18 Weeks! Baby Hentges #2

So today I am 18 weeks with Baby #2! I was struggling with my sin of worry over this little one last week and the Lord has been teaching me SO much about that... I am learning of the power of prayer and the peace of God that results from us laying our burdens before him instead of running around in circles, carrying them ourselves! How foolish we must look when we do that... and as a mother I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for God to watch us do that when he wants us to lay them down before him so we don't have to carry them!! So after laying my burden down over the state of this child inside me... I have felt baby move every day since 17.5 weeks! Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and his grace when we don't deserve it! Andy even had the blessing of being able to feel baby move from the outside last night and that was just such a special moment for the both of us!!!

Philippians 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The verse that I have been clinging to this week as a result of my husband calling me to look at was is true and keeping me accountable to this verse! So thankful for Andy & his faithfulness to keeping me on the right path!

                                                         

18 Weeks with Baby Hentges #2

Just for comparison & for fun! 18 weeks with Evelyn Grace :-)

Never Leave You Or Forsake You!

The day before I found out I was pregnant, I shared something with by bible study ladies at church that has really been challenging to me throughout my pregnancy, especially lately. I was struggling with my desire to be a mom again! I so desired to know that my body could do what it was intended to do, yet again! We are currently going through "Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone" by Elyse Fitzpatrick and I was convicted of my desire to have more children. Not that it is a sinful thing to have children... but it is sinful to worry about being able to have more children and that it may never happen. It is sinful to think that something else can satisfy my deepest desire besides my Father in Heaven! So I shared with the wonderful ladies that I have the privileged of being a part of, that my idol was my family and my child(ren). I have been so abundantly blessed with this little girl who God has given me to steward! But would I be content enough with the fact that the Lord has made me a mom through Evelyn or was that not enough for me? Was Evelyn not enough for me? And most importantly is God not enough for me? What Jesus accomplished on the cross... was that not enough? It should be... and MORE! Because Lord knows, I especially don't deserve that gift of grace he gave me!

As I hear of some around me losing their babies inside of them, my heart gets crushed and weighted down with emotions I did not know I could feel! I started to find myself worrying about the baby growing inside of me and started to spin into a whirl of panic! Begging God to let me feel baby move to reassure me that baby is safe and sound, flourishing inside of me! I had to remind myself that this behavior, although natural, is not healthy! That I am choosing fear over trust, control over surrender, turmoil over peace. My husband so graciously talked with me and spurred me on to remember who my God is! Asking me...Is he not big enough for you!? Is he not good enough for You!? I cannot so quickly forget that he is ENOUGH! 

As I was running an errand, I was listening to Praise FM and the song "Not For A Moment" by Meredith Andrews came on and I could not sing a line of it without tears pouring down
my face!


You were reaching through the storm
Walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark
Whispering Your promise
Even when I could not hear
I was held in Your arms
Carried for a thousand miles to show
Not for a moment did You forsake me.

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my heart at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Even in the dark
Even when it's hard
You will never leave me
After all

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

This song is such an encouragement to me... that no matter what I am facing, the good and the bad, that my God, my Father in Heaven, is ever-present! Every tear we cry, every breath we take, every heartbeat... he is there.... No matter how bad a situation gets, he will not forsake us! Not even for a MOMENT! What a God we serve!!!

Deuteronomy 31:6"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:8
"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed"
Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD."


Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Matthew 28:20
"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age"
1 Chronicles 28:20
“Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished."

As soon as I laid down my burdens at the cross and rested in my Fathers arms, the Lord answered me! He allowed me the grace to feel the baby inside me move... literally as soon as my heart was at peace and I let go of the fear... the Lord showed me his faithfulness! He did not have to and honestly should not have played into my pouting, but he was gracious enough to grant me my desire to feel the child inside me & reassure me that for today, God is sustaining and that tomorrow his mercies are new!

This promise that the Lord has given us, that he will never leave us or forsake us, is all over his word! May we rest in his promises knowing he keeps every single one of them! I know I need the promises of God!! Who doesn't in an age like we are living in... its all we have!!! Go in Peace :-)