Payton and I are SO thrilled to announce that a beautiful baby girl is on the way!
She is the biggest blessing in our lives and a miracle at that!
Last year in 2019, we thought that we were pregnant, but instead it was a disease called a "Molar Pregnancy" where my body didn't create a fetus, but cancerous cysts that mimicked a pregnancy. To remove the cysts, you have to have an emergency surgery and then recover for 8-12 months to make sure that no cancer cells return. We didn't rush getting pregnant again, we let my body do the healing that it needed to, and we got pregnant 14 months after my surgery!
Payton and I wept over her because she was life bursting forth from a part of my body that had experienced death. She was our miracle baby, our beloved daughter of the King, our "pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over," blessing!! (Luke 6:38)
I've never "not" prayed for my children, but ever since Satan stole life and joy from us last year, I've not only prayed for them, but I've fought for their lives! I never realized the true hatred that Satan has for pregnant women until then, when in about 24 hours we went from trying to see the baby for the first time, to undergoing a surgery to remove cancerous cysts, followed by 11 months of bleeding and another surgery on top of that.
At that point, it was an attack.
Satan declared war over my family and faith.
Okay, Satan, two can play at this game.
You bring death, fear and lies, but I carry life and complete victory!
Before we got pregnant with this precious baby girl, Payton and I wrote down "2020 Declarations" for our family. We declared that we would get pregnant and we would carry the baby to term with no complications.
Once we got pregnant, a little bit of fear crept in.
Was this pregnancy actually cysts?
Was this pregnancy actually cancer?
What about Covid-19?
Will I catch it and my baby die?
Then I remembered:
This was a war.
My child was a threat to Satan, but I carried the victory.
It was time to get dirty.
I rolled up my sleeves and wrote a prayer to shake the depths of hell and protect my child at all costs, and protecting her also meant protecting me right now because she is inside of me, but won't be forever.
There is no messing around anymore. Okay, hell, let's see what you can say to this:
God Almighty,
We love You and thank You for children!
What a blessing they are, little pieces of Heaven here on earth for us to hold and raise!
We recognize that Satan hates children and is out to steal, kill and destroy our joy and the life inside of women.
We understand that we are in a war against him as he tries to defeat us and exhaust us during conception, pregnancy, labor and parenthood.
All of the infertile men and women, all of the miscarriages, all of the sicknesses involved with mother and baby, all of the diseases involved in pregnancy, all of the generational bondages, all of the long labors that leave mother's feeling inadequate to deliver, the inability to breastfeed, and lastly all of the "guilt" in parenthood, we recognize as evil schemes of Satan to isolate us and make us feel like we are bad women/mothers/parents.
We recognize that Jesus does not offer guilt, shame, isolation, loneliness, failure, inadequacy, or sickness, but he offers life, joy, peace, fulfillment, and companionship!
Lord, we know that there are a lot of women with different stories, backgrounds and dreams, and we ask that You hear the cries of their hearts and bless them and their families! Be with them in their grief, frustration, pain and disappointment. I pray that they feel encouragement and find Your still, small voice among the pain.
Payton and I stand in agreement that You are the Creator of all things, and that includes both life and death. We believe that what You call forth in its time, You also take away in its time. We surrender each of our children to You, recognizing Your sovereignty over this earth and our bodies! We submit to Your plan and seek nothing but your will!
In Your sovereignty, You allowed Your son Jesus to die so that we may be victorious over Satan's schemes on this earth! We do not have to submit to the chaos, frustration or any of the negative emotions that Satan presents us with in the midst of Your plans for us!
Father right now, we declare peace and joy over my body as it carries life for 9 months. We declare health, prosperity and blessing over my baby! May Your favor shine upon her and may she praise You all the days of her life!
We break off the spiritual strongholds that inflict fear and chaos during pregnancy, labor and postpartum, and declare in Jesus' mighty name that we have victory over those strongholds and set loose the spirit of joy and peace! Lord, we pray that every day feels like a blessing and we feel Your presence actively alive in our baby.
Lord, we know that You designed women's bodies to carry a babies and deliver them, so we trust that everything will work in tandem to Your design:
That I will carry my baby to term (at least 37 weeks) and it will not come prematurely.
That my baby will rotate to the head-down, face down position and drop in the proper time and that her umbilical cord will remain free of entanglement.
That my body will have proper braxton hicks to prepare me for labor.
That my body will go into labor on its own -with no medical assitance!
That my baby will engage and recognize that it's time for us to meet her!
That my cervix will dilate to 10 centimeters and ephase to 100% in unison so that I can begin pushing properly.
That my vagina will stretch the way that it needs to without tearing.
Lord, I know that I have some additional mechanisms in my body from my car accident that might hinder my body to work properly, and so right now I declare that my body will do what it's supposed to do and that those devices will not stand in the way of my body doing what it was designed to do!
I praise You, Lord, that You knew exactly how to create our bodies to carry and deliver babies! I rebuke the spirit of fear and uncertainty over my labor and delivery! I declare that my body will be at peace and find pure joy! In Your Word it says that if my husband and I continue in faith, love, and holiness, that I will be safe during childbearing, (1 Timothy 2:15) and so we declare that safety over my body in Jesus' might name!
I thank You that I have an amazing husband who wants nothing but the best for me, and I pray for Your Holy Spirit to guide him and prompt him during pregnancy, labor and delivery to support me and help me. May he find strength if I am weak, and may he rejoice with me over the birth of our beloved daughter!! I know he is going to be an incredible father, but I pray that he looks to You to become an even better one than he could ever be on his own. Being a father to a girl will be unlike anything he's ever experienced, and I pray that he trusts You to guide him!
Devil, you and all of hell listen closely:
My family does not belong to you.
No matter how hard you try, we are protected by the Lord of Armies and his army of angels! Jesus defeated you and gave me power over you, and I declare that my family will experience nothing short of the Lord's perfect plan!
What I have declared above is exactly how it will be, and we receive nothing less of that!
You cannot bully me into feeling fearful, shameful or guilty! No news from a doctor, no pandemic, no fear can shake what I believe to be true:
That God created children to be a blessing, and the joy and honor for me to carry blessings in my womb and then raise them to be mighty warriors of God is something that you can never take from me.
When we step into parenthood and feel the pressures of the world overwhelming us, we rebuke the chaos that you reign in and seek peace and clarity from Jesus Christ-the Prince of Peace! We recognize that there is a huge attack against parents and the way that they raise kids/feed kids/discipline kids/dress kids etc etc, but we renew our minds to the mind of Christ and receive what HE says about parenting!
So, pack your bags and leave my family alone, there's nothing more for you here!
We may feel your direct attacks, but we've already won, so we won't respond to the fear.
It's time you are put back in your place.
Your time of stealing from my family is over.
Sincerely,
The Vaught Family
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