*This one’s for Laura and her Sister. I forgive you, and I’m sorry, too.
“On Sunday morning, the gospel choir would walk by my cottage in their robes, singing Oh shout it out! The first time I heard them, I ran to the front porch in my bathrobe and started crying. They pulled children in wagons, their voices visible in the cool air. Every Sunday I waited for this.
All I needed of religion, I realized, was the beautiful sound of someone else’s faith.”
-Megan Mayhew Bergman, Birds of a Lesser Paradise
Sometimes, Love Doesn’t Win. Or that’s how it feels anyway.
Sometimes we desperately need a miracle that never comes. We pray, we hope, we believe, we KNOW and we are left empty handed and broken hearted. Beloved parents and sisters and brothers and children die. Where the hell is God? We hold up our WTF? billboard prayers to the heavens. We wonder why other people got their miracles and we didn’t get ours. When we hear people say that PRAYER WORKS or that LOVE WINS or that IT ALL HAPPENS FOR REASON, we feel, well, a tad homicidal. None of it makes sense. Anybody worth talking to will admit that from the human perspective, life makes no sense. As my minister friend Anna – who lost her husband in a car crash- would promise us, it’s all just ABSURD. GREAT word to describe life, one of my favorites. ABSURD!
For twenty years I knew I would adopt a baby. I tried actively for seven years. Craig and I poured our hearts and energy and time and bank accounts into this dream time after time after time. We never gave up hope. We trusted in God. We followed the signs. We fully expected miracles. As you know, our third adoption- this time from Rwanda- fell through last month. We were so close this time that I could actually FEEL that baby in my arms.
After a few weeks of mourning, we decided that maybe our fourth baby would be biological. We talked to my doctor who said, in so many words . . . “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND? You are chronically ill. You can barely take care of yourself. No. No, no, no, no.”
When we left I said to Craig: Hm.What do you think she meant by that?
Honey, he said. You know what she meant by that. Everyone in the office knew what she meant by that. She was YELLING.
Right. Optimism and delusion are sooooo close.
No adoption. No pregnancy. No miracle. And we know, in our hearts, that it’s time to let that fourth baby go. I’m not healthy. It’s time to stop obsessing about that miracle- it’s time to take off our miracle blinders, and use our peripheral vision.
Because sometimes we don’t get our miracle, and that hurts like hell. But the way the world works is- if we turn our heads, we can still find one. We can share someone else’s miracle. We can enter into it and claim it as our own. It takes some work and humility and a STRONG WILL, but it can be done.
Look. I’m not going to get that Rwandan baby for whom we all prayed so hard. But turn your head. Use your miracle peripheral vision and CHECK THIS OUT.
Look at her. That’s my baby Sister. That’s my lobster. Who was crumbled on the floor, three years ago, with no hope, no GLIMMER of hope, facing a divorce that would leave the faith of our entire family in shambles.
She moved in with me after the divorce. I hung a sign on her wall that said, “For I know the plans I have for you says the LORD . . . plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
And we would both look at that sign, crying together in a Sister heap on the floor, and we would silently say to the sign, to God - BULLSHIT. Just, BULLSHIT.
Now please look at her. Eventually . . . . after a while – she stood up off that floor. She trusted the absurd world again. She found her other lobster, John. He is as kind and as gentle and as strong as a human being can be. And he loves her so much that I can finally, for the first time in my life, relax. For the first time in my life, I KNOW that my Sister is cared for by a man in a pure, deep, forever way.
And now she’s seven months pregnant. We are having a BABY, MONKEES!
For John’s sake, I hope that the baby’s not Rwandan. But I’m not gonna lie- it’d be nice for me.
IT’S MY PERIPHERAL MIRACLE. Do you see? I didn’t get my exact miracle, the one in my direct line of vision. But sometimes PERIPHERAL MIRACLES are even BETTER. Because you can love them and love them and love them but you don’t have to send PERIPHERAL MIRACLES to college.
I am so in love already.
We’re HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!
See. Still. Love Wins. Just gotta keep those eyes wide open and sometimes – turn our heads.
Love you forever.
G
[...] sometimes peripheral miracles are even better than your [...]
“For John’s sake, I hope the baby’s not Rwandan.” ….. BAHAHAHAHAH!!! Can’t stop laughing at that one.
Glennon, I don’t know if you have other nieces or nephews yet, but if you don’t … prepare to have your heart blown open by how much you will love this baby. I knew I would love mine, but I didn’t know I would love them like my own. Like, take-my-breath-away love. And the nephew that was born in the middle of our valley of secondary infertility? Oh, what a healing balm to my heart he was and what a precious place in my heart he will always hold!
So very very happy for you and Sister!! And John.
