Our "Hope" Fulfilled

 Our little Easter egg

After some tender loving care from visits by both of our parents, I am beginning to feel "human" again and am finally updating our blog. It's so hard to believe Alexa Hope is four weeks old already. She is growing & changing each and every day!!

However, today holds a special place in my heart as I reflect on the significance of this day. A year ago today, which was Easter Sunday last year (April 12th, 2009), we lost our first child when I miscarried while we were vacationing with Chris' parents in Oregon. As I've reflected so often on that day and the journey of Alexa Hope - I am flooded with so many emotions . . . sorrow, gratitude, humility, worship, awe, but perhaps most of all - hope. 

When the Lord decided He'd like to hold our first child before we did was a hard fact to face, but I was so thankful He decided to do this on Easter Sunday. For me, it was a beautiful reminder that although our hearts were grieving we could also hold on to the hope we would meet our little one someday because of the price Christ paid on the cross for us to be forgiven of our sins and spend eternity with Him. And that is reason for praise - whether we ever had another child or not.

As I wrote in my journal last April, "The words of the famous praise song kept running through my head that day, 'You give and take away. You give and take away. But my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your Name.' The Lord was so gracious to remind me of that even in the midst of accepting the very thing I dreaded. He is still in control, still acting in His Sovereign will, and still worthy of my total praise and affection - simply because of who He is. A good God - a faithful God - a God who is always desiring my holiness over my happiness (James 1:2-4) . . . He knew our baby. He knit together our little one (Psalm 139:13-16). He knew we wouldn't see our little one on this side of heaven and although that saddens my heart, I also have hope because someday we WILL see our little one (Lam. 3:21-24, Hebrews 6:19, 10:23, 13:5, Psalm 37:25)."

Of course, as I read these words now, my heart is flooded with even greater gratitude as I hold our precious "hope" fulfilled in my arms. Little did we know that a year after the loss of our 1st child, we would be holding our 2nd - a most precious and undeserved gift. It really is too much for me to take in (I suppose I'm still very hormonal), but I am so grateful for our little girl. As I hold her little hand in mine, I marvel at the miracle of Alexa Hope. Call me biased, but she is absolutely perfect, and I have to continue pinching myself to believe that all of this is real. Thank you Lord for being our Sovereign God who knows the perfect plans He has for us!

 Posing in front of the birth announcements at our church on Easter Sunday.

We also wanted to share some of the beautiful images my precious friend (who is also my boss - although she hates it when I call her that) captured the first two days of Alexa's life. Shannon, thank you so much for being willing to capture our lives as we welcomed Alexa Hope into our world. It truly was a privilege to have you share in that day with us. I highly recommend all of you check out Shannon's brilliant work at www.shannonho.com. She is an amazing artist who can capture so much more than a sheer image - she captures the moment. I'm so thankful to call her one of my dearest friends, and we will treasure these images for a lifetime!

Our little angel