Different thoughts on different things

I am trying to get a little more consistent with my updates. Even posting once a week is a good come back after all the busyness ;0) Being on holiday makes it so much easier.

Since my last post, last week we had our 32 week scan and our sweet boy is doing so very well. Doc is very happy with how my body is holding Mr. Gabe. No signs of early labour ... thank you Jesus! This truly is just another testimony to an Almighty God! Both my girls came prematurely (35 weeks and 33 weeks), but Zac amazed our doctors by coming near the end of my 37th week, so we are believing the same for our Gabriel. With those facts at hand, and me having to have a cesarean, my doctor has booked the date for Gabe's birth on the 24th January. We are very excited! Just 5 weeks and 2 days to go till we meet this little cutie pie. Just look at that adorable little face! I am so in love with this little guy. He keeps us giggling with all his busy antics. He LOVES it when his daddy speaks to him. Dad always gets a big kick in his face when he talks to his boy ;0) (Cute for now only hey Mr. Gabe!). It has been such a joy for me to see Brett and the girls delighting in this little man. I love how my hubby has so enjoyed the pregnancy. As much as he cannot wait to meet and hold Gabriel, he is so enjoying feeling all his responses in my womb. I continue to stand amazed at how special God has blessed this pregnancy to be. He has restored so much in our hearts and continues to heal our aches and loss with each new day.  

I can hardly believe that this time next week we will all be celebrating Christmas. My heart has been so tender for all the family members negotiating their first Christmas without their sweet children. The horror of the news of such a senseless shooting in Connecticut weighs in on all our hearts right now. I have also met some precious moms and dad's this year who have lost babies and children over the last year and my heart aches for all the milestones that they are grieving over and negotiating. This time last year for us was so very painful. I have always LOVED Christmas, but having to face that first Christmas without one of your children is so very painful. Yet here we stand as a family, a year and 3 months later and can honestly encourage from a place of deep certainty that God is faithful to grace any family through the deepest of loss. No it is not an easy path. Yes the ache of missing always lingers ... but His grace provides the ability to negotiate each new day with an unveiling hope. Some days are harder than others, but Brett and I still look at each other stunned by what we have walked through as a family, realising that God has brought us through something that could have destroyed us and yet we still stand with hope and increasing joy in our hearts. We have a deep love and respect for each other and our children and we hold on tighter to each other as a family because of Zac's forever-impact on our lives. Keeping and growing an eternal perspective has brought us this far. We have learned to see the treasures even in loss. This is one of my prayers for any parent or family member negotiating Christmas with the weight of loss bearing down on them ... that they would feel the true comfort of the Living God who sees, understands and is able to hold them close through every tear they shed. He will walk the entire journey with you. Every single step for as long as it takes. I know this for certain, because not for one moment has He ever left us alone to negotiate our loss. There have been many moments when He has been silent, but even in His silence He has been present with an outpouring of grace and love. 

On a totally different note now ... I would like to congratulate my parents-in-grace for a legacy of 42 years of marriage. They are a beautiful example of what a wonderful marriage can look like! They are forever on an adventure of some sort ... always encouraging and helping other families through their ministry Family Transformation ... and I love that 42 years later they are still laughing and cuddling and reminding us why marriage is so special. Mom and dad ... we love you and are so blessed by your amazing example.

Until my next post ... have a terrific Tuesday and enjoy your precious family this week running up to Christmas. Even with some of us having family far away ... there are so many special ways to show how much we care and appreciate each other. (Missing you mom ... can't wait to see you in a few more weeks!). 

Sending you all lots of love. 

Janine xxx