Glennon, I really love your blog. This is, however, the first time I am responding to a post. Your adoption posts really hit me hard, every single time. I am an adoptive mom to two little girls and the bio mom to another as well. I would love to have a 4th and it is not in our cards either. Three little princesses need a prince, right? I’ve been working on hard to let go and move on. And you are right, miracles happen in other ways. My BIL & SIL are (after 15 years) trying to adopt a baby of their own. It’s not time for my miracle – heck I’ve had 3. It’s now time for theirs. Letting go and moving on. I just keep saying it
Hooray! for Sister and John and G and the whole clan!!!!!
Love you!
I have been trying to comment for days, but I don’t seem to be able to get past the-read post, burst out crying, be completely incoherent for hours- phase. Life has kicked my ass this year. I try, and try, and*try* to make sense of it and I can’t. My WTF sign is weatherbeaten, because I am holding it up to the heavens on a daily basis. I don’t actually have anything to say other than this- Thank you for reminding me to use my peripheral vision. I am SURROUNDED by blessings every damned da,. and I fail to notice them, because they aren’t the blessings I ASKED for. But. It is probably more likely that I am asking for the wrong things, than God is giving me the wrong things, yes? Between me and God, I am pretty sure I’m the wrong one.
Glennon, your outlook on life is AMAZING! You have such a positive spirit even when looking through the darkest clouds. Peripheral miracles can be just as good as full on miracles and I would say, this is the most awesome kind of peripheral miracle!
[...] room for different miracles. Leave room for peripheral miracles*. Leave room for the possibility that you don’t know what you’re asking [...]
My sister (who was unable to conceive) always referred to my son as ‘our baby’. It was so nice to have her loving my son as her own! What great support for our family…and as any mom knows, it sure is nice to have ‘another mom’ to share the work load of a baby with. My son who is an ‘only child’ has a very close relationship with my sister. It is a blessing that he has someone else besides his parents to turn to to share his joys and to also receive support from when required.
I loved this post! Thank you!
MANDY- WOW WOW WOW …..you are wearing pregnancy RIGHT. The dress, the “F ME” shoes, …..the glow. You look AMAZING just as I imagine you would. MAZEL TOV to you & the entire Doyle family.
Love Ya, Sarita
Glennon- Speaking of hot momma….shoot girl motherhood has certainly done you right!! Love your blog & all of your stories. PS. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about those white badass shoes you had at JMU either. hehehe
Love, JewLo
“Optimism and delusion are sooooo close.” LOVE that! And congrats to Sister, and to you on new auntie-hood.
Congratulations to Sister and John!! And to every one else in the family too ofcourse
So so happy for them!!! 
Sister’s having a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First – you need a “like” button like on Facebook – I agree with so many commenters before me.
Second, Jeremiah 29:11 has been my absolutely favorite verse since I first came across it. I have lived with depression and anxiety for most of my life, and that verse always seems to give me hope. This is my cross, but its managable. I always to think of the story of the man who says he wants a different cross -then goes into the room and his is the smallest cross there. Then he gladly accepts his cross again. I have been through sorrows (in addition to and/or because of the insecurity, depression, etc.), but I am reminded that there are always those whose crosses I cannot imagine to bear – especially now that I am so blessed to have my girls.
My Life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.
Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.
- Anonymous
Sorry this has gotten so long, but to me the poem goes hand in hand with the scripture.
G – thank you so much for sharing your gifts with all of us. Prayers to Sister for a healthy and happy pregnancy and delivery. love
My Mom always says “God gives us the sorrows, but He always gives us the strength to bear them too”. I think it is true, because if He didn’t, it would be cruel, and I can’t believe in a cruel God. So maybe He do give us the sorrows just to show us how incredibly strong we are. I don’t know.
Glennon, I am very happy for you and for Sister.
Jodi, Your verse by the anonymous author is so beautiful. I will hang it where I can see it every day. It says so much.
BTW…teeny bit pissed about how good she looks. Not surprised, though.
Yay for Sister, and for your family. God is good and M will be in my prayers for a quick delivery.
Love to you all!
glennon, thank you for opening my eyes to my peripheral miracle! we’ve been trying to have baby number two for three and a half years now. i’ve had my own roller coaster of emotions from the “why can’t we’s” to the guilt of wanting more when we have a beautiful, smart, funny, perfect five year old daughter! my sister is a week and half away from delivering her first baby and you just make me realize God may be giving me my little miracle through her! He continues to bring people into my life that either by choice or not only have one child. they continue to show me all the positive possibilities of a family of three. i’m embracing the thougt of that being my reality! now when my sister delivers that sweet little boy that feel in my gut that it will be (they didn’t find out the sex), i won’t envy her for having the little boy that i’ve yearned for for three years. i will, instead, cry for joy that it is her that gets to wake up all through the night for the few months and try to figure out how to make him stop while my little angel sleeps soundly from 8:30-7:30 every night! thank you and the other monkees for being so honest and helping me feel, time and time again…..that i am not alone!
