Over this last year, my daughter has grown
exponentially in her faith.
She experienced the manifest presence of God during
the loss of a child last summer. Her family surrounded her with love.
Girlfriends came with love, flowers, food, hugs, and encouragement. It was the
loveliest thing I’ve ever witnessed. She healed because of love.
Shortly afterwards she became pregnant again. The
miscarriage had been hard on her, physically and emotionally. The new pregnancy
began with her in a deep state of exhaustion. For months I saw her struggling
to keep up with everyday chores and two small children. Again, her girlfriends
reached out and helped.
At Thanksgiving my daughter wanted to give back some
of the love she had received. She invited a young woman and her two children to
spend the day with us since her husband was deployed, serving our country. What
a day of blessings. The house was filled with wonderful aromas and children
laughing.
As my daughter’s strength returned, she began
ministering to women whose husbands were deployed. She cooked and delivered
countless meals. Her house was often filled with extra children to give these
women a few sacred hours to get away. For one young mom, my daughter kept her
children every Monday for a couple of hours, and then had them stay for dinner
that night.
With each month, I witnessed my daughter getting
less fearful of another miscarriage and more excited and hopeful for a new
baby. But her energy level did not recover. It was evident. As the pregnancy
continued she slowed, but never stopped.
A month before her due date, her mother-in-law found
out she had breast cancer. Through my daughter and son-in-law’s insistence, his
mother and father came to them to seek surgery and care. While at their home
the father-in-law got pneumonia and was hospitalized. Dana worked through her
exhaustion and with the help of a sister-in-law
managed to offer a comfortable home and plenty of love during their
illnesses.
One morning my daughter got up and went to the
bathroom to brush her teeth. No water. After checking the other bathroom and
kitchen, she realized something was wrong. She contacted the water department
and within a couple of hours servicemen were at the door. A water line under
the house had burst. The side yard flooded. And my daughter had a house full of
company.
After a couple of hours, the serviceman knocked on
the front door. “Everything’s fine.”
My daughter stood at the door, two small children
hanging from either side of her, her belly bulging, and offered him thanks.
Before he turned to leave, he pointed at her belly,
and told her, “Good luck with the little one.”
Smiling my daughter offered her natural response,
“It’s all in God’s hands!”
His response startled her. “Oh . . . whatever that
means.”
More than anything, she watched his face sink and
shoulders lower as he walked back to his truck.
At this point, I get a call and hear the details of
the story.
“Mama, that really bothered me. He looked so sad.”
“You just planted a seed,” I said.
The lengthy pause begged an explanation. “You never know what someone is going through or
where their life has taken them. When you raised the Almighty’s name to him, he
reacted. We don’t know why, but you can pray you planted a seed that will plant
deeper. We never know about seeds and the ground they fall on. We’re just
supposed to plant.”
Planting seeds.
Assisting a mom who has lost a baby. Reaching out
with meals. Taking care of someone’s little ones to give them a break. Always
remembering to give God the glory. It’s all seed planting.
I wonder where you will go today to plant seeds of
faith.
God bless you!!!
Beautiful! Dana is a younger version of her mother! You've taught her well by your example! ❤
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