Little Ava Grace

I am finally getting around to this post. I asked my friend Lori if she would let me share part of their Christmas letter on my blog. I introduced you to Lori here and I feel as though I must finish little Ava's story with the words of her loving mama.

"I usually send this Christmas letter out with a report of all the silly things my children have done lately and how they are growing up too fast . . . but this year is a little different and I wanted to write about some recent events that have happened to us.

As most of you probably know, we were expecting our fourth baby in April. Unfortunately, my water broke early, and by the end of the weekend before Thanksgiving I knew something was going very wrong. A frantic trip to the doctor Monday morning confirmed my worst fears; my water had broken and there was nothing that could be done. I spent the rest of the day on bedrest, with the tiny chance that the baby could still pull through and might survive. But that evening I went in to labor and the next morning our daughter, Ava Grace was born at just over 19 weeks; too early to survive. Miraculously, with all she had been through, she was born alive, and I held her in my arms as she died. She was tiny and beautiful, looking very much like her sisters. We marveled at how perfect she was - just like Psalm 139:13 'For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.' She truly was fearfully and wonderfully made.
As the same Psalm continues later, 'All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.' The only reason why I am even trying to share this very painful experience is because even though we could never have imagined such pain, we also eperienced the grace and presence of God like never before. Even though this was very hard, He carried us through it. He was completely there in the timing and the way that everything came about; there was no doubt that we saw His hand in everything. I would never have wanted to give my Ava up, but with the tender and loving way that He took her home, there is no way I can doubt the goodness of my heavenly Father. I do not know why He chose this path for us, but we can rest in knowing that He is in control and has planned this to work for good, somehow.
I cannot describe to you how amazingly sufficient God's grace has been through this! Please do not think I have in any way been strong, any strength I have had in this has been in Christ alone. I know if my life had not been built on that foundation, this would have destroyed me inside. I cannot explain itk, but somehow, as the old hymn says "it is well with my sould." This can only be because of Him. A friend recently reminded me in a letter of the verse James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." This brought tears to my eyes; because it is the same verse we have used on all of our babies' birth announcements. But it is no less true in this case. Ava truly was a good and perfect gift from God, and we will always be thankful for the short time we had with her. . . I know many of you wanted to know the story of our Ava Grace, and how she changed our hearts forever."

It has been a priveledge to continue to carry Lori and her family to the Lord in prayer as she has explained that there is a great emptiness that will never be filled until that day she sees little Ava again. If you think of her, please do the same.

As I type this I remember that I have heard news of the impending change regarding the freedom of choice act in the past few days. Please take the time to be informed about this. The changes made will lift many restrictions on abortion in this country. It breaks my heart that in our world there are doctors every day making it their life purpose to either save lives of babies just like Ava or kill babies (aka blobs of tissue) just like Ava. It makes no sense. God be merciful to us.