This is a testimony shared by Liza DeYounge:
The great news is that we are pregnant with our third kiddo!
The bad news is that, around six weeks in, I became very sick and mostly bedridden. My doctor diagnosed me with hyperemesis gravidarum - severe vomiting, dehydration and feeling, overall, just terrible every minute of the day. Many of the women I had talked to, who had also experienced this complication, were sick through their entire pregnancy - hospitalized multiple times throughout, suffered deep depression and were virtually unable to care for their families or continue working. Not only was I feeling miserable, my heart was consumed with debilitating worry, not knowing how I'd survive the next hour, let alone the next eight months.
Praise the Lord - two of my sweet friends and prayer warriors contacted me and volunteered to visit my home every week and pray. My house was a mess, kids were interrupting our conversations, and I'm sure I looked frightening, not having the strength to even shower for who-knows-how-long, but the Lord met with us and heard our prayers week in and week out. I was so exhausted and weary, it was refreshing to have others come alongside and say, "We'll bear your burdens! Even when you run out of your own words and prayers, we'll stand in the gap - in your place - and cry out to the Lord for healing."
In the midst of these times together, I grew in hope, and felt like the Lord was confirming that I would not be sick the entire pregnancy, like so many others. In His mercy, the season of sickness would be shortened! Even better, I grew in confidence that he was using what was meant for evil, for His great purposes.
We contended for 12 weeks - that the Lord would not allow the sickness to pass the twelve week mark of pregnancy, and that He would bring revelation and perspective so my heart could comprehend what He was doing in the midst of the struggle.
I am hoping to make this short, so I'll jump to the happy conclusion... I am now thirteen weeks pregnant, and I'm feeling significantly better and so much more like myself. I've been able to stop IV treatment and stop my anti-nausea medication altogether. Most significant in my mind are the deep truths the Lord revealed to me in the hours and hours and hours I laid in bed and by the toilet. He spoke truth into some deep trauma in my past, and He has healed significant pieces of brokenness in my life. My heart became more tender to his word, awe and wonder returned to the place of worship.
I am so thankful for the community of faith the Lord has surrounded me with - friends to pray alongside me, random acquaintances who dropped off meals, family who volunteered to watch my kids and do my dishes... In the darkest and most helpless days, the Lord was providing manna (just enough!) to get through each day. I am most grateful for God's healing - both in the physical, but also in my heart. He is so gracious and so faithful. Thank You, Jesus!
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