As promised...the photos of the Womens' World Day of Prayer 2014

Pick of the week: Woman wakes from coma, finds out she’s 12 weeks pregnant

Photo credit: Newsy/ITV

A woman awoke from a coma after a horrific crash to find that she was four months pregnant.
Last September, Gemma Holmes was on her moped in Hilperton, England when she crashed into a parked car. Holmes suffered severe head injuries and a broken back. When she arrived to the hospital doctors did not think the 26-year-old would make it.
About three months after the crash Holmes awoke from the coma and was told she was four months pregnant. Holmes suffered amnesia as a result of the accident and she could not remember what had happened going back several years including who the father might be. "I was just in shock," she said of hearing the surprising news.
Doctors advised her that keeping the baby could pose a risk to her health and that the surgery she required to fix her broken back could to be done while she was pregnant. Doctors apparently suggested terminating the pregnancy while Holmes was still unconscious, but her mother, Julie, wanted to wait for her daughter to wake up before making any decisions. Gemma decided that she would carry pregnancy to term, according to the Wiltshire Times "I just thought that if this little baby inside me had managed to survive the awful crash, then he was meant to be," she told ITV.
In May, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Rueben Miracle Holmes via cesarean section.
"I couldn't stop crying when they first showed him to me, because he is my little miracle baby. I was just so happy to see him after everything we've been through," she told SWNS.com.
Holmes is preparing for surgery that will correct her back and hopefully lean to walk again.
"Rueben is the best thing to ever happen to me. I may not remember how he came to me but I've got the rest of our lives to make up for that," Holmes told Reveal.co.uk in May.

I found this story wonderful, Gemma was so brave to take the decision to go ahead with the pregnancy, It is also said that she suffered excruciating pain, since she was unable to take the usual high doses of painkillers. as these might have harmed her baby.  Doctors told Gemma that she couldn’t have a natural birth because it would likely cause her death. Her broken back would not be able to cope with the contractions.
But Gemma’s pain and sacrifice paid off when in May she met Ruben Miracle Holmes for the first time, delivered by caesarian section.
To read more, click here!  

Friday: best read in my blogroll!

Many thanks to Warren Baldwin for the following post about children

Children at the Center #1
“My Children are my world. They are the center of my universe.”
But, I still cringe when I hear parents say, “My Children are my world. They are the center of my universe,” especially when the children have gotten older. Here’s why. Bonnie had her first child when she was an older teenager. She missed out on having a first year of college, dorm parties with classmates, and spending long weekends at the homes of her girlfriends. When her high school friends left for college, she stayed home to care for her daughter, and soon after other kids.
That is ok! Even most of her friends who went off for school eventually married and had children. They just waited a few more years to start. For Bonnie, though, the loss of missing out on those older teen experiences was hard to accept But, for awhile she could forget the pain because she had something new to celebrate: the center of her universe, her precious baby daughter.
Bonnie worked hard to be a good parent. She was, except that it was hard for her to allow her daughter to grow and transition from one stage to another. It became especially difficult when her daughter was in high school and had her friends over. When they stayed up to watch late movies, Bonnie joined in, trying to function more as a teen friend than as an adult parent. It was probably unconscious, but through her daughter Bonnie was actually trying to create some of the teenage experiences she had missed out on years before. Bonnie’s daughter was her best friend, her pal, her center.
Then the daughter graduated, went to college, and never returned home again...Read more, click here

And many thanks to the owner of Simply helping him for the following post about marriage

In my childhood dreams, I watched my marriage play out beautifully.
Laughter, devotions, alone time together, kisses and cuddles all abounded.
Conflict and differences were seen, but didn’t need to be addressed.
We were perfect together, our differences didn’t cause issues.
In my life…………..boy do I see things otherwise.
Opposite personalities, different upbringings, age differences, and conflict seem to abound at times. Throughout the last 9 years, we’ve learned to discuss things much better than in the past thankfully.
Yet our marriage is nothing like my childhood dreams.
He likes tennis, I prefer basketball.
He likes alone time, I want us time.
I like having friends over, he wants the couch and remote.
I love trying new recipes, he likes the same meals.
We are like night and day different.      Read more, click here

Saturday best pick: should young Christians be encouraged to get married earlier?

SHOULD YOUNG CHRISTIANS BE ENCOURAGED TO GET MARRIED EARLIER?

Early marriage might not be a problem; instead, it might just be a solution. In Young and in Love (David C Cook), Pastor Ted Cunningham boldly suggests that early marriage is not as harmful as many believe and even offers the solution to staying sexually pure. He guides young adults through the arguments against early marriage and then reveals the secrets to creating a healthy, successful, and life-long relationship in early adulthood.

Young men and women fall in love. They develop intense desires to be with one another emotionally, relationally, and, yes, sexually. Cunningham validates this budding relationship and chases the foxes that seek to delay or destroy the bud before it can turn into a blossoming marriage (Song of Solomon 2:15). He praises this budding love, calling family and friends to recognize it with a wedding, and challenges all unnecessary delays to marrying in one’s early twenties.

Developing a Godly relationship can be hard when you fall in love at a young age. Few people offer support. Many doubt your love is real. It seems almost everyone — your friends, your parents, even your church — thinks you are much too young for marriage. You’re not ready. But maybe that’s not true. Cunningham explains where the arguments against young marriage often go wrong. Then he offers wisdom on how to know if you are making the right choice including the Four C’s: 

Character, Chemistry, Competency, and Calling. 

He’ll help readers understand what it takes to be ready for marriage. And along the way he’ll show that the answer to staying pure might be to prepare for marriage. Because it’s often easier to say, “Let’s wait” when “I do” isn’t so far away.

According to Cunningham, “Ultimately, Young and in Love honors marriage and encourages marriages in the making. This is not another purity book teaching you how to suppress any and all feelings of love. I want you to express your love and then enjoy marriage. So if you kissed dating goodbye, it’s time to say hello! If you have kept true love waiting, I tell you now, wait no more. Get married!”

For more information on Ted Cunningham visit www.tedcunningham.com