Exposing the Hurt of Miscarriage

Today we are shedding light on the pain of miscarriage for the Out of the Dark, Into the Light series. If you’ve never miscarried, this will give you insight into the darkness of that pain; if you have, Kelly wraps her arms around you and says you are not alone in your pain. Please welcome my friend, Kelly, from Exceptionalistic, to the blog for today’s guest post.

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Into the LightIt hurt like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

Like a dagger through my heart. The possibility that my sweet baby was gone was enormously unbearable.

Yet it was true.

But we’d heard the heartbeat. I’d felt the changes in my body telling me that I was indeed pregnant! It was real.

It was so real!

I remember feeling a twinge of guilt about grieving because so many people had been through this much further along than 14 weeks.

Some have had to have a D&C. Several have miscarried in a later term and had to birth their baby. Many have delivered stillborn babies. Others have delivered seemingly healthy babies only to have them pass shortly after. Even more are still trying to have their first child.

Boy, oh boy, the guilt. The guilt of feeling like what I went through wasn’t worthy of grieving. It’s not like I’d ever seen my child either in person or even in an ultrasound.

But the heartbeat…

That tiny, beautiful, strong heartbeat was enough to tell me that I had indeed lost something. That something was so very precious to me that I’d give almost anything to have her back.

That heartbeat is what gave me permission to grieve.

It is still difficult to explain the feelings. Trying to explain the grief I feel for a child I’ve never met is like trying to explain what heaven looks like. I’ve never been there but I know it exists.

I have nothing other than the pregnancy tests (all of them), hospital bills, and memories proving to me that my child did indeed exist.

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Infertility after already having a child to me was devastating. I’d already known what it was like to go through a pregnancy. I had felt the kicking, experienced the heartburn, earned the stretch marks, and kissed that beautiful, wide-eyed, precious new face.

I know what I lost. I know it was real. I fell in love with those sweethearts as soon as the two lines appeared on the stick.

The love of a parent is undying and unwavering no matter the circumstances.

If you are grieving the loss of a child, please know that it’s perfectly fine to do so. Don’t minimize what you have gone through the way I did.

Comparing your miscarriage experience to that of another is exactly like comparing apples and oranges. There may be a few similarities but yours will be unique to you and your situation.

Prayer:
Lord, I pray a hedge of protection over any mom that is grieving the loss of her child.  We know according to Matthew 18:14 that it is not Your will that our babies perish.  We pray that You take care of each and every child until the time comes that we can be with them.

**If you need some extra support or someone to listen feel free to contact me at Kelly(at)exceptionalistic(dot)com.

A little, okay a lot about me.  My name is Kelly, I’m a Christian, wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, employee, friend, blogger, wanna-be professional photographer & teacher by trade.  Reading that all written down seems like way, way too many hats to wear but I love them all!

I’m married to my best friend and absolutely love being a mom.  A few of my favorite things are photography, traveling, baking, reading and blogging.
I hope you’ll hop over to my place and stick around for a while.  You’ll get to know what makes me tick over at Exceptionalistic.

Exposing the Root of Jealousy

Please welcome my new friend, Dana Butler, to kick off our series Out of the Dark, Into the Light.

Into the Light

It happened all the time, almost daily.  At the mall, the grocery store, the zoo.  It was second nature, like breathing.

It was jealousy.  But I never would have called it that.  It wasn’t outright or obvious or boiling inside me.  It was much deeper, further beneath the surface.

The trigger?  Other moms who had more kids than I had.  Which, by the way, weren’t hard to spot, since I only have one.

Fertility has been a struggle for me.  I’ve had miscarriages.  A tubal pregnancy.  We even lost the 2 girls we parented when we tried to foster-to-adopt.  And our current private adoption-in-process?  We’ve been on this road for over a year.  No movement yet.

Lately God has asked me to allow my dreams of having a large family to die.  I’m learning to step back and take a look at the bigger picture of what God might want to do in my life.

And, how His plan for my family and my future might look utterly different than mine.

I’m beginning to be okay with my story not turning out the way I thought it would.  Opening my clenched fists, letting go of my dreams and ambitions.

And God is yet again proving Himself completely trustworthy with my heart and my desires.

An interesting thing has happened inside me in this season:  I’ve noticed a massive shift in my heart-attitude toward other mothers.  As I’ve stopped grasping for what I don’t have (more children), I’ve begun to find in myself a profound appreciation and honor for those who do have what I’ve longed for.

The mom at the zoo with two kids under 5 and a baby strapped to her front.  The mom at the mall with the triplet stroller.  The precious moms in my own church family with 4, 5, 6 kids in tow.

These sweet ladies and others like them formerly provoked me to frustration, insecurity, even a bit of self-pity.  I masked it well.  I often hid it even from myself.  But jealousy was there, lurking under the surface.

When I did allow myself to see it, I hated it.  Hated that it had taken up residence in my heart.  I knew that somehow I had allowed it.  I prayed, told the Lord I was sorry, asked Him to take the ugliness out of my heart.

