Day 14: Simple Love

The month of February is a very sentimental month for Josh and me.  On February 16th of 2007, we went on our first date.  We had mutual friends in high school, but had been out of touch since my graduation in 2000.  Near the end of 2006, I received a Myspace friend request from Josh and I accepted the request, thinking nothing of it.  Little did I know, it was his first step to getting back in touch with me.  A month passed and he sent me a message asking to hang out with a group of friends.  Looking back on it now, there is such a sweetness to the way he pursued a platonic relationship just so that he could get to know me.  He definitely pulled a fast one though, staging a "group" hang out that turned into a one on one dinner.  

With no expectations, anxiety or preoccupation, I met my friend for dinner, but by the end of the evening we both knew we were meant to be more than friends.  We were married five months later. We spent the first two years as a couple, getting pregnant by surprise in late Spring 2009.  Our little Hana had a March 2010 due date and by the end of January we were hustling to prepare for her arrival, decorating her nursery and hosting the baby shower in our home.  Amidst the busyness, I came down with bronchitis, which quickly turned into pneumonia-like symptoms.  My primary care physician called in antibiotics and an inhaler, and I thought I was on the mend so I continued working and busying myself with preparing for the baby.  

On February 11th of 2010, Josh and I met at the doctor's office for my 36 week check-up and ultrasound during our lunch hours, anticipating Hana's first 4D ultrasound.  I remember feeling fatigued, weak and out of breath due to my respiratory sickness, but I was unaware that my body was seriously dehydrated.  During the ultrasound, the sonographer realized that Hana was sitting in an amniotic sac with no fluid and wasn't receiving any blood through the umbilical cord.  Although we had no way of tracking how long she had been without fluid and blood, the fetal heart monitor picked up a slow but steady heart rate.  I was rushed rushed into an emergency c-section and by God's grace gave birth to Hana that afternoon, who came out quiet but strong.

Hana spent two weeks in the NICU fighting off jaundice and gaining an appetite.  God blessed us with the ability to be present for almost every one of her feedings.  I'll never forget watching her sweet, big, blue eyes when she would look up at me.  For a preemie, she had a strong, serious stare and her seriousness cracked up the nurses.  She was just so little!  She could practically swim in her preemie clothes!  

We spent that Valentine's Day in the hospital with Hana.  While February already carried a sense of nostalgia for us, Hana's birth created a sentiment beyond words.  Overjoyed with thankfulness and love, I kept finding myself reminded of this verse, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us..."  That verse comes out of 1 John 4:10-12 and it reads:

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

We are so blessed to be chosen and loved by God, our Father!  I am so thankful to live inside His love and to be able to extend His love through me.  Josh, Hana and myself complete His love every day by doing the simple things.  Love is only extravagant when it is shown in the simplest and purest of ways.