, my five month regular check up when they could not find a heartbeat.

The somber look on the practitioner’s faces…The loud obnoxious happiness outside our anxious, heartbroken and silent room after we arrived at the hospital in triage.

The quiet voices that tried to say, “There’s no heartbeat”. How it happened: They walked in the room, I’d told Sean, if you see the baby moving and heart beating just smile at me and nod. See, they’d placed the screen away from me so I couldn’t see. Well, the technician came in and began, and well, all I remember is this blank stare of confusion on Sean’s face. From here it gets kind of blurry as everything seems to be traveling into a dark hole. I grabbed the screen and for a brief moment beheld your lifeless frame on the screen, not dancing, no heart beating; it was just you lying there. My heart breaking—I remember I just wanted to name you, to give you a name and speak it. I asked, “What is it?” But because of how you laid there was no way to tell you were my little girl.

I remember the loud scream, wail, sobbing, utterly helpless noise I made as I cried out, “NO!”

I remember holding on to some glimmer of hope as those moments held such confusion and fear.

I remember thinking, “but I just felt a kick…like a week or so ago” and poking and jiggling myself as if trying to invoke some type of reaction, a kick, a squirm, anything…..NOTHING.

But I remember getting these muscle twitches and thinking-“maybe, maybe that was the baby.”

And then the Doctor came in to try and get a heartbeat on the Doppler to assure me that it was a reality since it just was not sinking in that you were gone. And as he tried it seemed there was a faint heartbeat and even he could not be sure it was not you. He ordered another ultrasound and this time I sat full faced in the view of the screen, as if waiting to scream out, “THANK YOU GOD-I know You work miracles”-all the while praying His hand would resurrect you or sustain you if you were alive but hurt.

And the screen was still.

The screen was still?

The screen was still.

My heart pounding…

My heart breaking…

Then we began discussing, “our options”. 1. Go home and wait a few more days to see if I begin labor on my own, 2. Go through surgery or 3. Be induced and try to birth naturally.

These options all seemed so cold. How could we, how could I choose which way I wanted this ordeal to end? It was inevitable, I would give birth to death and that is still a reality that stings me to my core.

We decided to stay and be induced.

Induced?

Induced into labor-before I’d always thought of labor as the progression to joy, celebration, LIFE…

But now, it was a cold, dark, seemingly pointless way to deliver my child who would never breathe our air or see my face.

Then a prayer, from the depths of my soul, relinquishing my “right” to have you as my own, my “right” to have my way, my desires, my plans come to pass…and instead acknowledging that even amidst my devastation, He was in control and He would indeed prosper me and give me a hope for the future. A prayer for help. For a speedy delivery, free of complications. And He does answer prayer! And He did answer prayer!

And so it began, a long process of needles and medicine and pain.

Overnight the contractions would come, back and forth, like waves on the sea. I would breathe out as if to blow them away from me and then back they would flow upon me again like a never ending punishing tide.

And then there was family, surrounding me, like a blanket of love and comfort and strength. There were these gentle encouraging words of a sorrowful Father and Mother. There were kind soft calming strokes upon my head and hands from my Husband and my Sister. There were soft whispers of, “I’m so sorry” and “We love you!”

But, again before you knew it, those moments were over as the work of delivery approached.

I cannot describe it any other way than it was horrible.

The worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life.

The halls were so quiet, the nurses weren’t joyous and smiling, they were quiet and somber.

My next memories are too awful to recount, as I delivered death rather than life. We remember how “backwards” it all felt.

It was over and I wept bitterly aloud.

There you were, wrapped in a soft pink blanket, a blanket that was small enough to be called a washcloth. Your frame was perfect, ten unbelievably small toes and ten delicately beautiful fingers-perfect-just perfect. Your eyes, nose, ears, mouth, arms and knees-all so remarkably small, yet intricately formed and beautifully crafted by God. There you were in my arms.

It was over. And soon we would have to leave. We would go and you would stay there, all alone, by yourself. Lying in your quiet cradle rather than in my arms, it was so backwards. I felt so terrible, sick, awful leaving you there.

Leave the hospital empty handed.

