An Assumption Miracle! (and Prayer Buddy)

Since feeling that first little kick on Monday, I've felt the baby move at least once every day. It's always between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 pm and usually only lasts about 30 seconds or so.

It's the highlight of my day.

As I read my morning prayers this morning I was reminded of what I was doing four years ago on this very day. On the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 2006, I had my first surgery with my St. Louis NaPro doctor. Four years ago. I was terrified of what the surgery would reveal. I was sick to my stomach and having breathing complications for 24 hours after the surgery. Ted and I were only dating at the time, but he was by my side for every bit of it (along with my mom!)

I shed so many tears in the weeks leading up to that surgery. I was so scared of what a diagnosis of endometriosis would mean for our future. I trusted my surgeon and myself to the Blessed Mother and asked Mary to intercede for me on this special feast day (which in practice involved me saying probably a hundred Hail Mary's to calm my nerves while I waited for the surgery to begin).

We went to 9:00 am Mass this morning. The Gospel reading was so familiar and so comforting. The Visitation has always been my favorite Mystery of the Rosary, even during our years of infertility. Hearing that reading today, four years after my first surgery, was the most amazing blessing.

Elizabeth tells Mary: For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

And, to my absolute shock and disbelief, at the moment the sound of those words of the Gospel reached MY ears, the infant in MY womb leaped for joy!

Complete, pure, undeserved JOY!

During the homily I whispered to Ted and told him what had just happened. The look on his face was priceless! I thought to myself, "He could not have looked prouder if his 18 year old son had just told him he was entering the seminary!" That's how much pride was swelling up in his sweet face.

At the end of Mass Ted said to me, "I guess she's gonna be a nun!" Ha! We were both thinking the same thing: we have such a holy baby! We patted ourselves on the back for raising such a pious little unborn child.

As we knelt to pray before leaving Mass, tears welled up in my eyes. Four years ago I was laying on a operating table fearing this day would never come. Not only has it finally arrived, but is has surpassed all my hopes and expectations tenfold!

You just NEVER know what God has in store for you!

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And I'm so honored to announce that my prayer buddy is Stephanie from Praying for a Family! I had never read her blog before, but within an hour of getting my "assignment" I had read every post she'd ever written! I've been praying for her in my evening prayers, at Adoration, and at Mass. I've prayed that she be blessed with the children she so strongly desires, that she have the strength to continue this difficult journey, and for her family (who she has blogged about as needing prayers). God Bless you Stephanie!