Great is Thy Faithfulness

O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Photo by Bethany Blair Photography

I've always loved the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness". It reminds me of my little hometown church back in Tumbling Shoals, AR (oh, yes - it is a real place, folks!) It reminds me of my daddy's voice echoing from the pulpit as he led singing each Sunday in that church. But throughout the 15 weeks of this pregnancy, this sweet and nostalgic church song has taken on so much more meaning and symbolism.

Yesterday we received amazing news that our little one is healthy. After waiting for a couple of weeks for the results of some major tests, our anxiety was put to rest: Baby S is healthy, strong and thriving. As I listened to my OB's nurse, (who has become such a source of strength and encouragement for us throughout the past two weeks), I felt like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. I felt God's presence so powerfully in our little kitchen as I stood there yesterday, clutching the tear-drenched phone, thanking Him for the words our nurse spoke into the phone: "...your baby is perfectly healthy! The results couldn't have been better, Leslie. You and Stephen can sleep easy tonight. Your child is fine."

I won't dive into many of the specifics on here, but at 12 weeks, we received some startling information following an ultrasound and were referred to a high-risk OB for further "analysis". Now as a parent, you never want to hear the words "your baby" and "further testing" in the same sentence. But, this doctor to which we were referred has been our angel. Immediately after our consultation and higher-level ultrasound, his tone was much more optimistic. You could just tell he was a doctor that had seen "that look" in many a set of worried parents' eyes...and he wanted to help. We left that appointment with a lot more positivity than before. Things just felt different. However, we still had to wait for the final word in all things medical: the test results, which would take anywhere from 8-14 days to finalize.

And this 8-14 days was the most stress-inducing of our lives as a young couple. Despite the frenzy, the breakdowns, (including one in the produce aisle of a Walmart Neighborhood Market after I saw a mother pushing her infant in a stroller), the nervous jolts every time the phone rang between 8:00 and 5:30, the Lord kept his ever-steady hand on us. Every day we were shown grace and support from complete strangers- and in ways I'd never imagined. I had two women in two different department stores stop me to say, "I read your blog and my family and I are praying for you." We received a beautiful hand-made prayer shawl from Sarah and her amazing congregation in Massachusetts. We received words of encouragement each day from co-workers and supervisors. We saw God show Himself in the smallest details. And friends, it was such a beautiful thing.

As awful as these two weeks have been, I am so grateful for this experience. I really don't know if we would have appreciated, truly appreciated, this pregnancy as much as we do now. Yes, we were very thankful before, but this has given us an entirely different perspective. And, it has brought us even closer together as a married couple.

As we go through our lives, I pray that we are constantly reminded of this experience and the ways in which it has enriched our faith. I pray that we never forget that, although we live in a broken world, it is filled with incredible, generous people. And I pray that, above all, Stephen and me can share our testimony of His grace and mercy.

Great is our faithfulness.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24: 15

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P.S. - Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayer. We are humbled and so, so grateful, friends.