Still continuing the story........
Well, we did tie the knot on that
cold Saturday evening in February and spent our honeymoon in Myrtle Beach. I
was so happy to be Mrs. Matt Jordan and begin our lives together! A couple of
days later on February 10th, Matt's birthday, we received a call
that my grandfather had passed away suddenly of a heart attack. The news hit me
like a ton of bricks. We packed up early the next morning and headed home to be
with our family. After the visitation in Wilmington, we traveled to Virginia
for the funeral and burial in the town I was born in. In an instant we went
from celebrating together as a family over a new relationship to grieving
together in the loss of life.
So as you can see, Matt and I faced
difficulties very early into our marriage. Four months later I received a call
from the hospital at 5:30 in the morning that my husband had been in a car
accident. Matt had been leaving early in the mornings traveling out of town to
work and returning late at night. That particular morning it was raining
heavily and his truck lost control and landed in a ditch. Praise the Lord his
injuries were minor but walking into the ER seeing your new husband strapped to
a backboard covered in mud and blood can do a number on your nerves.
After that incident, life did calm
down a bit and we could really begin to settle into married life. I loved
everything about married life! I loved being at the door when Matt would come
home from work and having supper on the table. I loved waking up in the morning
and rolling over to see that he was there beside me. I loved how he would open
the Bible at night and share devotions with me. I loved hearing my name, Mrs.
Jordan, called whenever I was out. I loved going on a date with him only to
realize that I would not have to say "goodbye" to him at the end of
the date. Everything about married life made me smile!
Now I know what you are thinking. Did
we ever argue? Well, the answer is, "YES"! Of course we did! We were
newlyweds. We were two people all the sudden living together bringing our own
traditions and habits under one roof so, yes, we had arguments, or
"intense moments of fellowship", as I prefer to call them. Lol!
Throughout our first five years of
marriage, I believe God used the many difficulties and challenges we faced to
shape and strengthen our marriage. When we were ready to begin our family but
things took a bit longer than anticipated, our marriage was extremely tested. I
was still living my dream, and that, in no way, included infertility. But as we
all know, God has a plan and his ways are not my ways.
“For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“ As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV84)
Anyone that has walked the road of
infertility understands the extreme sadness and difficulty that loom around
every corner. It wasn’t supposed to be that hard. Doctor visits and
medication month after month and still being heartbroken all over again at the
sign of another negative pregnancy test. After a couple of years of walking
that road, I finally became pregnant! We were beyond excited! I believe I
walked on a cloud everywhere I went. That "glow" everyone says you
get with pregnancy was a neon fluorescent light around me and I couldn't wait
to become a family of three. Unfortunately, that was not meant to happen as a
month later I began to show signs of miscarriage and through ultrasound,
discovered that our baby's heartbeat had stopped. Matt and I were heartbroken
over the loss of our child and facing every day was difficult. The next several
months were filled with pain and heartache. Seeing other pregnant bellies and
newborn babies were like a punch in the gut and the darkness was almost more
than I could bear at times.
As summer approached, Matt got news
that he would be transferring to his office in Garner, NC. This news actually
made me very happy. I was ready to move away, begin again, and leave all this
heartache behind. That move for us, although temporary, ended up being a time
of healing in our marriage and ourselves. Matt and I worked in the same office
building and we were together pretty much 24 hours a day. That was an absolute
blessing! We were settling into our “new normal” and getting actively involved
in a new church. God was working and healing!
Right before Christmas that year, I
discovered I was pregnant again! We were shocked and excited! Once
we had moved to Garner, I kept rescheduling my doctor’s appointments with the
specialist because emotionally I wasn’t quite ready to begin the fertility
battleground again. But God sent us some amazing news! It was hard to get too
excited as my initial blood tests weren’t as great as they hoped but with God’s
divine providence and some really incredible doctors, I was able to sustain my
pregnancy. In August of 1996 I give birth to the most beautiful, BIG, baby boy!
Ben came into this world at a whopping 10 lbs. and 1 oz. and honestly, the
world began to look wonderful again. Skies were bluer; the grass was greener,
the sun shined brighter and every detail to life gained more color. God brought
so much healing in my life through that difficult time and the birth of our
first child. I was wife to Matt and now, mom to Ben and nothing could have made
me happier. God blessed us immensely and through that time of healing, I began
to draw even closer to him.
“Children are a gift
from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.”
Psalm 127:3
Over the next eight years of our
marriage, lots of things were going on. God was shaping us into a family
totally dependent on him. Matt and I faced some financial hardships in Garner
and moved back to Wilmington soon after Ben was born. We settled back here and
into our new church home and really began focusing on God’s will in the midst
of all the challenges we had faced so far. Ben kept us on our toes, as he was a
very active toddler. Haha! There were many days, through his toddler years,
that I really thought I wouldn’t make it through, or he wouldn’t. One or the
other of us. Lol! But we both grew during that time. I enjoyed my time as a
stay at home mom and wife. In 2000, we were blessed with our beautiful baby
girl, Callie! We praise the Lord that we didn’t have to endure the pain and
suffering of infertility again and through her birth God gave us hope that not
everything we encountered would be so difficult. She brought us so much joy and
her big brother was quite protective of her (and still is ;). Our home was
filled with a rambunctious toddler boy and lots of pink with a baby girl. We
were blessed indeed! God had transitioned us from a couple to a family and that
brought a whole new set of blessings and challenges.
“But as for me and my
family, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15b
After Callie was born, we decided
that we were complete in our family and we were going to enjoy life as a family
of four!
Well…that was our plan. God had a
different plan in mind! Lol!
Join me tomorrow as I conclude the
story!
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