Fingerprints

I get an email update from whattoexpect.com every week which tells me how the baby is developing and gives tips for a comfortable and safe pregnancy. I am always so excited to read the emails on fetal development week by week, but this week was especially sweet. I found out that by the end of this week of pregnancy, the baby has eyelashes, eyebrows, hair, is gaining body fat, and has fingerprints!! Fingerprints! Can you believe that? The baby is approximately the size of a woman's open hand and yet it already has fingerprints--a stamp of individuality. It just made me wonder what my child will be like--what unique blend of looks and personalities and gifts will make him/her an individual. What an amazing proof of God's hand in our lives, that from such an early age there is already nobody else like this child....knit together...special....unique....precious.

On another note, please join me in praying for two young women who very lately lost their tiny little ones to miscarriage--a grief some of us know all too well. One is Katy, and I understand this baby was her first. The other is Allison, and though she has another child, this is her second miscarriage. I well remember the grief and pain in seeing pregnant women everywhere when I least wanted to see them. It is never far from my mind and I pray God will always allow me to have compassion for others even while I rejoice in new life. He gives and takes away...blessed be His Name.