I'll take you back to the beginning: in 2013 we found out that we were expecting our first little one; a baby girl, who we named Savannah. Words cannot describe how excited we were to be parents! Nothing could have prepared us for the path that we were about to embark on though. Our world was rocked when about halfway through my pregnancy our daughter was diagnosed with a fatal neutral tube defect called anencephaly.
We were completely crushed.
I remember diagnosis day so well, the darkness that it brought, and wondering if this would be our forever state. We ultimately chose life for Savannah, and decided to celebrate the time that we had with her here on this Earth. I carried her for the full 40 weeks and we were blessed to meet our sweet girl face to face on October 9th, 2013. She was born alive, kicking, and looking right at her Daddy. She had my blue eyes and the most adorable little smirk! Our time with Savannah was short, but we wouldn't trade it for the world. We look forward to our beautiful Heavenly reunion one day, and until then we carry a piece of her in our hearts.
The Ivy Nest symbolizes two things for me: faithfulness and strength. While carrying Savannah I was always on the lookout for what we call "God winks", or little reminders that He is here and He is still good even in our periods of struggle. After we received her diagnosis I remember going home and noticing that a mockingbird had started to build a nest in our tree out front. Every time we saw him add another twig to his nest, it felt like God was reminding us of what we had to do: start putting our life back together one piece at a time. Nests are strong, but they aren't built all at once; they take time and patience. I'm certain God was using this season to shape us and to teach us to trust in His plan for our lives.
Ivy is known to be resilient, and can grow even in harsh conditions. When praying for a blog name, this kept coming back to me, so I decided to look up the name meaning of "Ivy", and it was no surprise when the webpage said "faithfulness". Another God wink! Don't you just love when that happens?! As we poured out every bit of faith we had into our circumstances, the Lord met us where we were and showed us His faithfulness. My heart has clung to the parallels between the Ivy and how God has been molding me. Sure, He can teach us things through everyday challenges, but His best work is done in the midst of our trials; in the darkest parts of our stories, and in the times where we feel all hope is lost.
The Ivy Nest is a result of a lot of prayers and truly a fulfillment of a dream that I have had for a few years now. Thank you so much for allowing me to share this piece of my heart with you. I look forward to learning more about each of you as well!
