Life Begets Life

There was a brief calm during those first few days after revelation. We were able to joke around and even made love, though it was more out of desperation than anything else. She got tested for STD's, as did I. We came up clean, praise be to God. But then one of the hardest parts of our journey began. You see, the other woman claimed she was pregnant. We really didn't know how to deal with this, and during the beginnings of healing this is what we focused a lot of our energy on. We prayed to God that she wasn't pregnant... we prayed that God wouldn't burden us with a child outside of our marriage as well as having to try to heal our marriage. It was just too much. We prayed that if He wanted there to be a life, we would be happy to have a child together instead of me having one who would be elsewhere and the knowledge of another child always over our heads. And in July we found out that my wife was expecting a child. We practice NFP, and found this out very early in the pregnancy. Unfortunately this baby was not with us very long before we miscarried. This child to us was a sign - a sign that God answered our prayer. A sign of hope. A sign of strength and courage. Perhaps we were not given this life, but we were convinced we could move forward and handle things. We were convinced that God would not give us more than we could handle. Without getting into details, a couple of months later the other woman told us she lost the child. She lost it right about the time we lost our baby. A life for a life - or so it would seem. So even today, when we go to bed, we will pray for both children. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam; ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. (“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn becometh thee, O God, in Zion, and unto thee a vow shall be repaid in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer; unto thee all flesh shall come. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.”)