Leave empty handed? And there we were leaving empty handed, empty and lonely and hurting, confused and in shock, some of the worst moments and feelings in my life. Again the question may be asked, “Why recount all these terrible memories too? Why not just focus on the positive and have that be the end of it? Why remember the bitter heartache, the hurt, the pain, the emptiness?”

And here it is, the answer.

Jesus.

Jesus?

Yes, Jesus. He is The Answer. The Truth… The Light... The Way… and The Life.

So now Joeli I will try for a moment to speak not to you, but for you and in your memory…

Because you see my friend, in Him, though we die, we yet LIVE! That word means so much more to me now!

Live!

Because though she dies, she yet lives with Him…Her body in the grave, but her spirit with her Maker. And for that I rejoice.

I rejoice.

I REJOICE!

In Him, weeping may last for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning. Because His Word tells us that in this world we will have trouble but to take heart for He has overcome the world. See I share both the good and the bad because I choose to believe that through the good I am thankful and blessed and through the bad I am reminded that this life is but a glimmer, a moment, a brief breathe—but His eternal life, that is what lasts, that is what I long for, that is what I rejoice in! We are not promised life without death or pain or struggle here, but in fact it was His original intent for life to be without these. No, but He gives gladness for mourning, beauty for ashes, and praise in place of despair.

And let me just say, it is joy that I have found! For He gives life and life more abundantly!

So Joeli, my dear sweet Joeli Grace, I remember you! And I will always honor your memory by sharing what I believe God’s purpose was in your life. To share of His miraculous love...Of His power over life and death…Of His grace that is more than enough…Of His creativity in molding you and making you…Of His desire for each of His creations to turn and praise their Maker—

So Joeli, you leave behind a legacy of sharing the Good News of Christ Jesus, my sweet child. The News that Jesus Christ died and now lives again and has conquered the power of sin and death. And that He loves us and wants to call us His own. He promises in John 1:9 and 10, “That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved! For it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved and it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.”

I remember you Joeli Grace Dougherty.

I remember you.

~In Honor of my dear sweet Joeli Grace Dougherty born 1/30/08, weighing a mere 4.9 ounces and measuring 8 inches long. She may have been small in frame, but may her legacy be big enough to last a lifetime!

Written by Mommy:)

~Abigail Dougherty
1/30/2010

Joeli's delicate prints:)

FIVE years...

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you… before you were born I set you apart.

1 Samuel 1:27-28 paraphrased…  We prayed for this child…So now we give her to the Lord. And we choose to worship HIM.

Joeli Grace Dougherty was born our second child, a daughter, on January 30^th 2008. It was not the way we wanted it to happen. We miss her deeply to this day; she is still a part of our family that we hold very dear. Her 5^th birthday is coming up and we ask you to celebrate her life, short as it was, with us! We are honoring the life she lived by donating FIVE winter necessities to local charities. We ask that you consider joining us in honoring her memory in this beautiful way. We believe one of Joeli’s God-given purposes was to embolden us to share of HIS great love and HIS ETERAL life, a life that goes on after “death”. After all, death is but a shadow, and a shadow is nothing more than a dark area between Light… we believe that although her earthly life has ended, her spirit remains and lives on in the love-filled presence of her Maker. So, would you also consider sharing this peace and joy-filled news of eternal life through Jesus with FIVE people you come in contact with throughout January? Maybe a cashier, maybe a friend, maybe a child… As you do, remember our little Joeli with us and maybe say a prayer for us and for anyone else you know who has been affected by miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death. It happens more frequently than you think and many women do not speak about it for various reasons. I choose to speak about it for several reasons, one of which is the fact that I fully believe her purpose was to embolden my family to share the saving news of the LIFE we have found in Jesus. Joeli did not just die, she also lived and MORE IMPORTANTLY she ALSO LIVES. If I did not full heartedly believe this last statement there would be only empty, dark, bitterly cold tears drenching my bed day and night continually in her absence. However, because of His love, His promises, His strength and hope, WE walk on in faith trusting that we will see her again and we will stand together and praise the One who Made us.

