Last week, I started a new Write the Word journal called, “The Garden: Nourish Your Soul” by, Cultivate What Matters. On the second day, the passage was Genesis 2:8-9 which says,
“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
- Genesis 2:8-9 ESV
These verses reminded me of my sweet baby, Eden Grace, whom I miscarried back in 2013. I can’t believe it’s already been 7 years. In honor of my precious little one, I would like to share Eden’s story with you. I wrote this story several years ago, but I hope it brings you encouragement and glorifies God who is always with us.
On February 27th, 2013, the week after Feminar, our local women's conference in East Texas, I had a miscarriage.
The Lord was gracious to me. At Feminar, He gave me a word of encouragement, which strengthened me throughout this hard time. During Feminar and even on the day that I lost our baby, the Lord asked me over and over again, "Do you trust me?" I'm thankful, I was able to put my trust in the Lord and to see Him take care of me on one of our darkest days. To our delight, exactly 10 months after my miscarriage, we welcomed our second daughter Sophie Joye into the world!!
She’s truly my rainbow baby!!
For years after my miscarriage, I felt like we should name the baby, we lost. In 2015, we finally settled on a name for our sweet baby, Eden Grace. Eden means place of pleasure or delight and Grace means grace. I love this name, because it reminds me even though we never got to meet our baby on Earth, he/she is waiting for us in Heaven! I can’t wait for the day that we can be reunited with our sweet Eden Grace.
In February 2017, I experienced a time of sorrow and really missing our baby, Eden Grace. As always, Feminar rolled around, right when I was missing Eden Grace the most!! To my surprise, on Friday evening, the Lord used Kasey Van Norman to speak right to my heart. It was amazing and only a God-thing when Kasey started talking about the Garden of EDEN and how God put eternity in man's hearts from Ecclesiastes 3:11. Then, Kasey said that our mission in life is to get back to paradise and that Eden is written into our hearts. I couldn't believe what I was hearing!!
Let me try to put the pieces together for you. I miscarried a baby that we named, Eden Grace. Now when I was missing my baby most, God was using the speaker at Feminar to remind me that God has given me Eden, not to make me sad. However, He gave us this baby so that our hearts will always long to be in Heaven with God and our baby!! God has literally put Eden in our hearts!!
WOW!!
I'm so thankful that the Lord met me in the middle of my time of sorrow and gave me a word of hope that will encourage me for many years to come!! God is in the business of taking our sorrow and transforming it into joy!! For my birthday in 2017, Jon got me this beautiful necklace as a way to always remember our sweet baby. I'm so thankful for this necklace it will always remind me of how God has used Eden Grace to teach me about His great love for me.
Praying for all of you who have lost a baby, may God wrap His arms around you and meet you in your sorrow.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV
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