Blown Away by the Blessing of God

IMG_7811Most of you have heard our big news by now, but for those of you who haven’t, we’re going to be grandparents again—to another set of twins!! You heard me right. Twins again! After waiting and praying with Kristin and Shawn for years, God blessed them beyond our wildest hopes and gave them twin baby boys, and now we’ve got another miracle unfolding with our other daughter Kelli and her husband Jake!

Kelli bravely and beautifully shared their miracle in progress on Facebook earlier this month and has given me permission to share it here as well. May their story bless and encourage you!

“This is going to be a long post, but I feel I need to share every word of it. Some of you may know, Jake and I have been trying to get pregnant for a long time now. I get teary-eyed thinking about how tough the last three years have been. Every month we hoped and prayed, and every month we were disappointed. We tried to remain faithful, telling ourselves God had a plan, but you can’t help but wonder why God would put you through such a terrible experience. The worst part was answering the same question over and over, “When are you guys going to have some kids, what are you waiting for?”

About a year ago we decided to get help and started seeing a fertility specialist in Kansas City. After some tests and minor procedures, I got pregnant in October. I had a positive pregnancy test on a Monday and miscarried by Friday. It was the toughest week of the entire journey.

After the miscarriage, we decided to take a break from the doctors and the procedures and enjoy the holidays. The plan was to wait until the beginning of the year to decide whether we should keep trying, or start the adoption process. If we kept trying, it would require some more serious medical procedures.

In early December, our pastor gave a sermon on the birth of John the Baptist. His mother, Elizabeth, was barren, but maintained her faith and was eventually blessed. I fought tears the entire morning. At the end of the service, Bro. Aaron asked to pray with us. We had never told him of our struggle, he just told us he felt lead to pray with us, but didn’t know what to pray for. At this point, I lost it. I briefly told him about our troubles and we said a short prayer.

Two weeks later I knew I was pregnant before I even took a test, even though we hadn’t been to the specialist in months. The initial blood work confirmed it! The numbers were much higher than they were in October. After four weeks of anxiety, we finally had our first office appointment. Right away we were able to see a little squirming baby and hear its precious heartbeat. Then we saw the second heartbeat. That’s right, two heartbeats, two babies!!!

Our journey over the last three years is proof God answers prayers, but he does it according to His plan, not ours. Sometimes you even get twice what you prayed for! We continue to be cautiously optimistic, but wanted to share with everyone the miracle God has done in our lives, and celebrate these two lives. We appreciate the continued prayers.”

And now back to me—and what can I say except that we are all blown away by the blessing of God! Completely, undeniably blown away by his mercy, by his above and beyond blessing in our family’s lives. Long-term heartache for both of our daughters and their husbands—and us as well—turned to joy unspeakable. Our hearts overflow is almost an understatement!

As you join in our joy and praise to God, will you join us in prayer as well? Will you pray that all will go well with Kelli’s pregnancy and that the babies will grow and develop as they should? They are due on September 7th, but most twins come a few weeks early. I will be one busy grandma with one set of twins about an hour away and another set nearly six hours away! Busy, but extremely happy—and tired since I will also be trying to market my first book! Someone pass the vitamins, huh? LOL

“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.’ The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:2-3

*When have you been blown away by the blessing of God?

*My photo

Comments

  1. Congratulations! Praying alongside you.

  2. I love how God works in our lives and gives us such blessings. Congrats and I am praying you all of you.

  3. How exciting, Cheryl! Praising God with you and all your family!

  4. Our story is very similar – even down the detail of having a pastor-friend pray for us. In his sweet letter to us, he spoke of Elizabeth and Zechariah … and then finished his letter by telling us he was joining us in “holy expectation”. With two weeks, I was pregnant.

    Amazing grace!

    • Elaine, thanks for sharing your story — I didn’t realize you guys had been through something similar. And yes, amazing grace indeed! Continued blessings to you and yours!

  5. Sabrina Shepley says

    I know Kelli and she is the sweetest person I know… I have been blessed just to have her as a co-worker and friend. when she told me of her news I was so elated by it… I pray for her each and every day and I hope that this miracle is everything she has ever hoped for and more… She is an angel under cover and i know that by the way she lights up a room, and this miracle is Gods way of saying thank you for believing, and never losing hope… Lots of love to Kelli and Jake

    • Sabrina, thanks so much for your sweet words about Kelli — makes my momma heart proud :) Thanks so much for praying for her and sending your love to Kelli and Jake!

  6. So exciting! And how poignant to read your daughter’s heart in her part of the post. So heartbreaking in the waiting, and so joyous now.

    Rejoicing with you,
    Jennifer Dougan
    http://www.jenniferdougan

    Keep us posted on your book’s progress and coming :)

    • Thanks so much, Jennifer! And yes, it is especially joyous after the long wait and ongoing heartbreak. Our other daughter and her husband went through an even longer ordeal with similar circumstance so it is so wonderful to see how God is pouring blessings over our family now. (And yes, I’ll keep everyone posted on my book. Right now, it looks like it will be released in June or July. Am so excited. It’s going to be beautiful!)

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