Two Grandmothers, A Blankie and a Quilt

It is one week until we get to meet our second granddaughter, Dasah Brielle Dennis.  By November 11th, all our family, including my sweet Daddy and his wife Nancy, and Kevin's parents, Kathy and Jim Dennis, will be gathered to await the birth of this precious little one, scheduled to arrive via C- Section,  the morning of Nov. 13th.  In the meantime, I have been doing what my mother did for all of my children, before they were born.  I make a blankie.  I can remember mom embroidering such whimsical designs on little flannel blankies. (Sadly, my embroidery skills don't even come close to how intricate and perfect my mother's stitches were!) I made one for Sophie and I had to make one for Dasah. We held Sophie in that blankie and we said goodbye to her wrapped up in it.  She was also laid to rest in it. Then, Lindsey asked me to make another one just like it, and so I made Sophie blankie #2.  It was with a bittersweet memory that  I made my blankie for Dasah.   As I cut, sewed and stitched, I pictured her all wrapped up in this expression of my love. There must be a prayer for every stitch on this blankie, and a thousand more thoughts of love, and a some tears as well.

On each corner is an embroidered flower, a symbol of the myrtle tree blossom, which is bitter to the taste but has a "sweet aroma." Dasah's name comes from the Hebrew name, Hadassah or Esther,  and is from the root word that means myrtle tree.    Written on each side of this little blankie are special words. One side does say, "Sweet Aroma."  For we truly pray that Dasah's story is one that leaves the fragrance of Christ as Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 2:14," But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place."  I am praying that the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Jesus goes all over the world, because of  Dasah's life.

 

  In another corner of the blankie is the phrase, "God is our Might."  Dasah's middle name, Brielle,  holds this meaning.   And truly we are seeing that God is the Mighty One who goes before us, and with us, and surrounds Kevin and Lindsey and our families with all the power of 10,000 angel armies. In these coming days and the day of her arrival, the morning of November 13th ( Unless of course she decides to come earlier! ) we are praying for His Mighty presence to surround us.
We have a God who is on our side and who is with us in this unfolding story.  Dasah has proven to be a strong little girl.  She kicks up a storm, and moves about in Lindsey's womb, bolding declaring her presence! As Lindsey and Kevin have been able to see her movement during their ultra sounds, they also notice how she is practicing her breathing and swallowing.  We know God is giving her that strength and ability. 

On another side of the blankie is the Scripture from Esther 4:14 "...for such a time as this."  This Scripture reflects the essence of the Biblical story of Esther as God placed her in history, in order to save the Jewish nation of her time.  We believe Dasah has been carried in Lindsey's womb these past months for a particular plan and purpose that our God knows all about.  We believe her life, and the time God gives her to us after she is born, will also be for a special purpose.  And that is why on another side of the blankie it says, "Glory and Hope."  We are praying Dasah's life will give great glory to God.  We are praying others find hope in this story of cherishing life and celebrating the gifts God gives us in a way that honors His name. Kevin recently wrote a deep and rich blog entry in Lindsey's blog, www.vaporandmist.wordpress.com  on hope.  Going there will draw your heart to theirs as they reflect so honestly, how this journey has taken them to deep and rich places where Jesus has met them and given them a new understanding of where our true hope should rest.
                                                                                                                                            
                                                                    The Blankie

                                                             
                                                               Two Grandmothers

Making this blankie was bittersweet.  I stitched with love and an aching heart.  I have pleaded with the Lord to bring healing to our Dasah, yet with a submission to His divine plans.  Just as Kevin and Lindsey sometimes express they are daunted by the realities ahead, knowing they went down this same journey with Sophie, I share this anticipation too. Kathy Dennis,  Kevin's mother, and I have talked frequently, and share this bond as only two grandmothers's on a second difficult journey together can.   Several months ago we were talking and she expressed the desire to make a quilt for Dasah.( She had made a beautiful one for Sophie, full of squares created by family and close friends. It was truly spectacular!)  I am so glad she followed the Lord's sweet promptings to create one for Dasah.    It is just as beautiful and such an heirloom. There are squares with expressions of love from friends and family all over the world.  

