A Double Portion

[Posted with permission from my sister. For an even more beautiful account with breathtaking pictures, go to Stephanie's post. You'll need an exuberant amount of tissue for either.]

Well, I've been absent for far too long. I've missed all of my blogging sisters and I've missed sharing in your lives and love for the Lord! Gosh. I've missed you.

Some of you already know, but my sister lost both of her twins this week. She developed an infection that caused her body to go into labor. They stopped the labor but the infection had already spread causing her entire womb to be infected. The only choice to save her was to birth the babies at 21 weeks gestation. It was the most tragic and the most beautiful thing I believe I will ever witness.

Before delivering, we had a strong prayer time. We beseeched our living & active God to come into the room and completely heal Katie. We asked in confidence for a closed cervix & restored amniotic sacs. We asked for the infection to be cast out and for her fever to disappear in Jesus' Name. I know that God was in that room. I know that Jesus Christ Himself was with us. We fully expected for our prayers to be specifically answered. When they checked Katie, Sailor was already in the process of being born. God answered in a way that we didn't understand. Katie said it best when she said in the silence of the room, "Well. I asked God to take my infection away. The babies are the infection. He's taking the babies."

Sailor Marie Cobb was born at 11:37 p.m. on Thursday, April 21. Maundy Thursday. Sailor never spent a moment here on earth.

Ryder Hunt Cobb was born at 6:45 a.m. on Friday, April 22. Good Friday. If anyone knows what it's like to lose a son, especially on that day, it's God. He was born alive and his heart continued to beat for about 2 hours after he entered this world. What I saw in those moments was breathtaking. Katie scooped that baby up and became the BEST mother I've ever seen. Her strength was indescribable. She set aside her own emotions and with every bit of her being loved that baby. I still can't even begin to imagine how in the world she did it.

Yes, I can. Jesus.

Medically speaking, Katie will make a complete recovery. Her womb will be completely healed and she is physically able to be a mother in the time she chooses. I praise God for that restoration.

Emotionally speaking, Katie has a hard road ahead of her. I don't even know what it will entail but God has surrounded her with friends that have experienced the very same thing and she has their comfort and wisdom.

Spiritually speaking, Katie will never be the same. None of us will.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (emphasis mine)

The Cobb/Jarvis/Keeling family shared something incredible and God is knitting our hearts together in a way that we could never do on our own. His Presence with us is such a mighty thing. My SSMT verse a couple of times ago was Colossians 2:2-3...

"My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Who knew how true that would be..... We don't have full understanding of the mystery of God but we do have full understanding of the knowledge of that mystery. I hope that makes sense. We don't understand it but we understand knowing it. And I'm completely okay with not understanding it because He does.

My next SSMT verse is my prayer for Katie, Ryan, and our whole family. Please join me.

"Instead of shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." Isaiah 61:7 (NIV) (emphasis mine)



Bachelorette Parties and Naked Mole Rats

Yep. You read that right.

Friday, I took the kids to the zoo with my friend, Jessie, and her two kids, Grayson and Colbie Via (pronounced Vi). We were either really brave or really crazy. It was SO hot! We went about a month ago and apparently had forgotten the vow to never return after only covering half of the exhibits. The day started out promising. We began at the parakeets, which are housed in a open-air type pen. You walk in and they're free to fly around you much like the butterflies at Callaway Gardens. It was very cool.

The lady told us that they had just released all of the fledglings born this year into the open area and they were trying to get accquainted to their new surroundings. These birds were dive-bombing every person who walked in! Surprisingly, Jonah didn't seem to notice the sneak attacks. All he cared about was feeding the brightly colored birds....of course, because that costs extra. A little girl had bought too many seed sticks so she kindly offered our boys her extras.

After our free hand-feeding, we proceeded with our educational tour. Jessie and I are thinking we're doing pretty good. I mean, we're already beating the system with our free seed sticks. Then came the question of the day: "Are we going to see the naked mole rats?"


Huh? How do three-year-olds know about naked mole rats? We don't even have cable. With every stop came the question, "Is this the naked mole rats? Where are the naked mole rats? I don't see the naked mole rats." To be perfectly honest, I think they just liked saying the word 'naked'. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these dear little creatures, here you go.

Ew. Is that not the grossest thing you've ever seen? They were in heaven!

....and out the other side.....

I think this says it all!

Lewis Grizzard has a quote:

"In the south there's a difference between 'Naked' and 'Nekkid'. 'Naked' means
you don't have any clothes on. 'Nekkid' means you don't have any clothes
on....and you're up to somethin'!"

I don't know about you but something this ugly is definitely up to somethin'!

Speaking of.... Saturday night was my sister's bachelorette party. She's getting married August 15 in Mexico.

Our "Tantie Tatie"

No, this is not her real dress.

Check out that bow in the back. That's my handiwork!

It was an interesting night to say the least. This little Cinderella was home before midnight lest she turn into a pumpkin but the part of the festivities I did partake in were enough to last me a lifetime. I told Bear I'm so glad I will never be in the dating game again. Way too much pressure! My seat was by the front door and I enjoyed people-watching most of the evening. Every single person looked like they had tried so hard to look just like everybody else. They all cared so hard what people thought and the goal was all the same: to get 'nekkid'. You know it was.

On the way home, I pondered the blessing of nakedness. (Could've been the Spanx digging into my ribs or the delayed heat stroke from the zoo-I don't know.) The purpose of Jesus was so I could be naked before God, Maker of Heaven and Earth. He came to bring me back to the way it was supposed to be in the Garden. No pressure, pretense, or prejudice. Just me. The real me. Pretty amazing. Pretty incredible. Pretty hard for me.

I'm not usually one to raise my hands or lose myself in worship while at church. What would people think? I mean, what if someone was watching? He is watching. Waiting for me to drop my own pride and come to Him completely open, completely honest, completley naked. Baring all of my questions and doubts. Funny thing is He desires me to be 'naked' even when I'm 'nekkid'. And it's when I'm 'nekkid' that I truly need to be 'naked'. Does that make sense? I hope so. It was pretty late when this hit me and at the time it seemed quite profound. It's pretty scary too, beng naked before God with all of my faults and failures, but He knows me already. He knows all of that and yet still loves me. There's no shame involved because there I find forgiveness. So I find it encouraging and hope you do too.

"The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." Genesis 2:25

This is where all the little naked mole rats entered....