I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to read your post. Your honesty in the midst of struggles is appreciated. After spending 2 years trying to get pregnant, then resorting to IVF I had twin boys born at 28 weeks. Abraham and Moses. We lost Moses at 1 month due to severe heart complications. I was that “WTF!” woman for a long time. angry, not wanting anything to do with God… but afraid and embarassed to say how I REALLY felt. It took me along while to get past that and to reconcile with God – 3 years actually. Thank you for not being ashamed of the WTF and Bullshit feelings… Congrats to your beautiful sister…and to you Auntie!! Gods richest blessings to you both!
so stunning! so beautiful! i am happy for all of us b/c of this baby!
i must say i’ve had a very hard time w/ the jeremiah verse lately. i used to read it to jack in his hard 2-4th grade days, at night snuggled in his bed with him, and a little tear would form on his cheek. was the tear b/c he didn’t believe it? was it because he did?
i don’t know.
I would think a verse like this, particularly since you read it to Jack when he was struggling as a little guy, would be very very difficult to read/hear now. big cyber hugs.
You are the “chicken soup” of blogs. THANK YOU.
We *do* have to send our peripheral miracle to college…but, oh, how worth it! See, we were done having babies; done enough that we had bought *the dog.* But as a result of making up after the only fight we had ever had in our then 12 years of marriage, God decided that we weren’t done after all…
I cried for days. Literally. My kids thought I was losing my mind. And then, the miracle happened. God brought His perfect plan into clarity.
We had lost Hubs’ mother to cancer in March 2010. It was a devastating loss to our very close-knit family. At first, the thought of there being a grandchild that wouldn’t know her in this life was gut-wrenching. Until we discovered that our due date was the same week in March that Mom passed away. And until we were told our child was a girl. And until she was born on the actual second anniversary of Mom’s home-going.
Then, it wasn’t gut-wrenching anymore. What would have been a day of grief and sadness over what our family had lost became a day of joy and celebration for what we had gained. Even Dad–perhaps especially Dad–was thrilled with the gift and God’s timing for it.
We named her Josie. It means “God will add.” And, of course, she shares Mom’s name as her middle name. And even though the last six weeks of nursing and insomnia make us wonder whatever in the world we’ve gotten ourselves back into…it’s an unexpected miracle we can’t imagine having missed.
Love this story, thanks for sharing!
She’s so beautiful!
As far back as I can remember, I have had the desire to adopt children. When I was a little girl with blond pig-tails, I even had “adopted” babydolls that I lovingly cared for. Many years later, even after giving birth to three wonderful sons, the desire to adopt still tugged at my heart, finally bringing my husband and I to the point of investigating the adoption of a child from overseas. The huge expense put that dream to an end. We just couldn’t justify going into debt for that large an amount of money. My heart was broken as I felt a life-long dream slip through my hands.
God, however, had another idea for us, one we hadn’t even considered before, and brought us four more beautiful children…in one package! Once a week, our local newspaper runs a feature article about a child or siblings who are in foster care and need a forever family. Three months after seeing “our” children (a sibling group of four) in the newspaper, they moved in and joined our family. There are thousands of children,currently in foster care, who are waiting for someone to make a commitment to them, to love them, to give them what all children deserve…a family. And no one has to go into debt to afford this kind of adoption!
Please, if you are at all interested in adoption, prayerfully consider caring for the least of these by getting more information from your local social service agencies. Also, Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy’s Restaurants) has a great website that addresses adopting from foster care. OK…stepping off my soapbox, now! Thanks for letting me share something I’m so passionate about.
CONGRATULATIONS SISTER!!! YOU LOOK STUNNING!
Can I turn my head back to normal now?
g – i have known the sister heap of pain and devastation and the sister heap of rolling on the floor with laughter and joy… you penned it pretty and perfect like.
and boy have i know the believing in the bullshit of “For I know the plans I have for you says the LORD . . . plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11…
i needed to hear that today. and i needed to share in some joy. thanks for another amazing post. keep the miracles coming this has been a blissful week!
“You look stunning” = Pending mommyhood looks very good on you.
Also I’m praying for a healthy pregnancy and smooth delivery.
peripheral miracles. what a neat way to say it!
congrats to Sister and you and the whole fam damily!
Congratulations to Sister and you!
Oh. My. Yes.
Peripheral miracles.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I haven’t cried in a long time after having read one of your posts, G. Teared up, yes, but no crying. Who knows, maybe the Cymbalta is working too well. But I’m crying today! God bless you, sweet G, and gorgeous Mandy and that miracle baby (who’ll maybe enter the world on my and Grandma Doyle’s birthday?!) I greatly appreciate this reminder of turning my head to look for the miracles. I’m keeping my peripheral vision sharp, sister! Love you.