 

Thank you for sharing in celebrating Joeli Grace’s life in this meaningful way with us this January! We have appreciated the support, prayers, and love from so many friends and family as we’ve walked this journey the past five years. Never underestimate the strength and peace found in a simple hug, phone call or act of kindness.

 

My prayer for you this January 30^th is that through Joeli’s life and story you may be blessed and led closer to the heart of your Maker, the One who loves you beyond description and holds in store for you a HOPE of a future restoration and healing!

~Abi

For more of Joeli's story and also to read the stories of those who have walked closest with us during our grief journey please visit www.heavenslullaby.blogspot.com  thank you deeply and whole-heartedly.

 

 

Child...Love...

Child...

Children...

They have such beautiful, unbiased ways of looking at things. They are completely unhindered in creative thinking. They are free to believe! They are hope-bringers! They have faith that is unmoved in the fetters of the breaking and crashing waves of ours; our shifting sand. They're not seeking the esteem from others that their view is right, but rather, they are in search of being heard at all.

As I sit and observe words tossed back and forth between "friends" this week, via the wonderful world wide web, namely Facebook, I am blatantly sickened. There have been some of the most horrific, self-absorbed, hurtful points spoken. It's so deeply saddening. We are so bent on being right that we are callously blinded to the fact that in our words we murder, brutally, those we call "friends".

We all think we're right. We think we've got the ultimate truth, as if we can even begin to grasp His ways. I don't leave myself out of this equation. I am guilty. I get very hung up on being "right".

Then, across my screen came something so beautiful.

It was not a point of view.

It was not a set of religious beliefs.

It was the moral conviction to LOVE. To share love, spread love, give love and live love. And do you know who brainstormed the idea?

A child!

Simplicity, fragility, vulnerability and humility.

Love...

You know where I think that develops and Who places this capacity within the human heart. Please take note this is not a question, but a statement. In fact, I believe we all know. Deep down somewhere within the caverns of our human existence is the very proof of our being. We are made. This imply's we have a Maker. And, most importantly we were MADE with purpose, passion, and that is LOVE!

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

I do believe we have been given a gift and from that gift we ought to desire, even thrive in, extending that gift one to another. Yet often, far too often, we are SEEKERS... we seek only affirmation, esteem, and glory rather than being EXTENDERS...offering humility, service, and giving grace and peace as the gifts they are.

John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

My friend, may we share, give, and speak in love rather than in anger, pride, self-absorbed opinions and bitter thinking.


John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Come Lord Jesus, come! May your return be ever near, as our hearts grow faint within us, as we long for the time of Your return; it feels so long, oh Lord. Remind our spirits your promise and truth. Grant us peace and patience and hope and faith and LOVE!

2 Peter 3:8 and 9
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Truly, what is love?

Truly, what is love?

To most, love is offered after finding something worth "loving". It is offered in part, because of a selfish motive. That is, to love someone or something completely "lovable", with the desire to find joy in receiving that same "love" in return... or, if nothing else, simply loving for the sake of the joy in giving to someone/something worthy.

Today I have several friends who want to "give up". I too, have wanted to "give up". But, I'm so grateful for the true friends and truth bringers in my life who continued in prayer and encouragement in the biggest commitment in my life here and now, my marriage. Because, without those people in my life, I may have still been seeking the aforementioned desire to seek only after offering love when it is "deserved".

Don't get me wrong, love should be fully offered and especially offered to those who "deserve" it and are completely lovable and sweet...

But, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?" Matthew 5:46

In a marriage it gets tough. It's not always sweet wine and chocolate and kisses in the sun. There are times where love is like war. But, as the song says, it's not, BUT it is, I will say again IT IS something worth fighting for!!!!

