This wasn’t the news expectant parents want to hear.<\/p>\n
A few months into a much wanted pregnancy, the tests validated their fears.\u00a0 They listened as terms like “congenital abnormalities” and “severe impairments” were used to describe the condition of their precious unborn girl. But the words that broke their hearts were – “incompatible with life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their joyous anticipation quickly turned into grief.\u00a0\u00a0 There would be no cheerful birth announcements. No anticipation of first smiles or first steps or a first birthday. They prayed that they would have the opportunity to hold their daughter.<\/p>\n
In spite of the test results, they decided to do everything they could for their child. \u00a0They named her Emma Grace and made arrangements for her to be delivered in a hospital 80 miles from home that would give her the best chance for survival.\u00a0 They told a few friends the details of their situation but they requested that there be no baby shower.\u00a0 They asked instead for prayers of blessing on Emma Grace and their family.<\/p>\n
Emma Grace was born with the ability to breathe on her own, but the specialists that attended to her were saddened to see her condition was worse than anticipated.\u00a0 But Emma Grace surprised everyone by hanging on to life.\u00a0 Her parents brought her home.\u00a0 There was nothing they could do to heal her, nothing that they could do to nurture her, but they longed to love their child in any way they could.\u00a0 So they committed to hold her for as long as she was with them.<\/p>\n
From the moment she was carried into her home, she was never laid into a bed to sleep, never placed in a baby seat.\u00a0 For sixteen days she was cradled in the loving arms of parents and grandparents as they gently sang lullabyes while kissing the top of her head.\u00a0 For sixteen days, whether sleeping or awake, night or day, Emma Grace was held in their arms and in their love.<\/p>\n
“O love that will not let me go.”<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an unusual kind of love to find in a world that promotes a me-first philosophy of life.\u00a0 The kind of love that expects nothing in return.\u00a0 It’s not a love you can “fall” into or out of.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s a decision to put someone else’s needs in front of your own – even if it’s at your expense.\u00a0 The kind of love that you arrange your life around instead of seeing if there\u2019s room for it to fit.<\/p>\n
It’s sacrificial love. The kind of love that changes the world.<\/p>\n
It’s a love that compels us to its presence and and is impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n
It is the love that is born of God. The image and author of Love. And He offers it to us, calls us to His love again and again.<\/p>\n
I have loved you with an everlasting love. <\/em><\/p>\n See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. <\/em><\/p>\n You are precious and honored in my sight, and… I love you.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The parents of Emma Grace knew that opening their hearts to loving her would also mean their hearts would be exposed to more pain at good-bye. \u00a0But a heart that knows Love cannot withhold it.\u00a0 It flows from the Source.<\/p>\n And in their outpouring of love we see Him and\u00a0are reminded of how deeply He\u00a0loves us.<\/p>\n O Love that will not let me go,<\/em> Hymn by George Matheson<\/p>\n Scripture References:\u00a0 Jeremiah 31:3, Isaiah 49:16, Isaiah 43:4, John 15:13<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This wasn’t the news expectant parents want to hear. A few months into a much wanted pregnancy, the tests validated their fears.\u00a0 They listened as terms like “congenital abnormalities” and “severe impairments” were used to describe the condition of their precious unborn girl. But the words that broke their hearts were – “incompatible with life.\u201d … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/o-love-that-will.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sCJ7-O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n I rest my weary soul in thee;<\/em>
\n I give thee back the life I owe,<\/em>
\n That in thine ocean depths its flow<\/em>
\n May richer, fuller be.<\/em><\/p>\n