Philippians 1:3

"I thank my God every time I remember you." ~ Philippians 1:3

It has been two weeks since the bittersweet day that we got to spend with our precious angel, Adalyn May. For all of you that have been following our story, I want you to know that we are still going strong. God has blessed us with the strength to continue on this journey and to spread the amazing story of our beautiful and wonderful little girl. 

A few days after her birth, we had a small memorial/celebration in honor of Addy. A friend of ours who is the young adult pastor at our church prepared a short but sweet service for us. Both sets of parents were there along with a couple friends we have grown close to this past year. The funeral home that we were working with picked her up from the hospital and got her cremated (at no cost). They bought a heart urn to put her ashes in and then we put that in a teddy bear. They told us they actually had to use two urns because she would not fit in one urn... Mark made the comment that she continues to be her stubborn self! We brought the bear to the service and placed her on the beautiful blankets that her grandmother's made for her. Everything was perfect and we are very thankful for everyone who aided in this process.

That Sunday we decided to make the trip home (Dayton, Ohio) to spend time with family and friends. Surrounding ourselves with people who love us and support us has helped to renew our strength. On Sunday, we got to go back to the church that we were members at before we moved. They invited our entire family up to the front during the service to receive prayer, and after service others from the church prayed for me and Mark. We definitely felt His presence during this time and we were also encouraged by what we heard from the members. 

Being told that we have inspired people and made an impact on others' lives gave us so much encouragement and inspiration to continue on this journey. So many people told us how much of an impact our precious Adalyn made on their life, and will continue to make. We also heard that we have helped to be a poster child for anti-abortion. To know that our story may save a child's life in the future reminds me of part of the reason our little girl was given to us. 

On Friday, I met up with friends for our old ritual of dinner at El Toro. It used to be a weekly routine to get together there once a week to catch up with friends. A few of them gave us some gifts in memory of Addy. One of the gifts was a beautiful photo album that had Adalyn's name engraved on it along with Philippians 1:3. This verse says "I thank my God every time I remember you." It was the perfect verse and could not have been said more perfectly. Every night since she was born, Mark and I spend some time talking to Adalyn before we go to bed. I make sure to tell her how proud I am to be her mommy and how thankful I am that she is mine. We also say a prayer thanking God for our perfect little girl.

Of course we are still grieving, and will continue to grieve for our precious angel for a long time, but we are still at peace and extremely thankful that she was put in our lives. I constantly tell Mark how much I miss her and wish that I could hold her in my arms. I will always wish that we could watch her grow up and see what kind of amazing woman she becomes. We will not get to see who was right in our argument about whether she becomes a goalie like her dad or a forward like her mom. Or whether she even plays soccer for that matter! I will never get to watch Mark walk her down the aisle for her wedding or dance with her for the father/daughter dance after. All of these things make me sad and angry at times, but I will never regret a single memory we have with her. I know that Adalyn was created for us and given to us for a reason, and we will always cherish that. We will forever be her parents and will forever love her. One day we will have brothers and sisters for her, and she will get to be their guardian angel. Grandma Scholz said that she will have her hands full with that, since their daddy was such a trouble maker from the start!

We cannot wait to be reunited with our Addy May and to get to do the things we would have done on this earth together. Until that day we are reunited with our little girl, we will continue to take every day one day at a time, and will always ask for prayers for strength. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" ~ Philippians 4:13. 

On another note, Mark came up with an idea to help keep Adalyn's memory alive. We designed some wrist bands to wear in memory of her. They have her name and birthday in pink writing (for our little princess). For those of you who I see or will see, if you would like one please feel free to let me know. They even glow in the dark (of course Addy wants to make a statement!)