But nothing changed.

Nothing, that is, until I learned to trust and embrace God’s plan for my life and my future.  Even when I couldn’t understand His ways. 

And now?  Those ladies who would formerly have (completely unbeknownst to them) provoked me to jealousy?  They’re my heroes.  I deeply admire them.  I see how they continually bust their bottoms to serve their children, how they lay their lives down for their families, day after day.  Night after sleepless night.

exposing the root of jealousy

And all I can say is, “Mama-friend, you are da bomb.”  I’m just in awe.

But you can’t encourage someone if you’re comparing your life to theirs.  You can’t uplift someone if you envy them.

Jealousy poisons the heart.

And the interesting thing is, you can’t just attack the jealousy itself and make it go away.  You have to look at the root issue.

The root of jealousy?  It’s a lack of trust in God’s wisdom, His heart toward us, His plan for our lives. 

We must let go of fearfully grasping for what we don’t have or wishing our lives looked different.  We must embrace contentment, and dive wholeheartedly into the life that He’s put right in front of us

And when we do?  We can expect Divine encounter around every turn. 

Because God lives in the now of our lives.  The present is where He waits to reveal Himself to us.  The present is where He offers grace, joy, strength for every. single. moment.  We miss Him when we try to live anywhere else but in the life He’s put before us. 

And we end up discontent.  And jealous of others whose lives (from the outside) look more appealing than our own.

Friend, God is inviting us into deeper trust.  Faith that His plan and purpose for our lives are perfectly designed for us.  That His heart toward us is extravagant.  That He really is committed to our ultimate fulfillment.  That His grand scheme for our futures is to bring our hearts to LIFE.

Wild joy.  Crazy freedom.  Radical contentment.  Utter fulfillment.

As we fully trust God’s heart toward us and embrace the life He’s put in front of us, jealousy will begin to fade away.  You’ll wake up one of these mornings and realize: it’s gone.

Leaving jealousy in the dust and diving into abundance with you today.

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By Dana Butler: husband to Stan, mom to Isaac, regular blogger, drinker of iced coffee.  Running around like an excited-beyond-words chicken with its head cut off… because after writing this post, the news came: Baby girl, due mid-June.  Birth mom chose…. US!   

Dana invites you to connect with her on her Facebook page, and at her blog, Moments and Invitations, where you can pick up her free e-book, Stillness Manifesto: A Call to NON-Action (Complete with Non-Instructions).  At her blog, Dana continues to chronicle her family’s adoption journey and provoke others to a deepened response to God’s moment-by-moment pursuit.

A new series and some info

I am excited to announce that I will be starting a new series on Monday called “Out of the Dark, Into the Light.” Most of the posts will be from guest bloggers who can shed light on different areas they have struggled with. Hopefully this series will be able to reach into many of your [...]

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Cray Cray at the YMCA

me not at the YMCA

Last year I was in denial, but this year I cannot deny it – I needed some new clothes. I had gained 10 pounds in a fast hurry last year, and this year, I’d gained another 10 pounds. I cleaned out my shorts last summer, so I was unmistakably low on summer weather clothing. It [...]

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How to Wrestle with God and Win

How to Wrestle with God

I’ve gotta level with you, friends. There is a circumstance in my life that has caused me intense wrestling for many years. A couple of weeks ago our pastor spoke on Hannah and how she finally laid her desire for a child down and gave it to God, and when she did, she went away [...]

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Random Nerdy Post

Today is the day before the last day of school. Party day at our school. Yesterday I stayed up and made cookies in the shape of cupcakes. I worked the dough over and over again before they were ready to be cut. I wanted to write about it, but really I just enjoyed what I [...]

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“May”king Rest and Quality Time a Priority

mayking rest and quality time a priority

I am honored because today, Cammie Sancheti, of Shepherding My Child, has asked me to do a guest post for her “May”keover Month. Have I mentioned that school sometimes drives me crazy? Well, we are coming to the end of the school year, but one thing that really bothered me earlier this year was feeling [...]

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Preparing for Summer and a Giveaway!

For about a month now, I have been preparing for the day that school ends and summer break officially begins. What I am doing to get ready for summer: 1. Pinterest “I’m bored jar” project. I made a list of age appropriate chores and fun activities, and wrote them on extra-large colored craft sticks. I [...]

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The Heart of a Mother: For Mother’s Day

the heart of a mother

“I hate you,” she said, her 7-year-old self going to the bus, hoping to give me one last dig before she left for the day, certain that I had ruined hers, she was bound and determined to ruin mine. As usual, my husband and I, me still in my pj’s, stand at the door, and [...]

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Summer Book Reading: Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

So – I really hope to write when led. That might mean I write to a schedule and it might mean that I do not. Just a heads up – my kids are taking evening swim lessons, and unless I write during the day, I probably won’t do it at night. This is week is [...]

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