It all started on my 34th birthday. I asked my blog readers to donate a copy of my book, Expecting, to a crisis pregnancy center “in lieu of getting me a gift.” And I begged God for a response from at least a handful of people so I would feel loved.

God honored my self-centered request.

In the almost-two years since, y’all have donated 562 books to pregnancy centers around the world. Holy cow.

Aside from the occasional note or e-mail I get from one of the centers, I have no idea how God is using those 562 books to bless some mamas who find themselves in a world of hurt, confusion, and just plain hard knocks.

But I’m going to keep planting seeds and trusting him to grow whatever he likes however he sees fit.

The director of this pregnancy center in Chicago e-mailed me a couple months ago. A kind and generous donor gave them 40 copies of Expecting, and they were so grateful, but they help over 400 women each year at their 3 centers. “I would love to be able to give one to each precious woman who walks through our doors.”

And I also have an ongoing list of other centers around the country who would love some books.

Will you help me get these books in the hands of pregnant, hurting women? Would you think about donating a book ($10) or co-donating one with someone ($5–I’ll pair you with someone else who gives $5)? You can paypal me the money instantly or e-mail me about writing a check.

The dedication page inside the book will read, “To: a special mama-to-be, with love from Nancy.” (or Nancy and Sharon, if you co-donate) And then I’ll sign it and write a verse.

I would love to ramp up our total to 1000 books. And then keep going.

If you’re not in a position to give (or feel God tugging your giving in a different direction), here’s something tangible you can do instead:

Read Heather’s post about the maternity center Heartline wants to build for the precious women of Haiti. And vote for Heartline to receive a really big grant that will help make it a reality.

I’m hoping to start up our Prayer Doulas ministry again in the fall. Last time we had 60-70 women praying for pregnant mamas in Haiti. So powerful. And such an honor to pray for them and their babies.

Thank you so much, friends. I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to be surrounded by a community of givers. I love you like nuts.

And he’s from OHIO, not Haiti! My beautiful little sister, Bethany, gave birth to an adorable little boy this (Thursday) afternoon. Meet Stewart Jack Peters, Jr! Named after his daddy (obviously) and we’ll call him Jack. He was 8lbs 10oz and soooooo cute! See?

We got the call a little after 5pm (he was born at 4:39), ate a quick supper and drove 90 minutes to the hospital. Stayed for 40 minutes, stopped at McDonald’s for five caramel frappes in Jack’s honor, drove 90 minutes home. He was worth every minute of the drive. I’m totally in love!

Beautiful Expectant Mamas from Heartline Haiti UPDATE:

I don’t have a brilliant plan for organizing this amazing, wonderful prayer team, so I’m just going to give it my best shot and humbly welcome your helpful suggestions. Here we go!

1. If I haven’t assigned you a mama-to-be yet (and you’d like me to), please comment on this post, and I’ll reply to you here. Click here for pics/names/due dates of the women.

2. WEDNESDAYS will be our official “Prayer Meeting” day. You can remember this by thinking of Wednesday as (Baby) Bump Day instead of Hump Day. Of course you can pray any/every day if you’d like, and I will do updates on other days too, but Wednesdays will be dedicated to the Heartline gals.

3. PLEASE do not e-mail Heather or any of the other Heartline staff with questions about the women, etc. They love, love, love that we’re praying, but they have a very small staff with many, many women who need served, and they just don’t have the time to answer e-mails. We want to be a blessing, not a burden in any way! Please direct any questions to me, and I’ll act as the go-between.

4. Heather and the rest of the staff post regular updates on Facebook but are hesitant to add a bunch of new people as “friends.” I’ll share their updates on my Facebook page whenever I get the chance, so feel free to add me as a friend (even if we don’t know each other). I’ll also post updates on Twitter if you’re into that.

5. Many of you have asked about sending care packages to the women. Unfortunately, it’s not really a possibility. Nothing gets to Haiti safely through the mail, so you’d have to know someone who was traveling to Haiti and could hand deliver it. If you really want to help beyond praying, you can donate directly to Heartline here.