Congratulations to your Sister and your whole family!! What a blessing and a miracle!
Isn’t it amazing how God can turn our hurt and heartache into something so wonderful. Hubby and I have tried for eight years to have a family of our own after losing our two wonderful twin boys shortly after their arrival. For months and months I couldn’t even look at another baby without crying and feeling a total sense of loss; (Truthfully, I sometimes still do) which was so hard since everyone we knew was either pregnant or had just had their own special little one. I was hurt and angry at, well, everyone and everything. I had shut out everyone in my life and just wanted to bury myself in my grief. Then after months and months of praying and asking why and asking God to let me see the light at the end of the tunnel my best friend in the whole world called to tell me she was finally pregnant! Her and her husband had been trying for years and after many early miscarries, she was “in the clear” as her doctor said. Things were looking wonderful and going great. The thing that hit me so hard was that my best friend, the person who knows me better than just about anyone, didn’t tell me this news for 6 whole months (we live hundreds miles apart) because she didn’t want to hurt me. I realized that I had my eyes closed to the miracles that were happening around me and was missing out on sharing happiness and joy with those I loved. I wouldn’t let myself get over the loss of my own miracle and it’s not that I am “over it” , I never will be it’s just that my friends call and her being so scared to share such wonderful news of her miracle really opened my eyes. God removed the walls that I had built up in seconds. For the first time in so long I was able to cry tears of joy and feel happy and that was the beginning of my healing. God sure is amazing!!!
G’s post reared me up, and your comment made me cry! Bless you, and I said a prayer that your dream will come true, too!
***Teared up, not reared!!
Thank you Zoey! God has really worked in Hubby and I’s life. He has seen to it that we are a huge part of so many of our friends and families children’s lives. We still have that dream and hope for our own miracle of children in the future and are comforted by the fact that we know He has a plan for us! He has recently put upon our hearts to look into fostering and adoption so that is the next step
God’s blessing to you! Monkees ROCK!!!
I haven’t really experienced any WTF moments as of yet. Not terrible ones…yet. However, from my very minuscule perspective, I wonder and I think that perhaps we need to stop asking why and being so upset with God when the bad things come because basically it is our own fault. It started with Eve (and Adam) and it won’t get any better until heaven. God made the world perfect and we mucked it up. It all boils down to sin I guess and we are the ones to blame, not God. Years and years of sin and consequences is why this sad stuff in life happens. A challenge to myself and to you all is to cling to Him through it all, and ask for peace and wisdom throughout it. We aren’t here to become happy,(unfortunately) we are here to know Him and make Him known.
Hmmmm really? So when my husband died and left me with a 2 and 5 year old to raise alone it’s my fault. His fault?
Lucky for you that you have not had WTF moments. I had them daily for a couple years. Four years later…comments like this make my blood boil. And having these moments does not make me any less of a person. I am real. And I struggle because I refuse to pretend.
Hugs Dana! So glad you keep hanging on and fighting for yourself, your little ones and the ones that love you. I can’t imagine living through the pain.
Thinking of you and praying!
Thank you. I am really not angry as my reply sounds. I let the anger go almost immediately. But to hear its my fault because I am a sinner. No. That makes me angry.
I need prayers because my faith was rocked and has not been restored. Thank you!L
For sure, praying with you for all of us, girl! I believe in a God of hope and love. He’s carrying you, friend.
Let me first say I am so sorry for your loss and the struggles you and your children have gone though. I don’t know why things happen they way they do. My Hubby and I lost our twin boys and I still don’t understand it; I never will. I took comfort ( though the comfort took a while to get to) in the fact that I could be sad, mad, hurt, angry, etc. and ask God wtf and know that no matter what He was listening and standing right beside me. He knew and knows the hurt and pain. He wants us to come to Him with our fears, concerns and anger. I am thinking and praying for you and your kids.
Thank you. I am so sorry you lost your children. That has to be the worst pain there is. Thanks for the prayers. My sweet girls are doing so well but it’s my life mission to make sure they do!!
Love to you too! So sorry for your loss.
YAY for peripheral miracles AND not having to send them to college!!!
and it is SO wonderful when those you love are loved the way you would have them be!!!
Your stories come at the perfect timing, when I just need a little reminder of love, life or patience! I recently miscarried at 16 weeks and the last 5 weeks I have been very reflective, trying to see the bright side of things, etc. and every once in awhile I check and see what you have to say and it is always perfect! Thank you!
That was our wedding verse! I was just thinking about it yesterday on my commute to work. So thankful for your peripheral miracle and the encouragement. My eyes are wide open!
