The blessings and trials from God

Thank you for visiting our blog. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while, but first we needed a new computer which we were able to purchase a few months ago. I am excited to share with you the blessings of God in our lives and the valleys we have been through and that God has brought us through. It hasn't always been easy, which God said it never would be; however, Jesus Christ has been our source of strength, comfort, hope, peace, and healing over the years. It is only by the grace of God that we are who we are and that each day we will conform to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

My husband and I were married in June 1997. Four years later, the Lord blessed us with Karsten Bradley. In Psalms 127, it says that children are a blessing from God. Karsten is 6 years old now and loves Jesus. I see God doing mighty things in Karsten's life. God has gifted Karsten with wonderful attributes. He is generous, kind, caring, compassionate, and has such a heart for the Lord. Brad and I are so thankful and blessed that God gave Karsten to us. We have a big responsibility in being parents. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." In Deuteronomy 6, it talks about loving God with all our heart, teaching the Word of God to our children, and to live each day according to God's Word. God emphasizes how important it is to teach our children the Bible and not to leave it to the church or school. It is soley the parents' responsibility. We do not take that lightly. That's why everyday we need to read and study the Bible and have prayer time with our Father.

When Karsten was 11 months old, I found out I was pregnant again. We were so excited especially since Karsten and his brother or sister would've only been 19 months apart. God had other plans, though, because at 8 weeks I had a miscarriage. As difficult as that was, we knew that God had a reason and we trusted Him for it. We thank God for "little baby." Meanwhile, six months later I found out I was pregnant again. Karsten was 1 1/2 years old. We were a little nervous since having the miscarriage but we gave our worries to God and prayed for a healthy baby. In November 2003, I had my ultrasound and we found out we were having another boy. We didn't have a preference, we wanted whatever God wanted us to have. Since we knew Karsten and his brother would only be 2 years apart, we were imagining how close they would be and what best friends they would become. We named our second son, Kyler Braden, a few weeks after the ultrasound.

My pregnancy was going great and we were excited and nervous about becoming parents again. On the morning of March 22, 2004, at 38 weeks pregnant, I went into labor. After dropping Karsten off at a friend's house, Brad and I were off to the hospital. Kyler Braden was born at 11:51 a.m. after having an emergency c-section. As it says in Isaiah 55:9, God's ways are not our ways. Kyler had fallen asleep in my womb and woke up in the loving arms of Jesus. God had made him so beautiful; he weighed 6lbs. 14oz. and was 19 inches long. At a time when it's supposed to be one of the happiest moments of our lives, we were left devastated, confused, heartbroken. But praise be to God Most High, even though we were devastated, confused, and heartbroken, through Christ we had joy, hope, and peace. Yet, we had questions and we wanted answers. Why God? What was your purpose in taking our baby to heaven? Why us? Needless to say, we didn't get immediate responses. But I do know that God's ways are holy, just, and perfect. He doesn't make mistakes and He does things for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). God has taught us so much the last four years. Jesus says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." It's all about the cross. Circumstances aren't the barometer of God's love and goodness~the Cross is. God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. Kyler would have turned 4 this past March. It was even more painful this year as his birthday was the day before Easter. God has helped use my suffering to strengthen me and to glorify Him. It makes me focus more on my dependence on God and not myself, and to think about the suffering Christ endured on the Cross for every person. It's not about me...it's about Him. I truly believe that through every suffering, God's glory will be revealed...if we let Him and trust Him. A verse that God has given to comfort me is Romans 8:18, Paul speaking, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Glory to God! 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."

There have been many good things that have come from Kyler's death. Kyler's memorial fund of $1500 was sent to Taiwan for the purchase of Bibles. Only God knows the souls that have been forever changed through that. Brad, Karsten and I wouldn't be who were are today if we hadn't gone through the loss of Kyler. God is doing amazing work in our lives. Heaven is real and with Kyler now there it seems even more real. Karsten has had many questions as well about his brother over the years. Since we have read and talked about heaven many times, God began working in Karsten's heart. He made Jesus the Lord of his life when he was 4 years old. Again, praise God!

Another major blessing in the thorn is that after Kyler went to heaven, the Lord was burdening my heart for adopting a baby girl from China. That was in December 2004. I told Brad and we prayed about it for a year. We started the adoption process in January 2006 and we are still on the exciting journey that God has us on. I will discuss more in detail later about Kylie Hope. We are blessed that God has chosen us to adopt an orphan. She's been growing in my heart for 3 1/2 years now. I want to end on something I read in 'Our Daily Bread': "God tries our faith so that we can try His faithfulness."


Love & blessings~
Jennifer