Just want to share with you some of my day:

Today, I was exhausted. Sean has off for Labor Day and we planned to go to visit my in-laws until Joeby started acting very sickly suddenly on Friday afternoon. He hadn't eaten breakfast at all but I thought it was teething since he had run a slight fever Thursday, and off and on he only ate a little. Anyway, it ends up the poor guy has tonsillitis and probable strep throat... He was up so much last night drinking fluids, and thank God for that because he barely ate or drank anything all day Friday. If he wasn't drinking fluids he was screaming and wailing around. Around what I think was three thirty Sades comes in the room and basically trys to lay on top of me. I tell her she's got to lay at my feet because Joeby was already beside me wrangling me up every ten minutes or so. But then I couldn't sleep because I kept worrying she would fall out of bed or that I would kick her. Then, at six AM Seana was awake and standing by my feet asking if she could watch the dog video. Needless to say, I was so exhausted, but I got out of bed because Joeby was then wide awake asking for a "pop" (freezie).
Now, I will share my thoughts...

Sean, sleeps in until around 8.
(He works extra hours at work and does Grad work for another Master degree and works PT as a counselor AND on top of all that he serves at the church...but I could easily overlook all that and selfishly want my morning to sleep in too, after all , it is the only morning I could sleep in too/either)

Sean gets on the computer, and while I ask him something, he is clearly too "busy" to even acknowledge my presence, let alone my question to him.
(I snap and say some pretty rude things instead of calmly and rationally explaining how his choice to ignore my question and my presence makes me feel and think.)

Sean mentions us maybe, "taking turns" napping today so that we can each get a nap. While I'm laying Joeby down he goes to catch a nap. I don't get my turn, but then again, I didn't ask for it either. And I don't think he napped long...
(I could have mulled over everything I did and how tired I am today without remembering that during the week when I need help during the night he almost always is able and willing and still goes to a full day of work and is not at home to catch even a short nap or rest break while the kids have naps and quiet time)

Sean offers to make a run to the store for something a couple of us in the house need. I think I fully explain that I wanted a lot of it. He comes home with what I believe to be the tiniest container of it that Walmart must sell, literally. Really?! And then I look on the counter and see the juice sitting out of the fridge.
(OK, now, going on little sleep I'm about to snap... I feel the urge to start counting off in my head the list of things I'm frustrated and angry about...)

BUT, instead of all the negative things about to burst forth into an angry Creed-type song in my head regarding all the frustrations I feel... I suddenly remember why the juice is out of the fridge.

It was left out because when Sean got home from the store he heard Joeby in the room screaming while I was trying desperately to get him to sleep and he realized he didn't have his juice/pedialyte cup and poured it and asked Seana to bring it back to me. I didn't even ask him to do that. He just heard the screaming and thought of how to help. And there I was, being angry that he TRIED.

See LOVE is not about loving because everything is perfect. It's not about loving because everything always is done to perfection or just the way I want or just the way I think it should be done. It's not about loving because I am always satisfied or contented. It's not about me.

It's not about loving the perfect one, it's about loving the imperfect one perfectly. I think that's a quote ;)

Well, close anyway, "We come to love not by finding a perfect person but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." Sam Keen

All that to say, I pray that tomorrow, as you approach the new day, that you will choose to look at your spouse, your children, your friend, your unkind co-worker, your annoying sister/brother, your nagging parent, and maybe even your enemy in a way that sees them as the imperfect person they are, but worth loving all the same. I pray that you choose to see life through a new lens, and their behavior, choices, and words in a new perspective. I pray that if you are struggling in your marriage that you reach out for help and support but that you don't give up-ever! I pray that if your spouse needs help that you walk beside them and pray for them to seek and desire that help. I pray that you know I'm here to listen, talk and pray.

LOVE IS WORTH fighting for!!!!!!

Just remember the question, "Truly what is love?". Choose to LOVE in truth, by putting action behind the words you have spoken and the words He has spoken over us:
Ephesians 5:2
and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.


Two great books I highly recommend:
The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
And for him:
Samson and the Pirate Monk by Nate Larkin

Please also know that not all marriages come with the little irritations and I know that all too well after watching dear family and friends suffer horrible pain in their marriages with partners who treated them with little to no dignity and broke every promise and vow ever taken. These situations can only be worked through by miraculous grace of God and by His hand upon each heart involved. It is a very individual thing to work through devastating marriage issues and my prayer if you are in that situation is that you would seek professional help, support and guidance and that you would ultimately continue seeking God.

