Summer Maternity Session in Lexington, Kentucky
My heart. I photographed my childhood best friend’s maternity session while she was in town this weekend and I am OBSESSED. She is literally glowing. And I’m crying.
The girl I befriended in middle school, sat with every day on the bus, who later turned into someone I would consider a sister, is going to be a mom! I couldn’t be happier for her and her hubs. The fact that I just got to see and photograph her with a precious baby bump is bizarre and I love it. Linsey and I grew up together, we watched each other get married, and now I’m excited to get to watch her little family grow to a party of three.
This is something that Linsey and her husband have wanted for quite some time, and they have such a beautiful story.
Here are Linsey’s words:
“631 days.
We prayed in that time, of course, but prayer can be difficult when there seems to be no hope. When everyone else seems to be getting the answers to your prayers, while you still wait. When just keeping bitterness at bay takes all your strength.
But February was different.
In February, our church challenged us all to P28 (plus one...leap year): 29 days of praying for one minute for one thing at 1 pm. We started the month asking for clarity with the adoption process, which we had recently stepped into. We just needed some direction.
Around day 14 or 15, during my P28 prayer time, I became very (emotionally) honest with the Lord: I don't truly want to adopt right now. I want a biological child. I want pregnancy. I want all the beautiful and difficult things about a welcoming a baby that is part me and part him—this person I chose so he could be my kids' dad because daddyhood is his heart.
I sensed the Lord say to me:
Ask Me for that, then.
To hope after prolonged disappointment is not easy. To actively believe God can and will do something that He has not chosen to do for the 631 days you've asked Him feels unnatural. My gut said, "But what if..." His Spirit said, "Believe."
We made a decision to believe, and the remainder of our P28 prayers were prayed in full faith that He would give us this desire of our hearts. By the end of February, He had blown. us. away.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude that we will be meeting baby GIRL Blankenship in November! We're even more blessed that God will forever get all the glory for this little miracle.
My health journey affected fertility in ways I would not have realized on my own. So much work has gone into getting my gut and hormones healed and balanced. I knew progress was being made, but there was still no way to tell if or when everything would work the way it should for pregnancy to happen. So, while biology has a role here, the way and timing in which this happened points us straight to the One who gives good and perfect gifts!”
