There couldn’t be a better time to share this story of faith than on Mother’s Day. Written by Britt Cody of Clarkesville, Georgia. Britt is the wife of Gerald Cody and mother of Morgan Cody Wood and Sarah Beth Cody. And now grandmother to Warren and Davis.
April 19th, 2015 ~
This last week, our family received a gift of God’s faithfulness…all wrapped up in blankets and caps.
As we worshiped this past Sunday, we sang the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”. Two specific verses resonated within my heart:
When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives away, He then is all my hope and stay
“Darkness” comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be uncertainty in health; doubt over our calling for this world. It can be waiting on something we feel God has for us, but we are left waiting and longing and then, more waiting. It can be watching a friend or family member struggle through conflicting emotions and beliefs. It can be wanting to be a mom all your life and then thinking that it might not ever happen!
If we’re honest, we have all lived through darkness in our lives and have to admit that we haven’t always “rested in Him” in the midst of that emptiness.
BUT, when that darkness comes, as believers, we must make the choice to just rest in Him…in His unchanging grace and mercy and love and faithfulness. Even if the resting comes by simply and obediently placing one foot in front of the other. By this simple act of trusting, Christ becomes “all our hope and stay”.
For our family, the journey of walking out of that black hole and into the light of His faithfulness came full circle on Sunday evening, April 19th. For months, we’ve been holding our breath placing rocks in our family jar. The lid on this jar reads, “When we are faithless, HE is faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” ~2 Timothy 2:13 Each time we’ve witnessed God’s hand, we have dropped a rock in the jar.
So, the faith journey through IVF began for Morgan and Trey.
Would Morgan’s body produce enough eggs?
A rock hits the bottom of the jar.
Would fertilization be successful?
Another rock is placed in the jar.
Would the fertilized eggs successfully implant in her uterine wall?
And we add another stone of faithfulness.
One embryo splits and “two” become “three”.
God takes one of them to heaven. The other two little ones are graciously left to grow.
Drop another rock.
Possible health concerns are raised. Morgan’s uterus is incarcerated and must be flipped in order to carry the boys full term. Multiple hospital stays. Medications given. Restrictions placed. Steroid shots to build up the boys’ lungs.
And we drop another and another and another and another and another and another precious rock in our jar.
So this past Tuesday, Morgan, still walking slowly from the incision in her once-rounded belly, was snuggling one of her barely two-day old sons, Davis. “Is this what you expected?” I ask her. She begins weeping, and says, “Mom, how is it that I can love this tiny one so much, and I don’t even know him yet?” Be still, my heart!
And her faith in THE Faithful One, our Creator God, grows exponentially. She and Trey will now more clearly understand the great sacrifice from our heavenly Father when He sent His son for us. Such love! Love that is wide and long and deep and rich!
And another rock drops into our Cody jar of faithfulness!! Actually two! One reads “Davis” and the other reads “Warren”!
Praise be to God for His wondrous and miraculous gifts!