May His love be in and through all the "love" relationships we walk out in this here and now.
~Abi

Guess what I prove WRONG......

My dear friends told me the other day they had something to tell me. I was a little nervous wondering what in the world they were gonna "tell me". He looks at his wife, my friend, and he says, "You gonna tell her?" and I'm thinking oh boy, here we go... She says, "I was reading the Snapple lid the other day and I was thinking the same thing, but before I could say it he said out lout, 'Abi proves that wrong'." She continued, "It said,
                 Snapple Fact #831: Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
We guessed you probably laugh about 1000 to 1500 times a day"

It was funny, sooo funny, so of course, I LAUGHED ;)

I do, I laugh a lot. I always have. I don't think it's one of those "nervous" things. I almost always laugh out of genuine humor. I find humor in almost everything and basically anything. Sometimes I just kinda giggle, other times I full out crack up and most of the time I end up laughing so tirelessly I end up feeling like I may just cry.

There was a point in my life where I felt I may never find joy again though. There had been so much that had gone wrong. So much pain. Too much heartache. I couldn't deal with it. I didn't want to face it. Many many times I would have secret screaming and crying fests with God. After the kids were asleep, on the way home from a lone grocery run, after worship practice on my quiet drive home, in my mind and heart while I ran...I was crying out to God for healing, freedom and for His hand to work miracles. My heart was so heavy.

Job 8:21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
Psalm 126:2
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
Proverbs 14:13
Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.

He promised me.

He promised me He would wipe my tears away. He promised me He would fill my lips with joy, laughter and praise. Sometimes, over the years, I could even find laughter in my deep sorrow. Miraculously that's just who I am wired to be. After this past couple years though and battling depression I realize now that I absolutely cannot remain "content in all circumstances" unless I continually pursue and work to continue in the truth. The truth being, His Word and saturating myself continually in it. And, the truth being, the promises are meant for future restoration not always the here and now for all who walk in His ways and do right in His sight.

See, God promises us something outside of laughter...

James 4:8-10

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

There are things i have battled, myself, and also watched those dearest to me battle over the past few years that honestly, with hopes of not offending anyone who has suffered loss and death, have struck me more deeply and devastatingly than physical death. Don't get me wrong, when Joeli died (And even when many other loved ones I lost did) many things changed for me. Many beliefs and understandings were now different. But I can say, for myself, nothing affected me as deeply and painfully as other "things" that died. I guess you could say part of this is that from a young age I knew death was a part of life. But I never understood the deep pain it causes to see my family and close friends die in other ways and for myself to die in ways other than physically.

I ached for God to reach down and change circumstances and to breathe life again where there was now decay emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

I was broken.

There was a time, there have been times where no laughter could be found upon my lips and joy was a distant memory in my heart. I will admit to a time of depression. It's unlike me and it's hard to go back to that point in my life and truly admit it. But, I personally believe its very healthy to recognize and acknowlege where we are, where we were and where we come from. It helps us grow. It makes us into new more aware and strong people. AND it can help KEEP US from falling back into old patterns, old habits and old tattered and stained ways. After all, if you don't know a shirt has a huge hole in the back of it of course you'd keep wearing it. But once you recognize, admit and know that shirt just isn't the prettiest thing under the sun, you typically start looking for a replacement shirt or wearing the one you know is clean and whole and well kept. That's how our lives have to be lived. In examining the condition of our inner lives and how that affects the appearance of and condition of our outter lives too.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

New International Version (NIV)

² It is better to go to a house of mourning
    than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
    the living should take this to heart.
³ Frustration is better than laughter,
    because a sad face is good for the heart.
⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

I think what the writer here is trying to get at is basically don't focus on the joys and plentious times...but put yourself in the house of the dying, the parched, the starving, the lonely, the bitter, the hateful, the despised, the neglected, the weak and weary because that is where wisdom is gained. That is where a true heart of love is found. that is where growth occurs. And in doing that, in emptying oneself is where we often can find His promises true. We can rest our weary head down in the lap of a trustworthy Father, that one day all our toiling and sorrow and death both physically and otherwise will finally be over. It will be as it says in 1 Corinthians 15:54
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

I want God to do something new in us today.

