Stuttgart

Schlossplatz - Stuttgart, Germany

You're probably wondering why I titled this post Stuttgart. How does that have anything to do with Grace and my story?! It has EVERYTHING to do with it. This part of my story may be my single most favorite story to tell. I get goosebumps every single time I share it, I have goosebumps now! It happened in mid-April. (Grace was about 2 weeks old) I was over at Liz and Eric's for our traditional Sunday night dinner. (We started this Sunday night tradition before Grace was born and when we couldn't bear the thought of not seeing each other after she was born, we decided to keep the tradition going). I had recently received the invite to go to Stuttgart, Germany and was filling Eric and Liz in on the exciting details and asking them if I should go or not. Liz used to travel for work, A LOT. So she is telling me that I HAVE to go. She said she was in Stuttgart last July and absolutely loved it, she said it was her favorite place out of all the places she has visited. Then she told me that she was sitting at a cafe in the Schlossplatz one morning enjoying some coffee and in the distance she could hear church bells ringing. She said at that moment she just broke down crying to God, asking him if they were ever going to have a baby, why didn't He want them to have a baby, why wouldn't anybody pick them....and so on... She told me she didn't know why she had a moment right at that time in the middle of the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart, Germany, but she just felt something and sought God over it. I looked at her and I said, "Liz, when were you in Germany?" She said, "Mid-July." At this point my heart is skipping a couple beats and I said, "what days?" She said, "the morning I had that moment was July 11." My heart about beat out of my chest and my jaw dropped to the floor. I looked at her and said, "Liz, that's the day! That's when Grace's little life began." We just looked at each other and started crying. I'm crying right now as I type it. Everything for a reason....

It was no coincidence that Liz was 6,000 miles away having a moment at the same time Grace's life was beginning. The time difference, being 9 hours, makes it within hours, if not minutes of the exact same time. Moments like this fill my heart with joy. Nothing about this situation was an accident, NOTHING. God works in beautiful ways. He fits every piece together perfectly, even when we are completely unaware of it.