The True Joy in my Heart

How do you love a soul before you even meet? From the moment a mother hears her baby's heartbeat, the joy, and love for her child overflow from her heart.

Our twins were expected to be due last December 25, 2021. I can still remember the day we learned that I was carrying twins, my husband and I was speechless. Our eldest son was overjoyed and excited to be a big brother! Indeed God is our promise keeper, for we had always desired a big family.

My pregnancy was progressing well and normal until the day my water broke, 5 months earlier than it should. The doctor said that I had an insufficient cervix and an inevitable for miscarriage. We fought together and fought hard, and yet we were defeated in the end. The months that followed have been a whirlwind journey of healing and grieving and coping. And in these past months, I learned my pain is not unique...and many mothers share this pain.. and I look upon Our Lady of Sorrows, the mother of our Savior, whose pain is greater than any and yet surrender to the will of God.

In moments when I return to the place of sadness. I remember the prayer that a priest told me, from the book of Psalm 51:12.

"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit."

This verse lifts me up and gives me strength, it reminds me to seek the true joy, the joy found in Jesus Christ. I found the joy that Jesus saved us, that Jesus made us worthy of eternal life, that in heaven we will be reunited with the ones we love.

Every mother's journey is different, in different phases of our life we will have our triumphs and heartaches. But God blesses a mother's heart to overflow with love, filled by His inexhaustible love. It is by His love we are blessed with a relationship that never ends and a love that never dies.

I designed this Mother and child necklace and pendant in celebration of life and motherhood, and of the Giver of life. In the front is carved with a Mother holding a child on the opposite side with a radiating Cross in the middle. The radiating cross symbolizes the promise of the Resurrection and eternal life. It is by the Cross we are saved and made worthy to be with the Father in heaven. The whole pendant is a heart shape, symbolizing the love of a mother to her child and the love of God. For the love of God is greater than any fear and distress because only by His love we are strengthened and redeemed. In Him is a promise of hope and in Him is our true joy.

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• St. Monica of Hippo