Celebrate The Gift of Inconviencences

In 2017 my husband and I found out that we were expecting our 5th child.

We thought that we were done having kids.

In all honesty, I thought we were done having kids after the first one, but after the 3rd kid you just kind of see it as "what's one more."

Anyway, the news of a 5th child, after finally feeling like I had my body back to myself again, took a few days to get used to.

It was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that our life would once again change.

And boy would it change.

Just a few months into the pregnancy, it was discovered that our little one was terminally ill, and would most likely not live past birth.

In the heartbreaking moment of that news, I went from riding high in expectation of a healthy baby, to sitting low in preparation of certain loss.

Well, the Lord was kind and saw it fit to preserve the life of the baby girl that our older 4 kids would name Rylee.

Little Rylee Kay was born alive, but definitely broken.

She had many needs, and those needs led to many inconveniences for me as a mother.

Countless doctors appointments, pharmacy pick-ups, hospice visits, therapy sessions, seizure recoveries, and I won’t get into the multitude of forms you have to sign and approvals you have to get…just to keep your kid alive.

Rylee was treasured and loved, but at times, I found my introverted self very overwhelmed with all the people I had to interact with and all the things that had to be done for her care.

Everything that I had to do as a mother for Rylee, had to be done while still caring for my husband, home, self and other 4 kids.

It was hard and impossible, which repeatedly led me back to the 1 familiar place that I knew, the feet of Jesus.

Those quiet times spent pouring out my fear, anger, confusion and doubts in prayer, were met by our loving Savior who comforted me, and reminded me, that what I was going through was no surprise to him.

That although the world might see her as broken, she would one day be perfected and there was purpose and value in what we were all going through.

That little girl, who wasn’t supposed to be born alive, lived 3.5 years thanks to the help and support of so many that walked with us, but it wasn’t until after she passed away that I began to really see just how marvelous her inconvenient little life was.

During her life, our family came into contact with over a 100 doctors, nurses, administration staff, therapists, pharmacy workers and the like who all wanted to know how we were able to walk through such difficulty and still keep a marriage, kids and home intact...with joy.

The answer was always Jesus, and even after her death, it is still Jesus.

Our family has had countless opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people we would never have met had we not been gifted with such a beautiful inconvenience named Rylee.

Today as you walk through your day, remember that what might seem an inconvenience to you, might just be God’s answer of blessing for someone else.

He is not surprised by your situation and through it, he means to grow you.

So slow down and welcome the inconvenient things with an expectation of seeing God do something beautiful in you and for someone else.