Becoming a new mom is a once-in-a-lifetime experience–a beautiful mix of wonder, anxiety and excitement. After years of infertility, Kayla Aimee was thrilled to be pregnant and highly anticipated the day she would give birth to her daughter. When that day came after only 25 weeks in the womb, Kayla’s faith was shaken and she feared the worst for her tiny newborn.
I received a copy of this book to review and loved it! The book made me cry, smile and even laugh! It’s truly a story of hope that every mom should read. What I really liked about the book is how the author is so refreshing, witty and humorous in telling her story. My son was born two a couple weeks early and was in NICU for over a week and I know how difficult that was for my husband and I. But, imagine having your baby born at 25 weeks. Kayla Aimee is truly an inspiration!
Author Q&A with Kayla Aimee
Anchored Blog Tour
- How did you keep it together when you felt like your world was falling apart?
I didn’t. Absolutely I fell apart with it. I think it surprises people to hear that because on the outside I looked like I had it together, I was stoic and did the hard things in order to keep myself together when I was at the hospital. Away from that space was different, full of fear and sorrow. But it was in allowing myself to fall apart that I discovered the truth in the Scripture that says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. I learned that God’s grace really is sufficient and the only thing that was comforting was knowing that I could just lean into that and let it do what I could not.
- How would you say humor and the ability to laugh at yourself have helped you through parenting? In your marriage?
I remember the first time that I laughed after Scarlette’s birth. I was weary from weeping with heartbreak when the nurse brought me nursing pads and they were wrapped in a bag that said DANGER! HAZARDOUS MATERIALS! I laughed so hard that it hurt my stitches and I remember that was the moment when I knew that I wasn’t lost to my grief. Finding the humor in the moments that are hard helps to shift my perspective. It keeps me from being too quick to anger and makes me appreciate the little things more.
Ecclesiastes says that there is a time to laugh and a time to cry and I think that the intersection of the two is a beautiful portrait of our humanity. Plus, it just brings me so much joy to live a life that is full of laughter and so I chase that, I try to seek out the hope and the humor because that just makes everything a little bit brighter.
3. What is the #1 thing God taught you through Scarlette’s birth experience?
I tend to want to control things or at the very least to know what is coming. Our experience with Scarlette’s birth and NICU stay really revealed to me that I had a tendency to layer my own plans over my prayers. When there was nothing I could do I learned what it meant to genuinely trust God. I think it was this specific time that sharpened my faith, when I was the angriest at the situation and when I least wanted to be faithful was when I found God faithful to me. Not because of a happy ending but because I felt the hope of Him staying steady in the chaos.
4. What is your favorite Bible verse?
I love the promise of First Corinthians 13:12-13. I love that it acknowledges how life unfolds in a way that we can’t always know what is around the bend but we can find joy in the middle of the unknown in faith and hope and love.
“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”
5. What is a funny/favorite parenting story that you don’t share in the book?
Oh man, there are so many to choose from, I could write an entire book just on that topic alone! Recently we had a day where I was having to say “No” a lot and my four year old expressed her disappointment that things weren’t going her way, telling me “I don’t like it when you say no to me, Mommy! That is very bad.” So we had what I thought was a lovely, fruitful discussion about why Mommy sometimes has to say no and why that is a positive thing, because Mommy’s job is to help her.
Later we went to the grocery store and the cashier greeted Scarlette and asked her how her day was. And my daughter responded “Well, not so good, actually. My Mommy has been saying BAD WORDS to me ALL DAY.”
You can order a signed copy here or find the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and these other major retailers.
We have also teamed up for a Giveaway! One winner will win this book. To enter, leave a comment below. Deadline to enter is July 17,2015 at 10 am PST. One winner will randomly be selected via Random.org.
Self Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for participating in a blog tour. No other compensation was received.
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