Light of my God & Grace

I have been a mother for two years today.It seems so surreal that time has flown by so fast yet it also feels like a lifetime ago.

Two years ago I gave birth to Eliora Grace on Justin's birthday.

Two years ago was one of the greatest days of my life.

Rewind two years, seven months, two weeks & five days. Justin got down on one knee and proposed. Three days later, we found out we were expecting. A moment that is suppose to be filled with joy & happiness was filled with fear & worry. Justin & I had just started new jobs in a new city. I was worried about how we would tell our families, what our jobs would think & finances. This was one of the darkest moments of my life. The fear, uncertainty and doubt took over my emotions & thoughts. Yet in these moments, I believe that God places the right people in your life. He pairs you with the people who will lift you up & pull you closer to Him. He gave me Justin.

While I was terrified & fearful of the circumstances we had placed ourselves in by giving in to sin, Justin was always there to lift my spirit. I know Justin was feeling all the same things I was but he always met me with love, reassurance & comfort. Once the doctor confirmed the pregnancy, we told our families and jobs. Each of them met us with so much grace. I had never experienced anything like it. We had an outpouring of love, support and council. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever witnessed.

For someone who was filled with so much fear and doubt, I was floored to see people come around us the way they did. We had family & friends lift us up throughout our life change. We planned a wedding in three weeks. We went from being a couple to expecting a baby to being married in less then six months. It was quite the whirlwind. You see, when we first found out we were expecting a baby, Justin opened his bible and read 2 Corinthians 4:6.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Justin read this verse to me & said "Maybe God wants us to look for the light in this dark time. Our baby." This is where our daughter's name came from. We never found out the sex of our baby. We never came up with a boy name. But through this verse, a week after finding out we were expecting, we had a girl name. Eliora Grace.

Eliora means "light of my God". I think God knew we would have a girl from the very start. I believe He gave us Eliora to remind us of His light & grace on a daily basis. He never wanted us to forget the gift that He gave us in the darkness.

This whole journey has allowed me to always look for the light in the darkness and to help shine light in the darkness, just like my daughter & my God.

Motherhood/marriage has been a blessing & I wouldn't change this journey for the world.

Happy Birthday to the light of my life & to the love of my life.