Glennon, Congratulations to you and sister! Sisters can absolutely be our vicarious miracle. My sweet sister had just given up any hopes of having a baby after four years of trying. And, she is Pregnant! I ran and lost my own infertility gauntlet years ago, and I feel like we this pregnancy is part mine. When she first told me she was pregnant I couldn’t have been happier if it was me. I was on a happy high for three days. I wanted to tell everyone. Due to some small complications she had to have an early ultra sound. The tech said she did not even know how that baby found a spot to implant. It is pretty miraculous. When I pray for her and that little baby I find myself saying “Please God, let this baby make it all the way, and do it for us.” This is our miracle.
Your stories are amazing and uplifting! Thank you for sharing these events which inspire me to do more.
That’s awesome! And for all the Monkees who are wanting to adopt, don’t forget about foster care. We are finishing up our safety inspection on Monday and then we’ll just be waiting for “the call”! The nursery is ready and we’re told to expect an infant in June. Plenty of kids needing sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent homes.
how amazing! i am continuously in awe of families that do foster care. good luck and god bless!
Crying. Such a moving sentiment. Miracles are all around us, and most of the time we are so caught up in the hustle-bustle of everyday life that we MISS them.
I keep thinking, surely this blogger will run out of moving, insightful things to say. And yet, I continue clicking the Momastery link in my Favorites, and once again, I’m crying.
Thanks for the intangible gifts you give your readers.
[...] Day Four of Glennon Melton’s Miracle Week. Her post today is another winner. It’s about perspective and how you have to sometimes get a new one if you’re really [...]
My sister is seven months pregnant with the first baby in our family. I am more than excited for my ‘peripheral miracle.’
I’ve seen this quote a few times, and I firmly believe it is true:
“Everything will be alright in the end. If things aren’t alright, then it isn’t the end.”
LOVE IT!!!! Thank you for sharing that quote!
One of my favorites!
I love it. (Crying as I read it, but I still love it.)
Your sister looks so beautiful, pregnant. I am 20 weeks pregnant (with my second), and I don’t think I have ever looked so great pregnant.
Glennon, maybe for your second book you could give some tips and how tos for those of us who would also like to adopt, but have no idea where to start. Maybe all the effort and tears and emotions spent on adoption doesn’t have to be a waste. Maybe you can help some other Monkees with their adoption adventures.
Congratulations to all of you! That picture is absolutely beautiful. And I am going to start “turning my head” starting now. GREAT advise. Love you all!
My husband got cancer. I guess our miracle is that if he hadn’t gotten cancer and been out on leave recovering from surgery, he would probably have died in the Pentagon crash on 9/11. Hubby is still here 12 yrs later and we have two miracle children too, ages 8 and 9!! Thank you G for what you do!
It is time to lay my adoption dream of our Ethiopian little girl aside too. I’ve known I needed to do this for awhile… I just still can’t get past all of God’s words to me about adopting. All the money we spent. All our kids’ excitement – and ours. Knowing God put this on my heart 7 years ago & we’ve set it aside once already (our daughter from China ended up with Reactive Attachment Disorder – tough stuff!). I just can’t wrap my head around it yet. Thanks for being my example. Hopefully, I’m right behind you…
love to you, holly.
Yay Sister! Congratulations to both of you!
So wonderful and exciting news! Thank you for reminding me to turn my head. You (and these fab Monkees!) once again have managed to put into beautiful words what I feel when I hear,”It’s God’s will”, etc. after crappy things happen. Through this blog I have realized the And/Both can exist (and does!) and life is hard and absurd and if we constantly look down we also miss the amazing and the miracles!
Congrats G and Sister! Love, love, love!!
NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. stop writing! Each time I come here, I am completely blessed and my faith grows. Thank you. Congratulations to Sister!
Your sister looks great. Congrats! I saw this in my reader today and thought of you. It’s about a family who decides to “adopt” a plus one person each time they get groceries or ice cream they add another homeless person to their family for that moment. She looks at it as a revolving adoption in a sense. . I read it and thought of you immediately so I hope you can read it.
http://deeperstory.com/jesus-had-blue-eyes-or-plus-one/
Love it!! Thank you for sharing that story as well.
This is great.
How wonderful!
Please tell me that is not what she really looks like at 7months?! Come on! I was running and lifting and looked like the goodyear blimp at that stage.
You sisters,,,I am not so sure I like you anymore:).
Congratulations!!! Beautiful!!!
Haha … me too (@ looking like a blimp when pregnant). I try to rejoice with those ‘holding a basketball” ladies but it’s really, really hard to do
Congrats to Sister and G! (and, I guess we’ll throw John and the rest of the family in on that too
Just love this post, so happy for the whole family. Glow on Sister. And G, dont forget, dear heart, you adopted a gamillion of us and wont be able to get rid of us through the terrible twos and teen years.
