01 02 03 Down In My Heart Joy!: Twenty Four Weeks 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Twenty Four Weeks

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Dear Beta,

When you emerge from your nine-month hiding place, you will already be saturated in love.  Completely welcome, entirely accepted, hopefully expected, and dearly loved.  Not only by myself, your Daddy, and our extended family, but by Jesus.

My mom, your Grandmama, said something beautiful the other day.  The love of God is hard for many people to grasp.  We can spend our entire life trying to comprehend, accept, and give away, His love.  Unfortunately, we may also spend much of life trying to earn, barter, deny, or prove His love.  If we believe in Him, we frequently get stuck in the “earn” His love camp.  Your Grandmama compared God’s love for each person, to the love I have for you already.

You have done nothing to earn my love except exist.  Just the fact that you are alive, have been created, has brought you incredible love.  And it is just so with God.  We need do nothing, in fact, can do nothing, to earn His love.  He created us.  We exist.  And by the mere fact of our existence, we are dearly and deeply loved as His children.

I pray His love will saturate your awareness from an early age.  That you won’t try to earn it, barter for it, deny it, or prove it.  That His acceptance of you, desire for you, and passionate abandoned love for you will capture your heart.

This poem by Rita Ramsey says it beautifully.

We've all been waiting for you.
For you.
Your arrival has been marked, has been recorded
on earth,
in the universe,
in the galaxies,
in all of space,
in all of time.

You come with a birthright, written in love and sung
through all Creation in words which promise
that no matter where you're at,
you're home
that no matter who you're with,
you're welcome
that no matter who you are,
you're loved.
Welcome. 
 



 

From now through birth, you will put on about three ounces per week.  This weight will be primarily made up of muscle, bone mass, and organ size.  You now weigh a bit over one pound, and are around twelve inches long!  I chose this zucchini and also this kabocha squash to represent your size this week.

When I held the zucchini in my hand, I kept picturing the tiny grain of rice in my palm that represented your size when we first found out about you.  It is mind-boggling to think you have grown so much bigger, so quickly.

Shockingly, you are now considered viable outside the womb.  But don’t make any big plans yet, because we fully intend for you to remain happily in your swimming hole for another four months!

Your lungs are developing capabilities for breathing.  Key to that ability is the production of surfactant, a fatty substance which helps the air sacs inside your lungs inflate easily, and also be prevented from collapsing.

On top of your head may be growing, not just fuzzy lanugo hair, but REAL hair.  Some babies are born bald, and others are born with a full head of hair.  We will see how yours grows!

Your eyelids can be clearly distinguished, and creases are visible on your palms.  Your taste buds are forming, and you might actually grimace if I eat something bitter or sour!

All the internal and external parts of your hearing are complete.  Just this past week, I have noticed you start bumping around when I blow dry my hair in the morning.  I’m guessing you can hear that loud noise!

Scripture says many beautiful things about the love of God, but here are a few that I am praying over you this week.

 “[I AM] Yahweh! The LORD!
      The God of compassion and mercy!
   I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.”
(Exodus 34:6)

“Praise the LORD your God, who delights in you.”
(1 Kings 10:9)

“O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth.
You keep your covenant and show unfailing love
to all who walk before You in wholehearted devotion.”
(2 Chronicles 6:14)

“But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You will not abandon us.”
(Nehemiah 9:17)

“For the LORD your God is living among you.
      He is a mighty Savior.
   He will take delight in you with gladness.
      With His love, he will calm all your fears.
      He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
(Zephaniah 3:17)

“How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
   All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”
(Psalm 36:7)

“May he reign under God’s protection forever.
      May Your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him.”
(Psalm 61:7)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
   Neither death nor life,
   neither angels nor demons,
   neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
   not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—\
   indeed, nothing in all creation will
Ever
   be able to separate us from the love of God
   that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:38-39)

“For God loved YOU so much that He gave His one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16)



Twenty Three Weeks
Twenty Two Weeks
Twenty One Weeks
Twenty Weeks
Nineteen Weeks
Eighteen Weeks
Seventeen Weeks
Sixteen Weeks
Fifteen Weeks
Fourteen Weeks
Thirteen Weeks
Twelve Weeks
Eleven Weeks
Ten Weeks
Nine Weeks
Eight Weeks 
Seven Weeks
Six Weeks
Five Weeks
Four Weeks


tags: twenty four weeks 24 weeks pregnant pregnancy blog, twenty four week size, what size, development, fetal, fetus, baby, belly, praying for baby, pray

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