Blooming Joy!

~ Finding the joy springing up out of the dirt

Blooming Joy!

Previous articles

The gift of presence

March 27, 2019

The story of our loss of Jonah didn’t end with the doctor’s appointment. Because I was 30 weeks pregnant, I had to go through labor and delivery. The doctor gave us two options: schedule to come into the hospital to be induced, or wait it out…

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Blame

March 26, 2019

It occurred to me today that in all of my writing and blogging, I may not have shared much of our Jonah story. Especially since we went through all of that in 2003, just a year and a half into our marriage. Before I joined Facebook. Before this blog. Five years before this blog existed, in fact. Unlike our journey with Samantha, I don’t have a million online reminders of everything we experienced. No, I have to rely solely on my memory, which is not the most reliable thing…

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Abraham and Isaac (re-run)

March 25, 2019

When I am stuck for something to write, I go back in the blog archives to find things that help. This post is originally from February 27, 2012, shortly before what would have been Samantha’s first birthday. The words I shared here tied in so well with last Friday’s post that I wanted to share them again here.

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Abraham

March 22, 2019

Besides focusing on the story of Hannah, I spent a lot of my pregnancy with Samantha pondering the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac. If you’re not familiar with it…

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Wounds Healed by Wounds

March 21, 2019

Yesterday, I posted about the hymn below, before we actually sang it in church. I really should know better. Singing a hymn always gives me greater insight than just reading the words…

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Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing / On My Heart Imprint Your Image

March 20, 2019

Here are the words of two hymns, both following the same tune. The first, Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing, will be in our worship service tonight at church. The second is one we use quite a bit in our services since it’s only one verse.

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Miss Samantha (re-run)

March 19, 2019

I originally wrote this post on March 23, 2011, a short time after bringing Samantha home from the hospital. So many blessings happened during that season with her when she was healthy. 

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Hannah

March 18, 2019

I spent a lot of time in prayer over the course of my pregnancy with Samantha. I had to – I was so terrified! After losing Jonah (more on that in a future post), I didn’t know how to trust that this pregnancy wouldn’t end the same way. 

One of the stories I returned to again and again was the story of Hannah…

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Names

March 15, 2019

I can’t tell you how many names we discussed before ultimately naming our daughter Samantha. We didn’t even settle on her name until the day she was born. I’ve forgotten most of them. I know Courtney was in the mix, but I kept thinking of the Kardashians…

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The best laid plans

March 14, 2019

Samantha was premature, and the rule of thumb we were taught was to wait until she reached her due date to take her out. That meant that Lent, for me, was spent at home. She was born at the beginning of Lent, six weeks early. So her time of isolation was pretty much for the duration of the Lenten season. 

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