God of All Comfort

I have had a lot on my mind and heart lately. It actually feels good to write it out and share it with you. This is my chance to be able to share what the Lord has been showing us through this time in our lives. It helps me to get some things off my mind, but at the same time I am hoping it might minister to someone out there as well.

Because we live in a small town with a smaller hospital, we had to be flown to Portland, Oregon to OHSU when I had gone into pre-term labor to be somewhere that was equipped for Seth to be born pre-term and deal with his gastroschisis. As soon as we heard we were being flown out, we had called our parents to let them know and they immediately were on their way to Portland to be there with us. Our parents were a huge blessing to us as we were at the hospital for that week waiting to see what was going to happen and then when we found out that the Lord had taken Seth to be with Him, it was such a relief to have our parents there with us. You see, it is an amazing thing to me how the Lord has orchestrated the lives of Matthew and I and our families. Matthew's parents had lost their first born son, Brian, just a few days after he was born. My parents had also lost a daughter, Marguerite, just a few days after she was born. And now the Lord who has brought Matthew and I together, took our son Seth to be with Him. With all three of these babies in our family, none of their causes of death were connected in any way. Some might say that is so weird! But I say, that is the hand of God in our lives. 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 says...
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

We were and still are being comforted by those who have been comforted! The Lord brought our parents through very similar situations and have healed their broken hearts through the years and with the comfort that they have recieved by God they now in return were comforting us. This has been such a blessing and strength to us and I praise God for our parents and the comfort that they have brought to us.

Matthew and I have not experienced anything like this in our lives until now. We have not known heartache and pain and loss like this. But now we are able to reach out and comfort those in need like we were not able to before. We are now able to "comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." I know it's not a new thing. We have read these verses and have known them all our lives, but the comfort of God and the comfort that we ourselves have recieved and are now able to give out, is a new revelation to us. We now know the comfort of our God and how precious it is to be held by Him. I looked up the actual definition of the word "comfort". It is a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain. This is so true because in that moment that I am being comforted by God or by our parents, I am in a state of knowing that everything is going to be all right and at that moment not feeling my heartbreak, but being at peace. Knowing the God of all comfort is just one of the many ways that we have gone deeper with Him through all of this and we are so thankful to Him for allowing us to experience this comfort.

2010...A Year of Healing

As most of you know, the Lord took our precious baby boy, Seth Taylor Shrewsberry, home to be with Him on November 21st. It was the hardest day of Matthew and my life to meet our baby boy and then to have to say good-bye to him. It's the first time in my life that I have experienced a broken heart. My heart goes out to those with broken hearts because it is absolutely the worst feeling in the world! It's an amazing thing to me how much love we have for Seth and how much we miss him even though we did not get the blessing and privelege of raising him and knowing him as we wanted to. I don't know how anyone could go through something like this without the Lord Jesus in their lives. He has been the One holding our hearts and slowly piecing them back together as He is healing them. He has been our strength everyday. He has revealed Himself to us in a way that, I believe, He only could by going through something like this. We have always heard that to go deeper with God you will need to go through deep things. I always wanted to go deeper with God, but was always afraid to go through the deep things to get there. As you go through deep things though, I now know that He carries you through the whole way. I know it may sound strange, but Matthew and I are so thankful to the Lord for having us go through the deep with Him because of what He has done in our hearts and lives through baby Seth. The Lord has really revealed Himself to us in ways we didn't know Him. The Lord has been encouraging us to really trust Him and to put our faith in Him and we believe the Lord has said to us ever since Seth past away, "you have not gone this way before." This is true, we have not gone this way, the way of heartache and grief, the way of sadness and mourning. This scripture is found in Joshua chapter 3, as the Lord was preparing the children of Israel to cross over the Jordan River into the promised land. It's interesting because that is where our Pastor shared out of yesterday in church. We know that the Lord is good and only has perfect plans for us. This was one of them. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 We have the blessed hope of being reunited with our baby boy one day in heaven. What a day that will be! Heaven is so much sweeter to us. Going through this has given us a deeper desire for Jesus and heaven!
So as we begin a new year, I don't know what the Lord has in store for us, but I do know that it is going to be a year of healing for us. We are taking it one day at a time, moment by moment needing His strength to get us through. We know He is faithful and "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in us will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6
We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for us through this difficult time in our lives. We have been lifted up by your prayers and are greatly encouraged knowing we are loved and being prayed for. We hope and pray everyone has a blessed new year and whatever you are going through that the Lord would be priority and would be glorified in your lives this year. I want to leave you with Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11...
"God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though it's waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with it's swelling. Selah
Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

God bless you! We love you!
Love,
Matthew & Megan

Fun Filled Weekend

Our weekend was filled with Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, and birthday fun...
On Saturday we went to our church's Harvest Party. The boys had a great time playing all the games and filling their bags with yummy candy.

Jake aka Buzz LightyearBenjamin aka Nemo (minus his cute fin hat that we could not keep on his head without tears)Dash (our nephew Ethan) & Buzz LightyearOur friend Jim who is a fisherman guide caught a 30 pounder
On Sunday we celebrated my father-in-law Chuck's 60th birthday with the family. I am so thankful to the Lord for my father-in-law. He is a great encouragement to us in the Lord. Happy 60th Birthday Chuck! We love you!!Papa and the grandboys

Prayer For Our Baby

"For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:13-14I wasn't going to post this on my blog, but yesterday my husband asked me, "Why not?" My reasoning was that I didn't want the whole world knowing our baby's business (not like the whole world looks at my blog anyway). And then I got to thinking that who cares if people I don't know look at my blog. If they are praying for our baby then that is all that matters.
Well, when we had our ultrasound to find out if our baby was a boy or girl, our doctor saw something that he was concerned with so he sent us to a high risk neo-natal doctor the next week to have it checked out. We were praying that whole week that it would be nothing and the Lord would heal our baby. But when we went last week they did find that our baby boy has a condition called gastroschisis. This is where the opening by the umbilical cord never closed completely and left room for his intestines to float out of his stomach. So this means that I will be induced early and our precious baby boy will have to have surgery as soon as he is born to correct this. It was very hard news to hear for us, but we are trying to trust the Lord with our baby's life. We know that He is forming this baby in my womb and that He is good and faithful. It is a trial that we were not expecting in our lives, but the Lord is going to use this in our lives and the lives around us to bring glory to Himself. So as we still have a ways to go before he is born, we are taking it a day at a time, moment by moment to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. The scripture that the Lord keeps bringing to us is...
"Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:1-2
We are praying for complete healing in my womb, but if that is not the Lord's will than that our baby would be able to have the surgery after he is born and recover perfectly. So we ask that you please join us in praying for our precious baby boy!