Another Answered Prayer... #FaithToFertility

No one will ever know the joy that my husband and I feel when someone who we prayed for calls us to tell us they are PREGNANT! Honestly it feels like 11/11/15 all over again. It was on 11/11/15 that I found out we were with child. The joy we feel when a couple has endured what we went through.... you know the waiting game, the tests, the failed fertility treatments, seeing God answered the prayers of others and trying to be patient as we wait on Him to answer us.

I can't tell you exactly what we say to God concerning the people we pray for because that's an intimate conversation we have with Him based on our conversations with the couples, but what I can tell you is that our prayers are beyond specific and we pray for everything imaginable concerning the conception, the pregnancy and delivery of a healthy baby who is created to work in the kingdom of God.

Over the last few years it has been our honor to pray for couples who have been having difficulty expanding their families. In fact we were praying for couples while we were facing our own challenges. We are often reminded that if you pray for others to receive blessings God will turn around and bless you because of your selflessness. We also remember the times that it were too difficult to pray or when we felt like God wasn't hearing our faintest cry nor was he going to answer by and by. During those times we knew someone else had to have been praying for us.

So today I rejoice in the answered prayers of over 20 couples we have prayed for that have conceived and delivered or conceived and waiting on their blessed babies. One day we will all gather together with our blessings and proclaim that it was nobody but God.

I speak your name! I speak your names in prayer!!



Song: The Struggle is Over   Click Here

And On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

"And On Wednesdays We Wear Pink" is a famous line from the movie Mean Girls when they discuss what fashions they as a group wear during the week. Many people compliment or wait to see the fashion that Miss Braylen and I wear on Sundays to our worship experience or what outfit of the day (OOTD) she wears during the week. Some have even asked do I go out intentionally shopping to ensure that we have matching outfits. Braylen and I have both been blessed with a wardrobe that had similar clothing or colors where for the last 8 months we were able to coordinate our outfits to some degree on Sundays.

WHY????

No one will ever know what it takes for moms, especially new moms, to get to a place called Here every day. When I was overcoming Postpartum Depression my way of ensuring I "Got Up" and faced the world everyday was dressing Braylen and making her my human doll baby. However, I forgot about me. On Sundays I decided that we would dress alike and literally enter His courts with a HAPPY yet fashionable praise. (LOL) I would plan our outfits and take the time to look in my wardrobe to see if I had something similar. Surprisingly, we've gone through 32 Sundays dressing alike. I even started looking through Jarrett's ties to ensure he was coordinated as well. This entire process involved me ensuring our clothes were laid out and packed on Thursday nights so that we had no excuses for being late on our hour and 1/2 commute to Hemingway. This also ensured that I enjoyed doing something for me. Even when I was on maternity leave I felt like I had something to do besides change diapers, nurse or pump every 2 hours. I began feeling better about myself and coming out of this PPD.

Though I've kicked PPD's butt, this habit has literally become a part of my weekly routine that I enjoy and probably will continue until our wardrobes run out of matching outfits. I started a routine where I also lay out our clothes for the week, make baby food for the week and ensure I'm okay during the week.

So why this blog? There are many women trying to fight PPD and are looking for a way to get to their HAPPY place. No matter what anyone says or the unsolicited advice people give, I want to encourage moms to do what it takes to stay at a happy place. Whether that means dressing like your little one or if that means dinner for one and enjoying your favorite expensive chocolate and a glass of wine in your favorite glass that you've been holding on to for that perfect moment. You don't owe anyone any explanations for why you do what you do! When fighting PPD it's perfectly normally to fall but you have to remember you won't always stay there. So find your way of "Getting Up" and find your way through your own routine that works for you.

Over the last few months I've encountered moms who were on this journey with me that have battled and beat PPD. Those of us who were on this journey from faith to fertility often didn't understand why we felt this way but this is another hurdle we overcame!!

If you are reading this blog and know a first time mom please hug them, tell them they are doing an amazing job and offer to just be there for what they need you to do. Don't tell them what they should be doing but just be there for them.

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE!

"It's taken you awhile to get to this place called HERE so don't let anyone take you THERE!"-- Deronda C. Washington


Song: So Happy Being Me