                                                                         The Quilt

Kathy with Kevin, as she presented the quilt and skyped with Lindsey as Kevin was recently in Colorado, and able to see his parents while there for meetings.

                                                The Quilt - a treasure of love from friends
                                                          near and far, honoring Dasah
                                                            Created by Kathy Dennis

This is what a grandmother does.  We try to create something from our heart, for the moment, for the ones we love. For Kathy and I it was "a blankie and a quilt."  I think we both can say that out of the sorrows of our hearts, God has done something beautiful as we allowed Him to lead us and use us for His own creative plans. I think the "blankie and the quilt" are just the seeds of the beauty God plans to be seen from Dasah's story in our own lives as grandmothers. Even though Kathy lives in Colorado, our hearts became knitted together after spending several weeks in Orlando waiting for Sophie.   I am so thankful for her friendship and sharing in this journey together.
 
And so, we will meet again in Orlando next week, holding on to hope for Dasah's healing, yet whatever our great God gives, we will love our little granddaughter Dasah with expressions of love that are all bottled up inside each of our hearts just waiting to come out when we see her and hold her in our arms.

These are prayers Kevin and Lindsey have requested, should you be led to pray specifically.

1.  God would use Dasah's life and Kevin and Lindsey's and their families lives, for His glory

2.  Full healing of Dasah's whole body (brain, skull and every part) on this earth

3.  If God's plan is not to heal Dasah on this earth, that He would enable us to bring Dasah home from
     hospital alive . ( Yes, this has happened in some cases and oh how it would be such a gift from 
     the Lord.)

4.  God would give us an ever increasing faith in Him

5.  God would give us the hope and joy that are found in Jesus

6.  Lindsey's body would remain healthy and for the c section details - The Great Physician's hand to
     guide the doctors, and attending nurses.

7.  For us as a couple to continue to love and serve one another supernaturally well, in the midst of
     varying emotions and heaviness of heart


Your prayers mean the world to our families.  Thank you with all this mother's and grandmother's heart can express.    

 

This song was recently shared with me.  It is called, "Plead for Me."  It set my heart to believe that even though I don't know how to pray, my Savior pleads for me and all that encompasses my life. 

The song "Plead for Me"

A Prayer Shower and Being Brave

When we first learned that Lindsey and Kevin's baby Dasah, had a condition similar to Sophie's,
we were all stunned of course. That was in May. And Dasah is due mid November. It has been a different journey.  We continue in the celebration mode for our Dasah, but in new ways.  One of the things Lindsey mentioned she would love to have happen early in her pregnancy, was a Prayer Shower. I tucked that idea away, and thought about it quite often. I wasn't sure what that looked like, but I knew that I had to have one for Lindsey, Kevin and Dasah. Now, you have probably already seen Facebook posts, and Lindsey's blog www.vaporandmist.wordpress.com  that show pictures of the Prayer Shower.  So the purpose of this blog post is to give anyone searching the "blogosphere" like I did,  for "prayer shower, " some ideas!

What is a Prayer Shower?  A prayer shower is a time to honor someone by coming along side as they journey through any chapter of their life, that needs prayer.  The theme of our prayer shower was, "His Banner over Lindsey, Dasah and Kevin is Love."  This is a Scripture passage taken from Song of Solomon 2:4.  So the invitations included a pennant banner piece that guests could write a Scripture passage, a prayer, or a thought for Lindsey and Kevin and Dasah, and bring to the shower, or send back if they couldn't come.  The pennants were then hung to create the "banner of love."  We had a cute plate with the words "Pin Your Prayers" written on it, and a bowl of little clothes pins to hang the pennants as friends arrived. 

The invitation with a pennant enclosed

As guests arrived, we hung the pennants to create the banner!

 

 

I made a larger banner to carry out theme: His Banner Over Lindsey, Dasah and Kevin is Love.

 

Yummy sugar cookies in the shape of flowers, because Dasah's name comes from the myrtle tree, which produces a sweet smelling flower!

 

A make your own Italian soda station and lovely infused water!

I really enjoyed the Italian sodas!

 

Lindsey, Kevin and Dasah...the honored guests!

 

 

Oh so yummy raspberry cake! 

