January 15, 2011

for Pete's sake


Our first child was miscarried at about six weeks; we named him Peter Mark.  I do not know why God allowed me to lose my child, but I do know that the experience created a very special place in my heart for other women who are grieving their child or bearing the cross of infertility.

As the years passed I have felt the Holy Spirit increasingly prompt me to offer up my hardships and to pray for those nameless women I carry in my heart.  I have also felt Him asking me to do more.

January 15th was Peter's due date.  In memory of him, I would like to make the 15th of every month a day to collect your intentions that are related to the pains and anxieties of infertility or the loss of a child.  Perhaps you and your spouse are trying to conceive.  Perhaps someone you love is beginning the adoption process.  Maybe you have lost several children, are pregnant again and worry about carrying your child to term.  For Peter's sake, please allow me to pray for you or your loved ones. 

Please leave your prayer intention - for yourself or someone you know - in the comment box.  Commenters may leave their name or be anonymous.  You may share as little or as much as you like.  With great respect, dignity, and affection I would like to pray for you, your pain, your grief, and your hope.  I feel it is a calling from God and a great honor. 

I, of course, invite all those who comment or read the comments to join me in praying for one another.

Thank you for this privilege.
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33 comments:

  1. Kaitlin @ More Like MaryJanuary 15, 2011 at 4:36 PM

    Please pray for a friend, L, who has had two miscarriages in the first few months of her marriage. Pray that her doctor gets to the cause of the problem and that they are able to carry their future children to term.

    Thank you Bonnie. This is a beautiful idea.

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  2. Clare@ BattlementsOfRubiesJanuary 15, 2011 at 7:05 PM

    Thank you Bonnie. I'd appreciate your prayers please.
    I lost my daughter Olivia in 2007. She was stillborn. I still want her and feel the lack of her. It's like living with chronic pain.
    My heart breaks for other mothers who lose their babies.
    I'm so happy that your little James is doing well.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    I am over 35 and really want another child. After trying for 8 months it turns out, that for reasons I can't go into here, I am leaving the marriage. When I think of this desire to have more children my heart breaks because now, it may never happen.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    Please pray for my husband and I who have been trying to conceive a child since we were married nearly 1.5 years ago. Thank you so much and God bless!

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    Please pray for my husband and I. We've been trying for over a year and I'm in my very late thirties. Thank you so very much for offering this- you will be in my prayers also.

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 9:49 AM

    My husband and I have been trying for close to 4 years to have another child. God has led our hearts to adoption, but finances are hard and we haven't been able to begin the process. I pray that we will be able to start soon and bring home the child God has for us. Thank you!

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  7. Sue KJanuary 16, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    Hi!

    Thank you for your compassion and willingness to pray! Please pray for my husband and I to have children of our own. We have experienced every heartbreak, embarassment and difficulty along the way. Just knowing that someone is praying would be comforting.

    Sue

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  8. JellyBellyJanuary 16, 2011 at 11:45 AM

    Thank you for your offers of prayers!!!! My husband and I have been TTC since 2005. I have had two surgeries and it has been a very long road. Please pray that we will conceive sooner, rather than later!!!

    Please pray for my fellow Catholic IF friends. There are many of us that are still waiting.

    Thank you so much!!!

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  9. MaryJanuary 16, 2011 at 12:08 PM

    Please pray for my husband and I to be at peace and have faith as we try our best to trust in God for His plans for our fertility/our family.

    Also please pray for our close friends and family who struggle with infertility, failed adoptions, etc...thank you so much.

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  10. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    Please pray for God's Will for our family. Particularly, that my cycle starts again soon (my son is almost 13 months and still breastfeeds a lot) so we can try to have more babies!!

    Also, please pray for a friend who had a stillborn in 2/09 and has since miscarried. She desperately longs to have a child. Thank you!

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  11. Mrs. HendersonJanuary 16, 2011 at 2:40 PM

    Please pray for my husband and I who have been trying to conceive since 2008, as well as my fellow IF friends.
    We pray daily that God would surprise us with a pregnancy and bless us with a multitude of children in our marriage. If you would like to pray that with us, that would be awesome.
    What can we pray for you for?
    Thank you so much!
    God Bless you.

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  12. Awaiting a Child of God:)January 16, 2011 at 4:13 PM

    Oh this is so very appreciated! What a true disciple you are. This makes our Lord so happy:)

    I have suffered through an ectopic pregnancy and three surgeries. I also now have only 1 tube. We have just been given the green light to start trying to conceive. Please pray that God will bless us with a healthy pregnancy soon and many to follow:)

    As Mrs. Henderson said, what can we pray for you??? Please post on my blog and let me know. I have stopped praying for myself and my infertility issues...it just consumed me. Now I pray for others (which has healed me in so many ways)instead of myself, knowing that God knows my request.

    BLESSINGS:)

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  13. Living for the Lord in 2011January 16, 2011 at 5:51 PM

    Please pray for my dear friend J whose 6th baby died at 1 day old a little over 1 year ago and they would dearly love another baby...

    Thanks for this ministry and hope to see you at the Behold Conference!

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  14. zuva24January 16, 2011 at 8:52 PM

    What a wonderful idea! My husband and I have been married 9 years and have never been able to conceive a child. Please pray for us as we wait to be chosen as adoptive parents.

    Also, please pray for a birth mom we were first matched with, Carrie, who lost her child at 6 months pregnant.

