mercy. power. Life.

for those of you who have followed my blog for awhile, you remember my plea for prayer for the larsen family back in the fall of 2008. lauren and matt larsen spent weeks in the hospital, by their baby girl's side, begging God for His mercy and healing for her. after suffering being born premature with an infection in her tiny body, pulmonary hyptertension, being in the NICU at children's hospital for weeks and weeks, being hooked up to massive machines that helped her fragile organs work, developing a grade 3 brain bleed, even having brain surgery and a permanant shunt implanted into her brain... after suffering all of that... precious baby Life Lucia Larsen was healed, completely healed by the power of our Great Lord.

her story gripped my heart and changed my life in a way that i don't know i can truly put into words. God shook my heart, my faith, my belief, my trust in His power. i am forever changed by the way God worked through this tiny girl.

i read a post from her mommy, lauren, on her blog tonight that spoke to my heart again. it was about God's mercy in their Life, and in her life, and how she is constantly amazed by her love for Life. and then amazed again when she realizes that this love for her child pales in comparison to the love God has for her. the Lord has taught me the same thing, over and over again, through my journey as a mother to emma kate. i am constantly floored and overwhelmed by the love i feel for my daughter. and then it hits me that God loves me in the same consuming way... only His love is more passionate, more complete, more selfless. His love is a perfect love. one of my most favorite thing about being a parent has been how God has revealed Himself and His Love for me through my motherly love for my daughter. i am so thankful that He so perfectly set it up that way. :) it has been so sweet to learn more of Him as i learn about being a mother, and about the love that is possible to have for another person here on earth. i wish that everyone were able to experience this kind of love. it is so sweet...

so sweet.

i wanted to share with you something that has further touched my heart and continues to remind me of my God's sheer power and perfect mercy.

lauren constantly updates her blog with pictures of her sweet Life. i love seeing her progress, her growth, her health, her bright smiles. she's perfect. she is like any other baby girl. she is like any other baby girl. how amazing is that???

that this baby girl, who was not expected to survive the first few weeks of her life, and then was expected to suffer great abnormalities throughout her entire life...


...only 8 short months later, is this baby girl...


...who laughs and cries and plays and is learning to sit up on her own and crawl and eat solid foods and cut teeth and say her first words and will eventually disobey her parents... who is perfectly healthy and normal... praise God for His perfect healing and mercy and power.

praise God for Life.




for more of the larsen family's journey with little miss Life:
A Royal Allegiance

for more pictures by lauren larsen:
lauren larsen photography