 

A few colorful flowers, and candles of course!

 

 

So after friends mingled and talked with Kevin and Lindsey, we had a very special time of worship and prayer.   Our worship leader, Carl Johnson, came with his guitar, and his sweet wife Amy also led, as we sang praise songs, and spent about 45 minutes praying for Lindsey and Kevin and Dasah.  I passed out Scripture passages on cards, for anyone to just read out loud, and I also had a short list of specific things we could pray for Lindsey and Kevin and Dasah.

 

Please use this list too, to pray for Lindsey, Kevin and Dasah!

 

As I was thinking about having this prayer shower, I felt fearful and unsure.  Would anyone come? Would they step into our story?  Would they come to pray? I moved forward in faith and two very special friends, Lin and Nancy began helping me plan and create what became a very wonderful and memorable evening. 

 

The Being Brave Part

 

How do you come along side someone who is in the midst of a very hard journey?  Not only a hard journey, but come along side a second time within a year. I think it takes being brave.  Lindsey and Kevin, Mike and I, and our family have some brave friends.   These friends enter into our lives, even though they don't know what to say, or what to do.  They come along side as they send a card or a note.  They come along side when they come to a Prayer Shower, even when they aren't quite sure what that looks like!  They come along side quietly with their prayers.  They come along side just to hang out, or suggest going to a movie, or out to dinner. 

In the middle, my sweet partners in planning and yummy treat making: Lin Newman and Nancy Ludwick

 The brave men!

 

Our family and I know Kevin and Lindsey as well, are so touched and encouraged by those who have stepped into our journey.  We realize how hard it is to know what to say, because we can't even understand this story.  We know others may have questions and thoughts and wonder what celebrating another babies life with another fatal diagnosis really means. It is uncomfortable territory to navigate not only once, but twice.  I have a friend, my roommate from college, and she expressed her fear about sending a card or a gift or a link to a song or a message,  but I told her she is listening to the Holy Spirit when she is prompted to send these sweet encouragements, because they always come at the right time and minister to my heart.  She is learning and I am learning from her, that fear hinders the Holy Spirit from using us to bless others. 

 

I recently came across the following thoughts by Ann Voskamp.  She writes about being brave.

 

"Lord, nobody knows how hard we're trying to be brave, to show up when its easier to give up, to go do hard and holy things when it'd be easier to go do happy things, to not quit when we don't know how to keep going on.

And you lean close and breathe warm courage into our exhausted places.  "Just call to me. I guarantee I will answer you.  I will make you strong and brave." ( Psalm 138:3)

Be brave.  Hold on to your Light to hold back the flood of dark.

Be brave.  Your bravery wins a thousand battles you can't see because your bravery strengthens a thousand others to win their battles too.

Be brave, and do not pray for the hard to go away. But pray for a bravery "bigger than the hard to come."

Be brave.  There are angels closer than you know.  And all the Brave and Courageous and the Never-Give-Uppers who cling to the Bravest One who loved us to death and saved us back to the realist and forever life...we all believed angels were close, said amen."

 

The bravest ones I know right now are my daughter Lindsey and her wonderful husband, Kevin.

But I am thankful for their brave friends and our brave friends who have stepped into our story with love, and however the Lord leads them just to be there during these days when we truly are upheld by their strong support and prayers.

 

 

 The reason for Lindsey and Kevin's visit was to speak to the Cedarville University student body at their Chapel service Sept. 11th.  You can listen to her message on, "Surrender and the Sanctity of Life," by going to the link below.

Her message was received with tears and a wonderful ovation, and many students waiting in line to talk. 