    Finally, please keep Jennifer, another birth mom we met this week, in your prayers. She is struggling with mental illness and homelessness.

    Thank you so much.

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  15. AbigailJanuary 16, 2011 at 9:22 PM

    Can you please pray for this father who lost his twin sons in a premature birth in 2010?

    http://www.dazeddad.com/

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  16. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 11:18 PM

    Please pray for me, B, and my husband. We have been trying to conceive for a year and a half with no pregnancies at all. I almost wish we had at least had a miscarriage. Almost. Then at least we can say we created life...not sustainted it, but created. Please pray that our empty pew at church will be filled with children. And please pray that people don't judge us the way I judged them before TTC--"Oh, they must be using birth control!" I continue to pray for your precious son.

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  17. SarahJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    Wow - our story is almost exactly the same as the previous "Anonymous", except we've been married 6 years, "trying" for at least 4 of those 6 with no pregnancy plus one failed adoption.

    Please pray for us, Bonnie - we're Sarah and Jason. I love that you're making a ministry out of praying for those who struggle with fertility problems. I had no idea how many couples have the same struggles we do!

    Blessings to you and your family.

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  18. AnnaJanuary 17, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    Thank you Bonnie for this post! I think that prayer is absolutely one of the most important things we can do. It is so simple and yet it is so easy to forget at times. It really is one of the best ways of changing things, though. I have found it so helpful in trying to change my marriage around. I also found it very helpful after my own miscarriage and throughout the next pregnancy, where I was so afraid of losing my baby again. To everyone reading this, please pray. Pray for yourself, your families, your friends, and people who have no one to pray for them. Prayer really does work!

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  19. AshleyJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    Please pray for me and my husband who have been trying to conceive for about 16 months. Our doctor says we are experiencing unexplained infertility. We're trying a couple different things now and hoping this will be our month to conceive! -Ashley

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  20. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:49 PM

    Please pray for my SIL Katie who has been struggling with infertility for 7 years. Also a cousin Anne who has suffered a miscarriage and is still trying to conceive.

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  21. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:14 PM

    My lifelong dream is to be a wife and mother, and even though I am neither right now, I truly do believe it is my calling in life. I was blessed with such loving, caring and supportive parents, and I long for a family of my own. Many of my high school and college friends have started marrying and having babies, while I don't even have a boyfriend. The thing is, there doesn't seem to be enough guys like Travis in this world, and while I have often dreamed about having like five kids, I would never want to do it alone. I pray that I will someday find a great man who wants the same things. Again, I want so much to have the kind of beautiful family that you do, Bonnie, but if that's not what God has in store for me, I pray to find happiness in what his plan does entail. Please know that I'm praying for you guys, too. James is a living and breathing miracle!

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  22. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2011 at 3:08 AM

    Please pray for a young couple beginning the adoption process. They have such a loving home for a baby!

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  23. MrsMuchTallJanuary 18, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    Please pray for friends of mine - a beautiful couple who lost their precious 5 month old to SIDS in late September. Prayers for peace for their broken hearts, and also, prayers for strength as they have conceived again and are expecting another child in July! I am in awe of their courage and ability to see that having another baby, while it will never "replace" the son they lost, will certainly be healing to their frail, pained hearts. God Bless you, Bonnie!

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  24. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2011 at 2:26 PM

    Please pray that God will change my husband's heart. He does not want any more children (we have one daughter) but I feel that I have been called to have a big family, and I want to leave our family size in God's hands, and also adopt some older children.

    Thank you so much,
    Catherine

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  25. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2011 at 5:41 PM

    Please pray for us, as we are also waiting for cycles to return with a breastfeeding child.

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  26. SarahbizJanuary 19, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    Bonnie, what a wonderful idea! That is a great tribute to Peter. Please include my friend, B. Her and her husband have no trouble getting pregnant, but have had 3 miscarriages. Pray that they are able to sustain life, or that God opens her husband up to the idea of adoption.

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  27. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    Please pray for my husband and I, we have been trying to conceive for a year and a half with no success. Thank you so much...I will take all the prayers I can get!

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  28. JoannaJanuary 20, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    Please pray for my friends T and B who just delivered their stillborn baby boy Ezekiel yesterday.

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  29. There is Power in PrayerJanuary 22, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Please keep my husband and I in your prayers. We have been trying to conceive a baby. We found out that I have low levels of estrogen and progesterone. The doctors haven't said we cannot conceive but we are going to need support.

    Thank you so much for starting this.

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  30. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    Please pray for my husband and me (Kevin and Clara). We have been trying for almost a year and a half. We want God to bless us with a baby, and have been praying for His perfect timing.

    Thank you and God Bless!
    Clara

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  31. ElizabethJanuary 31, 2011 at 11:48 PM

    Please pray for my husband and I to truly desire God's will to be done in our lives, especially when it comes to our fertility. It has been heartbreaking to deal with two miscarriages intermixed with infertility during the past 4 years. Thank you for your prayers!

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  32. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    Please pray with me and my husband that our faith in the Lord stays strong and we remain faithful to His Word as we try to conceive.

    May God bless you.

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  33. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2012 at 3:02 PM

    I just stumbled upon this old post of yours. Please pray for me and my husband (M and J). We have been trying for a baby for just under a year with no success. We have not yet found the cause of our infertility. Prayers for the other women who have posted.

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