I started dabbling in hand lettering at the beginning of the year. I had been growing interested in it, so Jonah gifted me with some supplies for Christmas. I had no idea if I would stick with it—because I’m creative I tend to be interested in several things at once! But to my surprise I really enjoyed it and continued to work on it regularly, to grow into my own style. 

I still have MUCH room for improvement and much to learn, but after all these months I am really loving hand lettering. So much so, that I’ve begun selling pieces in my etsy shop, the itsy bitsy store. 

Around the time I started lettering, I also started journaling, and this became such a great place of growth in my personal journey with the Lord. Scriptures, songs, quotes and words were all written down in page after page. It became such a great habit to write in prayer to the Lord, that I’d often wake up with a verse or song on my mind that I would journal about. It was a wonderful, encouraging season, rich with growth.

This past summer, Jonah and I had a great loss that we kept pretty private. We walked through a miscarriage that was terribly painful. It was a shock, as I’m sure it is to any parent, and it was heart wrenching to say goodbye to our child that we had just begun dreaming for.

Looking back I can see how much the Lord had His hand on me, on us, leading up to that season of grief. I have journals filled with so many words from Him. I am so very thankful that God sees before us and knows what is to come. He was not surprised by the grief we experienced, and He did not once leave us. As He has promised, He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)

Before our miscarriage, I had been surrounded by women who had walked down this road of grief. I had prayed for them faithfully and encouraged them with scripture as the Lord graciously gave me verses for them. Praying a certain scripture for someone is powerful and encouraging, and I love holding on to His promises this way. 

One day, not long after our miscarriage, I was praying and had an idea for a gift for one of my dear friends who was expecting her rainbow baby (a pregnancy following a loss). There are a lot of ugly feelings that come with grief and loss, and I wrestled with many of them. Thinking of this gift was something that I felt the Lord laid on my heart, as it was a difficult thing for me to even think of newborns, let alone make gifts for them. 

But I pursued it, trusting that He would be faithful to help me fulfill it if it was from Him.  

He was faithful to provide the means to fulfill this idea, and in a few weeks time I was able to create and finalize this gift, this small idea that beautifully illustrates the Father’s love for us. 

It was an incredibly healing and exciting walk to follow where I felt the Lord leading, to make these little gifts using His words, His scripture, on them.

These are the gifts. 

They are onesies that have a screen print of a hand-lettered scripture I had been praying for in each recipient’s life. Each belonging to a mother, each a unique story of joy, and some of grief.

For each woman that received one, I had been praying with them through their own journey in motherhood. In that prayer time I had been given these verses for each one, and I did not ever think I would be somehow giving them the scripture in this tangible way. I never expected to be on the other side of miscarriage like some of them are. But here I am. Seeing how God can bring good out of a sad, dark place. A place where I couldn’t see any beauty. And He gave me this. Reminders of the past wrapped up in hope for the future. It’s humbling to be shown His beauty in this way.   

If you would like a screen printed onesie with scripture made, I am adding them to my shop. What a joy it is to me to create these. Know that I will be praying that scripture over your life or the life of your child.  

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24) 

To visit my etsy shop, you can head here: the itsy bitsy store

*If you would like to read more of my thoughts as we walked through miscarriage, head over here.*