One of my favorite quotes …..’the real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but looking with new eyes’. Thank you again, for reminding us to look up and sideways with those new eyes.
THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS!!!
I was just talking to my husband the other day of how sick I am of all the “it will work out in the end messages”. Too sugarcoated for me. And how sometimes there AREN’T miracles (or at least not the ones we’re looking for). I recently lost my job, and, since I support my husband and I (he is working on his PhD), this is kind of a big deal. Particularly when there seem to be no new job opportunities in my field in sight. And approximately 132409754 of my friends have found their “dream job” in the past 4-6 months. Here’s hopin for a miracle…even if it’s just a peripheral one.
I know how you feel! My husband’s been unemployed for 9 months now with a bajillion dollars of law school loans and our friends keep getting jobs after only weeks of looking. It’s the worst. Hoping our miracles happen soon!
It’s kind of nice to know I’m not the only one. Good luck and prayers to you both!
My mantra paraphrases Madeleine L’Engle: God never promised that bad things wouldn’t happen, only that they would matter. It matters: tragedy, miracle, whatever: it matters. I have never believed that God “makes” miracles happen (because what kind of f*&#ed up God would choose to punish people that he loves by withholding miracles? what, to teach us a “lesson”? Do we withhold a true miracles from our children to “teach them a lesson”?) God is with us, no matter what happens. And God helps give us the strength and the patience to notice when WE can be a part of making miracles happen – and you’re leading the way on that one, Glennon. Thank you for being a noticer.
I love that Jennie, you are so right. God doesn’t with-hold miracles. And yes, sometimes life gets in the way of living, and we have to pick ourselves up and move on.
Thank you G. I love your blog. It is a little ray of sunshine that helps me get through my mornings.
Love it!
TURN YOUR HEAD. Brilliant. As happy as I was when I read about the Croyles, I winced when I saw “love wins.” Because we all know it doesn’t always. It does eventually, but that can be a long, brutal time. And saying “love wins” or the equivalent (“you know there’s always a reason”, “It’s in God’s plan”, “Be grateful”) to someone who just had their heart shattered can be cruel and dismissive.
So I love love love this. And love Sister’s beaming smile and gorgeous bump.
stop making me cry dammit.
Yeah!!!! She’s just as cute as can be!
I’ve spent far too much time on the miracles I didn’t receive. Your words acknowledge the pain of missed miracles so beautifully. What a wonderful way to open up perspective. Thank you for demonstrating a wholehearted life.
That’s just beautiful. And so, so true. Sometimes all I pray for is a change in my perspective, in my point of view, so that I can see things a little differently and find the sparkle in a situation that I know is hiding somewhere, and sometimes it is SO hard to find it. Thanks for reminding me that it’s in there somewhere. So happy for you and your family
Thank you for the reminder of peripheral miracles. My nephew certainly is one to me. I’m so glad and ecstatic he is in my world.
cutest.babybump.ever.
Absolutely needed a “turn my head” moment…And a reminder that when we are on the floor, looking up at the sign saying God has a plan, and wondering “really????”… The answer is, “yes.” So happy for your sister. As many others have commented, she truly is glowing. Good things happening to great people. That’s what makes life worth living.
I’m really trying hard to turn my head as I sit here having my own WTF moment. As high as I was feeling yesterday, I’m feeling just as low today. I only see darkness whichever way I look.
Tomorrow may bring you back to where you were yesterday. That’s just how life is sometimes. Keep that in mind for today. If you need help from the Monkee community, please ask.
I honestly think there are times when there IS darkness all around. That’s when I turn and ask God to hold me and give me hope. It’s wild, but he ALWAYS does in some way or another.
Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!! WONDERFUL NEWS!!! LOVE WINS ALWAYS!!!!!!!
XoXo Susie M.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have been thinking about those who don’t get “their” miracles, after reading your post about the Croyles, and other Monkees’ posts about their own miracles. And this is the perfect response: first, that life is absurd (a better word than unfair, I think) and second, that we can adopt (I hope using that word is not hurtful!) other miracles than the ones we were praying for. Not getting the miracle we longed for — maybe even losing out on the miracle of life itself — doesn’t mean that we are exiled from the world of miracles.
Fantastic!
Sister looks so beautiful and happy! Thanks for sharing real life because it produces “real” life in others! It’s safe to be real! Hey, hey we’re the monkees….. and we’re too busy singing to put anybody down!!
