Beautiful Rose

First of all... I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone that has commented or personally reached out to David and I over the past few weeks after starting this blog. We have received an incredible amount of love and prayers, and we can't thank y'all enough.

I honestly believe that God gives us little signs on earth that are meant to encourage us. He also has impeccable timing. He places people in our lives, at specific times, to show us that He is always looking out for us.

The beginning of May came, and we thought that winter was finally over. We went to the farmer’s market and bought a bunch of flowers to plant in our garden out front. Well, little did we “Texans” know, that winter in Colorado can come back as late as May or June. So of course, the week after we plant, there’s one big last snow storm. After that last snow melted, our garden was looking pretty pitiful. We didn’t think that any of our flowers were going to come back, because they had all been crushed in the storm.

Fast forward a few weeks…still no flowers…but, it’s baby time. We go to the hospital, have baby Hattie, and endure the 5 hard days in the NICU. The DAY that we finally made it home (after going back to the hospital for jaundice) we came home to one pink rose that had bloomed in our garden. It was FULLY bloomed. It was like it was placed there overnight or something because there weren’t any other flowers in our garden! We decided to call it the “Hattie Rose”. This was the real start of her life, and that pretty rose meant a lot to us! So after enjoying it for a few days, I cut it off, pressed it, and saved it.

Fast forward a month… to the hardest week of our life. Our sweet friends Bobby & Megan were there for us in the NICU for the first, and the hardest few days. They prayed over us, and it is just what we needed. After they left, Megan sent me a song that had been on her heart. It is called “Beautiful Rose” by Sean McConnell. Keep in mind that I hadn’t told her about the “Hattie Rose” story. We listened to the song, and the lyrics were absolutely perfect. That song has gotten us through some very hard times, and whenever I’m feeling discouraged or worried…I listen to it. David and I had both tried to figure out what the song was about, because the lyrics were so spot on for what we were going through, but neither of us could find anything on it.

Fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago, when I started this blog. I received a sweet message from Caroline Halbert (one of David’s friends from High School). She has a beautiful baby girl who was born with a rare condition as well, and she had some very encouraging words. She too has a blog, and I was reading through it and found a video of the song “Beautiful Rose”. I messaged her telling her how much we loved that song, and how it has helped us through so much! She messaged back telling me that Sean McConnell and his wife adopted a little girl from Ghana, with special needs, and that song was about her. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! No wonder those lyrics spoke to us!! Knowing that song is about a little girl with special needs just made it more special to me.

When things don’t go as you plan, it’s really hard for us to open up our eyes and hearts to watch and feel for little signs from God. Sometimes we are just so stuck in our ways, that we forget that we aren’t the ones that are writing the story, God is. During difficult times we tend to shut people out, blame ourselves, and get angry with God. Trust me… I have been there! Finding out Hattie’s diagnosis was NOT an easy road for us, and it is definitely not what we had planned for. But I can say… that the second that I really opened up to the Lord, I have felt so much peace. He has brought some amazing people into our lives through this journey, and they have truly touched my heart. I feel like I am able to see the world through a whole new perspective.

I remember barefoot creek
And rolled up huckleberry jeans
And posters hanging on the wall
Of heroes that would never fall

Summer nights, kick the can
Huffy bikes and Peter Pan
But baby, this ain't Neverland
No baby, this ain't Neverland

Yeah, maybe life's not what I thought it'd be
It's nothing like my childhood fantasies
It's harder than I could've known
But higher than my hopes could've flown
And better than I ever could've dreamed
More villains and sad endings I suppose
But I'll take the thorns for this beautiful rose

Well, I heard you could make God laugh
By telling him the plans you have
And now I know that to be true
Cause I could never dream of you

Praise the Lord, there's something more than
What we think we're fighting for
Just think what we'd be missing
If we only got what we were wishing

Maybe life's not what I thought it'd be
It's nothing like my childhood fantasies
It's harder than I could've known
But higher than my hopes could've flown
And better than I ever could've dreamed
More villains and sad endings I suppose
But I'll take the thorns for this beautiful rose

Well, maybe life's not what I thought it'd be
Nothing like my childhood fantasies
It's harder than I could've known
But higher than my hopes could've flown
And better than I ever could've dreamed
More villains and sad endings I suppose
But I'll take the thorns for this beautiful rose
I'll take the thorns for this beautiful rose