So many of you have prayed for us, wept for us, watched and waited for us as we traveled though the diagnosis, birth, and many frightening hospitalizations of Peter; and the diagnosis, birth and death of my daughter Celeste.
Will you celebrate with me?
Once again, I carry within me a little girl. Last week at the ultrasound, we saw she is whole and entire – brain, nose, lips, heart. I carry within me a little girl who I will get to hold and love inside and outside my body. Please celebrate with us, and praise God with us. Mother Teresa wrote in her diary a quote: “There would come a time when God would fill what he had emptied.” I held these words close during the darkest time, knowing it possible we might not experience that this side of Heaven. I never imagined all he would give us after our time of crisis.
Now, this little girl is due in January. And we are overwhelmed with gratitude.
Thank you for the prayers you have prayed for us all these years. Our road goes on. It is still possible we may discover she has the same genetic mutation. Peter still has a chronic illness. But I don’t care. We have her. It is the joy God offers us now, and we embrace it wholeheartedly.
We plan to name her Stella Chiara.
Stella, after Ave Maris Stella – Our Lady Star of the Sea – who gives hope to those in darkness, and Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo who continued to move forward, offering her heart to God in joy (even after the prenatal diagnoses and infant deaths of her first two children) taking the road God set her on, ever open to discovering his will.
If you’re in the area, we want to invite you to our First Friday Holy Hour at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hughson on September 6, at 7 p.m. to praise God for his blessings.
This message wasn’t really meant to be an advertisement, but I will be holding this intention in my heart as I sing that night, and want to invite you to join us.
Thank you again for walking with us on this path.
