Friends and Family

When faced with a difficult situation in life, it is sometimes easy to feel alone and not really know who to turn to. Sometimes even if you do know who to turn to, it's hard to ask for help or support. And sometimes, when you have wonderful friends and family, you don't have to ask at all. As things continue to look up for us, I can take a tiny step back and look around to see how many friends and even friends of friends, are there to give support without us really even asking for it. We have received e-mails, comments on Facebook, comments on this blog, etc. from people very close to us, people we haven't seen for years and even some from people who only know one of our friends or family members telling us that they are praying for us. Emma has been put on prayer chains in a few different churches. I saw today that my friend, Sayward, has even put a post on her blog introducing Emma and asking for prayers for her! I can't really express how much that means to me! When all this began to happen, I was mad. I didn't understand why it was happening to us. I struggled to be faithful, but my aunt, who is a minister, told me that it was okay to be mad and it was ok not to understand, but that I should pray for strength. I decided to follow her advice. As I prayed for strength, I began to look at our situation in a different way and instead of asking God why, I was able to ask the doctors difficult questions that would help me to accept and understand the hand that we'd been dealt. The more questions I asked the more fear I had for my little girl and what was in her future. Then Jeremy went to church last Sunday and the priest gave a sermon about fear. I asked him to explain the sermon and knew there was some relevance to us. I just couldn't quite figure it out. When I asked my mom what she thought, she said that it was okay to be scared. God would be with me and carry us through this time, I just had to ask. So I did. The next day I woke with another new perspective on our situation and although I was still scared, I knew we would make it through this. As I continue to pray for strength and support when I'm scared or feel weak, I look in every direction and I find a circle of love, prayers and support surrounding us. I know my prayers have been answered. No matter which road we end up on with Emma, I know we'll have the strength and support to keep going. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I look forward to being able to tell Emma how many people cared enough to say a prayer, or many prayers, for her.