29 on the 27th

Happy Birthday to me.

So great is His unfailing love

Lamentations 3:31-33 "For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion,so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."

Oh my heart hurts today. I cannot explain, or understand the waves of my grief. I can only sway back and forth with the pain and then also with the hope I often feel.

At times I am overwhelmed with emotions that I don't even have words to describe. I can only guess that I am feeling a new level of growth...but it doesn't feel like I'm growing, especially when there are days like today. I think some of it has to do with my birthday being this week. Turning 29 this coming Friday has had me thinking about what I've really been doing with myself. All of my life...not just now, but like...the greater meaning of it all.

I miss my baby. I got a letter in the mail from our insurance company. It was a letter congratulating me on being over half-way through my pregnancy. I ripped it up and wanted to barf all over it. But, instead I just threw it away -- I didn't even recycle it. I would have been able to feel him kicking and so would you, if you saw me and wanted to touch my belly--I would have let you feel him kicking. I wouldn't be avoiding the girl at work who keeps showing off pictures of her new grandbaby--and I'd be showing off Rowan's pictures too. I would have done a lot of things. But, I also wouldn't have done some other things.

I miss my baby. I miss the feeling of being full of life, and of knowing that only I could be called his momma. I miss the way my husband used to look at my belly and talk to our baby - when he was so small and had no way to hear him yet. I miss the way people didn't avoid talking to me so that they don't have to hear about my dead baby. I miss my baby. I miss my baby. I miss our baby.

Bleeeeeehhhhhhhh...

So here's my birthday toast to myself!! Here's to another year. A good year. A year of heartache, a year of sweet loving from my sweet husband, a year of learning and laughing, a year of becoming a momma and losing a child. And, here's to my 29th year, may God hold me closer than ever before.

Blue Jeans for Babies!!

I saw this today on another grieving momma's blog. I really like the way it captures how I'm feeling.

My grief is like a river,
I have to let it flow,
But I myself determine,
Just where the banks will go.

Some days the current takes me
In waves of guilt and pain
But there are always quiet pools
Where I can rest again.

I crash on rocks of anger
My faith seems faint indeed
But there are other swimmers
Who know just what I need

And loving hands to hold me
When the waters are too swift
And someone kind to listen
When I just seem to drift

Grief's river is a process
Of relinquishing the past
By swimming in Hope's channels
I'll reach the shore at last

~Cynthia G. Kelley~

Today marks 3 long months that Rowan has been gone. My heart breaks knowing in a few weeks he will be gone longer than he was here. I hate knowing that, and I super-hate that I'll go on being here without him.

My heart is an open sore, aching and unhealed. How long? How long Lord? May you receive Your glory through this hard time, and may You be found by many. My hope rests still in You Lord and I pray that You will give me a glimpse of Your purposes for Matt and me, and even our beloved Rowan.

Job 1:21(b) "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away: may the name of the LORD be praised."

you know what I mean

"How are you Amanda" she said, and then, looking deep into my eyes, "you do know what I'm talking about don't you?"

I wanted to slap her. Of course I know. I think every second of every day about my baby. I bolt awake in the night, nearly every night, thinking of his tiny body in my hands. Yes, I know what you are talking about. I know what you mean. Stop looking at me like that...

On an unrelated note:

I have been reading "The Shack" for the past few days, and it is taking a while because (1) it's sad, (2) it makes me think about how I see God & my relationship with Him and (3) it's really deep and it's forcing me to think about stuff I may not have been ready to deal with...since my 'great sadness' has begun.

On page 104 God speaks to the main character, Mack, and says this, "As much as you are able, rest in what trust you have in me, no matter how small, okay?" I'm pretty sure this is the same thing God has been saying to me over and over since Rowan died. The idea I'm picking up on as I read this book is that it's never about God forcing us, humans, to do anything...but always about the choices we make with what is put in front of us.

these words

I don't particularly care for this song, or at least the voice of the guy who sings it...but the words captivate me. For the last 3 days when I've gotten into the car to leave work, this song has been on the radio. K-Love 95.7! I think it must be something I need to hear from God.

In particular, this verse,
"God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand"

I do believe that God has been and continues to be so faithful to me and Matt. I know with all of my being that He has a plan and a future for us... One that we could not have imagined 2-3 years ago. Heck, one I cannot imagine or understand even now. But, my God is so good...and He has been so good to me. He continues daily to reveal Himself to me in simple, small ways...that are unmistakable. My prayer continues to be for the peace of God to swallow me up, so that when I am pulled down by life, by death, by the enemy....I know exactly where I am and who I am...and most of all...Who is FOR ME. Jesus. It all comes back to knowing He is all I need...and letting that be enough.

Mikes Chair, "Let the Waters Rise."
Don't know where to begin
Its like my world's caving in
And I try but I can't control my fear
Where do I go from here?

sometimes its so hard to pray
When You feel so far away
But I am willing to go
Where you want me to
God, I trust You



I will swim in the deep
'Cuz You'll be next to me
You're in the eye of the storm
And the calm of the sea
You'll never out of reach

God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand

There's a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

God Your love is enough
You will pull me through
I'm holding onto You
God Your love is enough
I will follow You
I will follow You

this way

I think I am depressed.
I have zero motivation.
I am as BIG as a house.
Sleep is all I seem to do well...
and that is only with the help of my friend, Ambien.

I work. I come home. I laugh. I eat.
I sleep. I tell Mattie, 'I love you.' (repeat)

I'm not suicidal or anything -- I am just really ambivalent.
Just stuck...in this mood...this gray, fog-like feeling.
Easily upset. Crying even.

I'm reading, I'm writing, I'm praying... What...

Life is full of ups and downs, right?
My hope is in Him, right?
My husband loves me no matter what, right?
It's not my fault, right?

So, why do I feel so burdened by the death of our baby?
Why do I feel so singularly responsible?
Why does it continue to ache so badly?
Why do other people's babies make me cringe?
Why...

"Why me" is what my heart screams. My head quickly tries to answer.
But seriously... why me?!

**Also, people who are pregnant should stop complaining about things that would make my heart leap to be troubled by... I mean really, maternity clothes are adorable and so are big bellies swollen with the promise of new life... Be thankful... ugh.

From "The Shack" - seriously...have you read this book...Ah-mah-zing!!

This is EXACTLY what I feel...EXACTLY!!

"The Great Sadness had draped itself around Mack's shoulders like some invisible but almost tangibly heavy quilt. The weight of its presence dulled his eyes and stooped his shoulders. Even his efforts to shake it off were exhausting, as if his arms were sewn into its bleak folds of despair and he had somehow become part of it. He ate, worked, loved, dreamed and played in this garment of heaviness, weighed down as if he were wearing a leaden bathrobe -- trudging daily through the murky despondence that sucked the color out of everything. At times he could feel The Great Sadness slowly tightening around his chest and heart like the crushing coils of a constrictor, squeezing liquid from his eyes until he thought there no longer remained a reservoir."

in honor of Rowan

daddy & momma miss you so dear one...