Congratulations Mandy!!! and Tia G. Mandy is proof of the glowing pregnant lady. She has always been beautiful but in the picture she is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Mike ;and Megan adopted two loves from Uganda— Joshua and Issac. They are such a blessing to our family and my lovies. I have gone from 2 to 6 grandchildren in 18 months. Mike and Megan were told that it would be difficult to ever have a baby of their own —and we have the dudes. Low and behold in early February after not feeling well for many months, Megan’s Dr. discovered that she was about 6 months pregnant. Last Friday, Joshua and Issac became big brothers to baby Jonah — another miracle child to go with the two we already have in the M&M Clarke family. My daughter got married and had her first baby at the ripe old age of 39. They are so happy and enjoying baby James. I also have my first two blessings, McCain and Marra, who are 7 and 5. Who knew that we would see our family expand and grow in such an amazing way. Miracles sneak up when you least expect them and blow your socks off.
The tiny monkee on the way will be a blessing and be blessed to be born into your family. Glennon, I know that you will rock as Tia G. and that the cousins will have a blast watching and enjoying the newest family member. Way to Go, Mandy and John!!!
Turn your head.This will be my new mantra when things are not going the way I want them to or how I had planned. Turn you head, Eliza, turn your head!
she looks so beautiful!!!!
So, so, so happy for Sister and for you! I could write more, but that sums it up, HAPPY!
Still laughing about the baby being Rwandan for your sake. You always throw in something unexpected Glennon that makes me smile for a long time after I turn off my computer. I will definitely start trying to use better peripheral vision.
Dana
This one is important to me. I have been praying for a certain miracle in my life for years, and I think I’m okay with it not happening…or not happening yet. In the meantime, its great to feel like I can grow in my love and appreciation of the miracles that are happening around me. To really share in the joy of others and make it my own in a certain sense. Because are all together in this! Feeling like I am doing something wrong and thats why things arent working out, or getting better, is a really hard and devastating feeling. This is a better approach. Thanks for the reminder and easing a little pressure off my heart…
Congratulations Sister! Also, love those red shoes.
Should be angry at you for making me cry before 10am, but how can I stay mad when you write SO beautifully? I am so moved by your faith and trust in the Lord, your honesty and your love. Most of all I am moved by your generosity for sharing all of this so beautifully with all of us. Bless you, your sister and the little miracle on the way!
Glennon, thank you SO MUCH for doing this miracle week series! It’s awesome to see the power of what’s happening among people here. Any chance we could make this a regular occurrence?
Another beautiful post so eloquently written as always Glennon! Thanks for making me cry this early in the morning.
So happy for Sister – and your family! I love this perspective – it has opened my eyes to perhaps what I am not seeing on a daily basis. Thank you for all the miracles this week – both the ones you share and the ones the Monkees comment about. xoxo Kent
Congratulations to Sister, John, Glennon and your entire beautiful family! I am so happy to hear about your miracle!
I have been a Monkee for quite some time now, but I have never had the courage to speak up until now. I feel like finding Momastery has been my miracle because all of you came into my life just when I needed you the most. Thank you to Glennon and all of the Monkees for adding more blessings to my life. Love wins.
So beautiful Glennon! It reminds me of a quote I read yesterday:
If I am only happy for myself, many fewer chances for happiness. If I am happy when good things happen to other people, billions more chances to be happy! – The Dalai Lama
Right on as usual! Congratulations!
[...] was reading another blog this morning which talked about peripheral miracles…the ones that happen in your [...]
Thrilled for your whole family! What a lucky baby!
I read something (in Oprah, I think) about how our main purpose in life is simply to meet our potential. That’s a mighty powerful, all encompassing purpose, I believe! I don’t feel that we can accomplish this if we don’t keep our eyes open wide, turn our heads, appreciate the good, and battle through the WTF moments.
I think your message today was necessary, Glennon. A dose of reality and a heaping helping of hope.
Mandy Doyle…you are one inspirational woman! Congratulations!
This just washed over me like a breath of fresh air…life makes no sense whatsoever and it’s so hard to keep the faith when you feel that kind of crushing disappointment. But you’re right – when you are focused so hard on what’s in front of you, sometimes you miss what’s going on to the side. Great post.
G- So amazing, the quote is so me!! that’s why I’m here
And yay for your lobster and all of you, she looks fabulous!!!! Love and light!!
YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!!
Beautiful blog, today. I love how your perspective changes as needed and you celebrated a miracle of love and perseverance. Congratulations!
Lovely as always and congratulations!
I didn’t know I could smile through my tears until I realized I was doing it. Sobbing like a waterfall while laughing. I think I may have acctually choked. But I’m okay now. I’m breathing again. I am so excited for Sister! I am so sad/happy for you! I thought for a long while I was going to lose my little brother. Not in the dying way, in the worse way where I watched him angry and sad stop believing in miracles. I watched him drop like a rock, and I couldn’t reach him. Over and over angry words were his response to any kindness. Then one day, he got on a bus and turned his head. He saw his now second wife and felt his own heartbeat. Life is not perfect for him. They still have some learning to do, but she took his hand and brought him back from dark. Now he glows. Sometimes he flickers, but now he glows. I wanted a miracle for him. I wanted his first wife to stop destroying their family. I wanted my niece back. (I WON’T let go of that want yet) but there was a different miracle that God had in mind. She is silly and shy and young but oh she cares so well for my brother. I can see him glow. When you keep on walking into a wall, it doesn’t mean the end. It just means your hallway turned a corner. Turn to the side, and look! You can keep going! You’re even continuing forward!