I want Him to teach us to recognize His desire for our hearts and lives. Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

He has good in store for us! He plans to fill us with joy!

But He wants us to recognize and remember that looking to the here and now, to the death sweeped land, to the parched desert, to the worm eaten crops will never satisfy our empty weary souls. HE wants us to fix our eyes upon HIS FACE!!!

So, while laughter is on your lips, rejoice! But, if tears come across your face, lay on your drenched pillow and trust that the day is coming and will come when all that is wrong will finally be made right.


If you haven't laughed in awhile here's one from my husband and sister to make you laugh for today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzVi-hCac8c

Let me know what you think ;) ;) ;)

Seriously though, if you haven't laughed in awhile--let me know how I can pray for you today.

Love,
Ab

 

I have a confession... many and often

I have a confession... many and often.

It is that I often hide away from confession. Many times it is REASON ONE: for my own lack of recognition of my sins or weaknesses or even out of a lack of willingness to truly examine, and I mean EXAMINE, myself and my ways. Lamentations 3:40
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

If you are reading this and waiting for me to confess something to you here, in blogosphere-land, you are going to be disappointed.

This would be REASON TWO: for fear of appearances. Appearing imperfect or flawed or like someone who's fallen short. Who wants to fall short and announce it? Really!!?? Yet, Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and FALLEN SHORT..." Let's get real here folks, stop hiding behind the save face lie and start being real one with another.

I long for God to cleanse my guilt and shame and the evil of my ways. I long to be counted "Righteous" in His sight. I long for Him to exchange my stained garments for robes of white. But it's not following laws that will cleanse me. Romans 3:20 says, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." See, His Word helps us to recognize our sins. It's like a spotlight and when we shine it into our minds and hearts and upon our lips we can realize where we are falling short of the beauty He longs to create in us. God does want us to confess our sins. But, I think alongside of that He asks us to recognize something else and confess it. 

It is our desperate need, our hopeless state, our complete incompleteness without the Savior-Jesus-cleansing and healing and freeing us from the bondage of sin. Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Yet along with that we are told in 1 John 1:9 that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Confessing our sins and renouncing them is about walking in ways that honor and bring glory to God. It's about seeing the standard He longs for us to walk in and the beauty He longs to create in our lives and hearts and the peace He wants to fill us with. 

 So ask Him,

Psalm 26:2
Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

Recognize these truths,

Proverbs 5:21
For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. Jeremiah 17:10
“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Psalm 11:4
The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them.

And acknowlege this truth,

Job 7:17-19¹⁷ “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,
¹⁸ that you examine them every morning
    and test them every moment?


Clearly, He is mindful of us. He gives us much attention. Let's give ourselves the same attention, our hearts the same examination and let's strive for the right type of beautifying today--the inner beauty--the heart.

1. 2 Timothy 2:19
   Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
2. James 5:16
   Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
3. Psalm 32:5
   Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
4. Psalm 38:18
   I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. 
5. Proverbs 28:13
   Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
6. Isaiah 59:1
   Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

So let's ask God to examine us, and let's examine ourselves today. Then, let's truly confess both to God and one to another. Let's not shrink back from living by faith. And, let's persevere!

Hebrews 10:36-38 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.For,“In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And,“But my righteous^[g] one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

I would challenge you today with these questions: When did you last confess, truly confess, a sin or struggle to another brother/sister in Christ? And when did you last spend time examining and then confessing to your Maker?

If you're looking for inspiration today to motivate you to spending your time quietly with God--SO THAT as Anita says, His Word may be the floss to pick out the junk in your heart and life....you have to check out her inspiring story, the story of Anita Keagy: http://www.ambassadorspeakers.com/ACP/speakers.aspx?name=ANITA%20KEAGY&speaker=1441 

Confessions are never easy, but they are always worth the work and challenge. And often times we see the beauty God can make out of the battle scars when we seek the Healer and His power to work mightily amidst our weakened state.

We all have confessions we could make.....many and often. Yet often, we do not make many, in fact, we rarely make ANY. So today, purpose to confess many and often rather than few and rarely.