LIM Blog Anniversary!

I have been looking foward to this post, celebrating the 1st anniversary of my blog.

I remeber when I started blogging one year ago, I was recovering from my laparatomy and was looking online for some hopeful support and came across AYWH's blog and then I found all of the others through different blog rolls and I was hooked. I was just so amazed at finding women who was trying to live out their vocation as faithful wives and with the same desire I had of trying to grow our family. It was so encouraging to be reminded that in the darkest moments that God is present and working. Even in the darkness, work is being done.

Little did I know that when I began blogging it would bring me to a deeper faith in God's goodness and learn so many things about the saints and church teachings. I learned so much about maintaining good health and optimizing fertility. By blogging and being connected to others who share my journey, I have been blessed in so many ways, espeically because of the continued encouragement and never-ending prayers. I am forever grateful. I pray for all of my fellow bloggers nightly and pray that God miraculously fills all of our waiting wombs!

Over the course of the last year, I have had some of the most amazing moments and some of the saddest and scariest times. It has been one eventful year.

I will never forget the time of posting begging for advice about the hcg shots. I fondly remember blogging about my miracle pregnancy in April! After eight years of dealing with IF and terrible hormones and one very early m/c . . . I was pregnant. What joy I experienced. I remember that first mother's day and I felt like an imposter and still wanted to hide at home. I remember getting a white ribbon at mass and I still carry that ribbon with me daily as a reminder of our sweet Nicky's little life.

I am now back to the rollercoaster of checking hormones and popping pills, but my life has been changed becasue of this blog. I no longer feel alone in a cold, fertile world. I know that my emotions are normal and I tend to handle myself with more tenderness. I know my limits. I know when to not put myself in situations where I will most likely have a tremendous meltdown. Although yesterday at mass, the mere mention of preparing for All Souls Day brought tears out.

I hope that there are many joyful posts in the next year, I surely know there will be ones filled with venting!

One last, but very important thing that I have learned over the last year is that adoption is not easy. It is a calling, a miracle. A calling for not only the adoptive parents but for the parents of that child who are choosing to place their child into the waiting arms of someone else. I have learned that parenting is hard and that not being able to parent when you think you are ready to do so is equally hard.

In the naming of my blog, I remember struggling to come up with a name and I felt like we had been through many mazes in our journey to bring new life in to our family and I was hoping we were finding our way to the end of that maze. I am still hopeful, thankful, and will continue to try to have joy in my heart that is steadfast. I look foward to what the next year will hold!


Christ, continue to be my strength and my hope! Amen.