 

 

 

http://vaporandmist.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/valuing-the-sanctity-of-life/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Celebrating Sophie - A Glorious Unfolding

It's hard to believe that a year ago today, we welcomed our sweet Sophie into our world, held her, had birthday cake, and then, let her go to be with Jesus.  When I think back on our days of "waiting for Sophie," (we were in Orlando for 3 weeks as a family) I think of how the Lord showed us His greatness, His love, and many holy moments.  She was the sweetest gift to us as she taught us that life truly is a celebration because God is the creator of all life, and He wants us to cherish and treasure the life He gives even if it is short and we don't know the answer to all our "why" questions. 
I told my adult children, Luke, Dan and Laurie and Nick, that the Lord brought out the best in them each day in those 3 weeks, and the 28 hours of labor at the very end of those 3 weeks.  The boys brought Starbucks to the hospital for us, and gave the nurses doughnuts. Uncle Luke and Uncle Dan helped Nick care for Isaac and Jordan as Laurie and I were in the labor room for those 28 hours!!  And they were so in tune to the right time to come back to the hospital when it was determined that Lindsey would finally have a C-section.   Laurie helped Lindsey labor and coordinated photographers, church friends, and so many events that happened on the eve of Sept 1.

I will never forget how Kevin supported Lindsey as she labored and how Lindsey took each phase with grace and strength.  I will never forget how each nurse that came along for her shift told Lindsey and Kevin what a privledge  it was to serve them and how the Lord had hand picked each nurse for just what Lindsey needed at that phase of labor.

A  special nurse who was praying for us as we got to see Sophie for the first time! 

 

And I will always be thankful for Jennafer and Brady White who served our family in so many ways and loves Sophie just as much as we do!  I will never forget the waiting room, filled with Lindsey and Kevin's friends, gathered together, praying, quietly anticipating, supporting us as a family just by their presence.
 I will never forget best friends Julie and Jesse being in the labor room with us, supporting and loving their friend through so many hours.  I will never forget hearing about the many other friends who prayer walked the hospital on the first floor foyer, vigilant and dedicated in those late hours of the night and wee hours of the morning. And there were countless others praying all over the world, and our own friends in Lebanon, Ohio following all our days in Orlando, "waiting for Sophie."  I will never forget seeing our Sophie for the first time, so alive and pink and chubby.  And I will never forget her in my arms, oh so briefly, because so many were there to hold her.  My first granddaughter...I called her my little princess.  We prayed for time with her, and the Lord gave 10 precious hours.  And one day we will see her in all her healed glory and she will show us "the ropes" of heaven because she has known the joy of being in our Saviour's presence.  I hope she will take her Nini (me) by the hand and show me the special pleasures she has known. 

And so a year has passed.  I have thought of Sophie every day and with each first day of the month I would get a bouquet of colorful flowers.  She was a party girl from the beginning of the days we celebrated her in her mommy's womb and "colorful" is what me made each celebration!  And we are having a little party today, watching videos of her birth and Celebration service.  And we will launch a big balloon tonight in honor of her first birthday in heaven.

Sophie's story is still a glorious unfolding of God's purposes and plans. But I have to admit, my heart misses her deeply.   She has taught me to lay up treasures in heaven...because that is where she is, in whole and restored glory, not as an angel baby, but as a real little person God created!

Here are some special memories of "Waiting for and Celebrating Sophie!"

Waiting for Sophie at Celebration Hospital Aug. 31, 2013

 

 

Prayer in the waiting room

Prayer at midnight just outside the hospital front doors

The Prayer Team in the hospital lobby...praying Scripture and powerful prayers that gave us strength and grace and joy!

 

 

 

 Waiting Room moments

 

 

Meeting Sophie! September 1st in the wee hours!

Nini and Sophie...love!

 

 Papa and Nini

 

 Aunt Laurie

 

Uncle Nick

 

Uncle Dan

 

 Aunt Laurie and Uncle Luke

 

A sweet moment with my daughter and my first granddaughter

My sweet girls

 

The friends who helped us Celebrate Sophie in those wee hours of September 1, 2013

 

Celebrating Sophie's arrival with an amazing cake!

 

 Lindsey and Kevin with their sweet Sophie

 

 

 

Her little hand's grip on Kevin's finger and

her sweet footprint, not too small to make an impact on the world! And she surely did and continues to touch us all with her brief but amazing life.  Like my son Luke said, though she never spoke a word, she did have a voice!

 

Sophie's story is still unfolding...it is one we cherish and it is one where we truly were able to get a glimpse of our great God and Father.   We give Him the glory.

 

 

 Stephen Curtis Chapman's title song "The Glorious Unfolding." 

It gives courage and hope!