31 weeks of miracles.

 I hope Justice will know right off the bat what a huge huge blessing not being discussed in detail on this blog really is....His brother got it because he was our first and so everything was inevitably blown out of proportion-both good and bad. And then there were his sisters-who arguably deserved some serious discussion because that pregnancy was a moment by moment fight from the beginning.
But now for number 3....
 For my prayer card this year I had written "a healthy pregnancy/healthy baby". At the time we weren't pregnant and I was still understandably nervous about going through the whole thing again...but here we are at the end of August and at least that first prayer has been gloriously answered.

So much so that I honestly rarely know how far along I am. People ask and I have to stop and think. 28 weeks came and went amongst the craziness of Ransom's birthday and the end of summer....The third trimester started up quietly without any fanfare, amidst a lovely visit from Tabitha Trott.

In contrast 28 weeks with Tabitha was marked with a stay in Labor and Delivery and an all night vigil of me pleading with God to let her stay in just a little bit longer....with Ransom I'm sure I was counting the days to head into that final trimester-with all its baby showers and nursery prep....

This pregnancy has been unremarkable and yet truly how remarkable that is! I never want to undervalue or loose sight of what a truly miraculous thing it is to have a pregnancy go so smoothly. It would be easy to take it for granted and yet life has taught us that each of these "unremarkable" days is actually a great and glorious gift.

Tomorrow marks Priscilla's Day. A day when our sweet baby girl left us much earlier than expected. I miss what her life would have been. But this week I chose to celebrate what her short life taught me: 

I will forever place such value on this miracle that is Life- every day we have a chance to make a difference, every day that we are given a chance to make the right choices-To ultimately make The Choice* -it is a mysterious and wonderful gift that I don't want to take for granted. 

I will never underestimate the true gift of a healthy and seemingly "unremarkable" pregnancy, I know that it is not something to just assume but when it does happen, oh what a blessing! : 

I can hardly wait to meet this little dude who flips and kicks so much that my belly visibly bounces half the night and yes I can also hardly wait till this awful awful heartburn is a thing of the past ( there, one little complaint to help him feel loved like with his brother. hehehe) but until then may I not forget to marvel at the seemingly uneventful pregnancy we have been given!!

* Priscilla is named after a pretty amazing woman ( girl power!) in the Bible ( Acts 18) who along with her husband were willing to share the Truth about Jesus' Love- such a great love that He chose to die, even though He did not deserve it,  so that when he rose from the grave ( Death could not hold Him!) you and I could have Freedom from a life of disappointment, destruction and ultimately death. 

When we named our daughter I wanted her to be filled with such love and boldness for her Lord that she would share His good news with anyone who would listen! My prayer is now for all of us- if you do not yet know this great Love than search Him out!! 

And if you DO, please honor Priscilla's short life by sharing how Jesus has changed your life with someone today.