Thanks for sharing Hillary! I have locked into that hope/prayer for your niece and I will be praying for miracles to abound!
Linda, thank you a million times a million for praying that we get my sweet niece back! I am so so so grateful!!!
“When you keep on walking into a wall, it doesn’t mean the end. It just means your hallway turned a corner. Turn to the side, and look!”
So well put! Thank you for that.
Ps: THRILLED for Sister! LOVE that there is always hope and that she is experiencing so much life, love and joy now! HOW INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL!
It is always so refreshing to hear your authentic heart. It is one thing that draws me to people and you don’t see a lot of that vulnerability these days. Makes it tough to find friends to connect with. I really and truly enjoy reading your posts!! Thanks for being you! I shared this post, as I often do. Hoping and praying that it touches hearts. While the pain is still there for your miracle that didn’t come to fruition, the one you spoke of as well as many others I’m sure, I am glad that you take the time to look around and find miracles to be a part of. It is so encouraging to hear hope, life, love even when we feel like WTF! None of us are exempt. Everyone has unfulfilled miracles and wants to scream WTF! Embracing life with you and so thankful for your blogs that cheer us on! Shine on, sister! Thank you from the bottom of my heart and then some!
i loved your comment about vulnerability and so agree. Where are the people who want to share their real heart, real struggles, real life, instead of just talking about ‘youth sports’ as my husband calls it?
Alison, thankfully, I have some from childhood. As an adult though, that is a tough situation for making friends in new places!
Just look at her! She is beyond beautiful. She looks so much like your mom in the second picture, it’s unreal. I got goosebumps reading this even though I’ve know about the pregancy for 5 months. Love both of you. Also loved the Ani inspiration.
Sister you look so beautiful! I am so happy for you that you have a man that loves you the way you deserve to be loved. G, I am so sorry about the adoption but I am excited to see how being a auntie to sisters baby will help heal your heart. This baby is a miracle. Love you all!
Congratulations! All babies are miracles, yes? Just love me a baby! Fat baby legs, fat baby thighs, fat baby bellies… sigh. Give that baby a big ole squeeze and hug for me when he/she is born! So happy for you all!
Amen and amen and amen!
Congrats to you and your beautiful sister, who looks stunning in her lobster red dress
What a beautiful, love filled, joyful post! Happy for you G, and Sister! Miracles do happrn in ways we sometimes don’t recognize!
What a beautiful way to look at life and the world — it *is* “absurd,” but it’s also pretty amazing and wonderful if we “turn our heads,” like you suggest, Glennon. Thank you for the reminder!
AND … congrats to “baby” sister, to the newborn who is poised to jump into this absurd world, and to the proud “auntie” who reminds us so often that it really *is* all about the love.
i saw that picture from your talk the other day and i was like, what the what? and now i’m like, WAHOO!! YAY for sister! and YAY for Auntie G! xoxo
Kristi, I totally did the same double take (but adding “what in the what?” makes it even more fun)!
AWWWWWW!!! Congratulations Sister! And Auntie! She is a beautiful, beautiful pregnant woman! (unlike some of us [me] that look like something is devouring us from the inside out)
Life is brutiful!
Sister – you are radiant!
Love it all
such happy happy news
Congrats Sisters! So excited for the both of you, and the beautiful little blessing you’re brewing!!!
This is so incredibly beautiful! Congratulations to your sister…and to you!
This came to me this morning when I have been feeling so low about where I am in my own life and feeling like “This isn’t the life I planned!” I have a beautiful child with multiple and significant special needs and I have been feeling like I don’t know who I am anymore. I’ve had to let go of so many notions of who I thought I was. They’ve been crowding out my ability to see who I AM and how I am evolving, growing. There are some growing pains, for sure.
Thank you for the reminder that, if I just turn my head and expand my view, I might see something miraculous and beautiful unfolding for me.
I so appreciate your struggle and your honesty in sharing it. Every day, I struggle to be who I AM, because sometimes, it’s hard to even know any more. Good luck and keep growing, because it really never stops and keeping ourselves small and boxed in hurts even more!
You, my dear Glennon, are 32 flavors and then some
We Monkees love them all. Thanks for sharing them with us, and HOORAY for Sister!!!!!!!!!! I want to see that baby on the Lawn at our next reunion! Thanks for the beautiful reminder.