First, I had been trying to figure out what to do about the due date... I wanted to do something to deliberately remember the baby, but not something huge or depressing. I decided to do my own version of a Hawaiian custom. Instead of throwing my lei into the ocean, I'd sprinkle some flowers on the Potomac River (the closest thing we have to an ocean where we live now). Baby Lu'au picked a bunch of marigolds from our front yard one morning, and I thought it the perfect time to sprinkle some flowers. As we walked to the river, I prayed silently about the baby and asked God to help me hope. I thought about Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
It was right then that I got a text from my brother in law saying "Romans 5:5 - and hope does not disappoint". That really struck me. He could have chosen any time to send that, or not to send it at all. But he chose right then, and it was perfect. There's no way he could have known that it was the day I chose or even that I was going to do something...
Thanks, Rich, for listening to God's prompting.
