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| Season of change. November. Season of Remembrance. |
Before you sign off and conclude that I'm bipolar, let me explain.
As a child, November was a magical time of year. The weather was changing, the pretty fall leaves were lying everywhere and colored the world in bright reds and golds. The nippy wind was still warm enough to play outside whenever I chose as long as Momma had me bound in a sweater, at least. Once I hit the door to the outside I sometimes didn't return until the sun started sinking behind the Missouri hills. Life was simple and elegant. Unrushed. Happy.
Before the month ended, we always gathered with family and had a big Thanksgiving feast. We always had delicious food, but the good times we shared with our grandparents and cousins was what made our days memorable. Love was so thick that it could be cut with the turkey carving knife. While on the subject of carving, one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories was of my Grandpa and his carving knife. He was going around, doing the carving, probably of large juicy turkey slices and ham when he came across a cheeseball that my momma had made. He was a precious country fella, not used to seeing such fixin's as a cheeseball. He didn't know what it was and so he said, "I'll just carve it too!" And so he did.
The day after Thanksgiving, Momma would drag out the Christmas tree and decorate it. A whole new world of wonder would open up.
These are the days that I'll cherish forever. Don't get me wrong, I still have days full of love, happiness and joy. But there was something about becoming an adult that made some of the magic disappear. New trials, new realities and new responsibilities.
I got married at the tender age of seventeen to my sweetheart. I thought I was a woman through and through, but I quickly learned that I was also still very much a girl. However, I was truly and without a doubt, very much in love. After getting married and settling down in a little house, it didn't take long to find out that love wasn't the only ingredient necessary in making a new home. We grew and learned together and after a year and a half of marriage we were facing a whole new situation; we were going to be parents. That day was almost as happy as our wedding day. We were already very much in love with that special child growing on the inside of me. We had big hopes and dreams. Our child would be the cutest, the smartest and the most well behaved child ever born. I soon found out I was due on November 13th. Again, such a magical month! Our baby was due on my own grandma's birthday and the day after the birthday of my husband's mother! We dreamed of making my grandma a great grandma for the first time on her birthday. Then we would think how special that it would be to make my mother-in-law a grannie for the first time on her birthday! The possibilities were so thrilling and we could hardly wait to see what happened.
On the day of my three month checkup, my mom took me in and kept stressing to me to call her back after they picked up the baby's heartbeat so she could hear it. This was her first grandbaby too and she was so excited. So, after getting my weight and blood pressure the CNM placed the doppler on my tummy so we could hear the little rhythm. She searched and searched. Not a sound other than my own heartbeat. Two ultrasounds later I was told that my baby was without cardiac activity. My baby's magical birthday was to never come. November grew a little colder than it used to be in the past. (To Read My Entire Story on Miscarriage Click Here).
By that Thanksgiving we had already lost two babies. What did I have to be thankful for? I still had my husband, my family and hope. God's Word says in Romans 8:25, "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
I had this special hope but more importantly, I knew the Giver of this hope. Because of Him I still had everything to live for here and the promise that I can be reunited with those precious children again. He is my everything. I am utmost thankful for Him and His love.
My hope was to be fulfilled soon. The very next month I found out I was pregnant again, which turned out to be a successful pregnancy. (See previous post for more on this blessing).
Although the pregnancy loss is one reminder that comes along every year I can't help but think about others. November is election month. Those who are elected will possibly change the whole course of the future. We are in some ways, "at their mercy." A lot of informed and wise people understand this but there are still so many who are careless in their responsibilities on voting. They use excuses like, "My one little vote won't make the difference," not realizing that if thousands of people just like them are saying the same thing, that could totally change the way something could go if they would just band together and get it done. How would it be if someone told you that your child was in danger and told you to call a certain phone number? If someone answered on the other end that would determine your child's safety. If you knew there was only a slight chance that someone would answer would you still call? Of course! If no one answered you would hang up and call back as many times as it took. You would be encouraging your friends to call. You would be praying. You would be having everyone you could think of to pray and call with you. Well, my friends, our children are in danger. The only hope for their future is for us to step up to the plate. We should exercise our right to vote, to pray and to assemble with others who have experienced salvation and faith. This is what we have to do if we are going to be there for our children. You think I'm extreme? Tell that to the countless people who died to win this freedom for us in the first place. If they felt it was worth their lives, we should think it worth our investment to protect and secure it.
November also brings about other realities. Some of those who once shared our Thanksgiving tables with us are no longer there. Some have passed on, some have chosen various ways of life that lead in different directions, preventing our paths from crossing.
However, one thing always remains the same. Hebrews 13:8 states: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. As long as we know Jesus as our Savior, our lives will always hold a certain stability - for He never changes. From those wonderful Novembers as a child when I felt happy and safe to these modern and uncertain times, He still remains the same. He is still faithful and He gives the promise that He will bring us through all of our uncertain times if we are faithful as well. One day, in Heaven, November will be new. My children that are gone will be around me. Our loved ones will once again sit down to dine together in love and harmony. Maybe Jesus will even let Grandpa do the carving.