6. If you haven’t read Heather’s post about the Heartline Home for Teen Moms, do! It’s so exciting! And this post shares more info about these beautiful teen mamas who will live there with their little ones. They could so use our prayers if you want to “adopt” one of them too!

7. Our Team “Name.” Mandy commented yesterday, “I don’t have any cool ideas for a name, but I was thinking of us almost like prayer midwives or doulas.” I’m thinking Prayer Doulas is a super-cool name for our team. What do you think?

8. You all BLOW ME AWAY with your excitement and commitment to pray for these women! THANK YOU for blessing me–and them!!

9. I just now read this post from Tara at Heartline. This week has been ROUGH for them (but good too). Please pray!

I’m tired, so I think that’s it for now! Feel free to tell me what I missed! Have a great weekend, friends!

Girls! I am sooooo excited that so many of you are soooooo excited to pray for the Beautiful Expectant Mamas of Heartline Haiti! God is already answering your prayers.We prayed sweet 15-year-old Enisse through her labor today, and Heather said, “Thanks for praying for our ladies. We felt it today with Enisse. It was miraculous how different the second half of her birth was compared to the first half. Totally the Lord.” Praise you, Jesus!!

My friend Rachelle commented today that, “I love having a seat in the front row of God’s amazing grace!” Isn’t that the truth? And how cool that he squeezes ALL of us into the front row!

I’m going to spend some concentrated time in prayer tonight and tomorrow about a plan of action for our Prayer Team. These are the women who’ve officially said, “I’m in!” (okay, there’s nothing really “official” about it; you just left a comment or sent me an e-mail): Kathi, Erin, Wendy, Mandy, Ruth, Jen, Renee, Addie, Megan, Rhonda, Alina, Debi, Becca, Grace, Beth, Jennifer, Becky, Kerry, Jen, Kim, Dorian, Shelly, Laura, and Ursula, Tana, Claudia, Shannon, Alicia, Nichole, Kandi, Whimzie, Gini, Cheryl, Kathy, and Rachelle.

If you want to join “The Team,” give me a shout in the comments! I’d love for them to know the names of the women who are praying for them.

Here’s what I’d love to hear from you gals:

Do you want to pray for one woman at a time (until she has her baby–or maybe even beyond)? If so, do you want to pick her yourself, or do you want me to “assign” a woman to you?

Do you want to pray on a certain day here on the blog as a group (and then on your own as God leads you)? Which day works best?

Do you want this Prayer Team to be structured or more free?

Do you feel comfortable writing out your prayer in the comments on Prayer Day?

What suggestions do you have for making this streamlined and effective (but also allowing God’s Spirit to move)?

And do you have any cute/brilliant ideas for a name/abbreviation for our “Team?” A team cheer? Mascot? (kidding)

Thank you sooo much, friends! It is the most AMAZING privilege to serve Christ (and these beautiful women) with you!

Haiti

Oh, I’m excited! Heather in Haiti has made us a list of expectant mamas and their due dates–with pictures! She’s hoping to post it tonight or tomorrow–I’ll let you know as soon as she does.

EDIT: Heather has the names/pics up! Thank you soooo much, friend! Oh, I love these stunning women already!

Enisse is 15 and in labor RIGHT NOW (10:16am). Please pray!

If you haven’t heard about our Big Plans to pray for some beautiful pregnant women and girls in Haiti, read this. Basically, we’re just going to come alongside Heather and the amazing folks at Heartline and lift up these precious women in prayer as much as we can. If you want to pray week-by-week using a copy of Expecting, you can get one here.

I’d like to set aside a day a week to actually kind of pray together here on the blog, but I know we all have such different schedules. Any thoughts?

Africa

I mentioned a couple days ago that my friend Megan is making the most adorable Africa ornaments as an adoption fundraiser (they’ll be going back to Ethiopia super soon to bring home little Emelia). They’re just $5 (+$1 shipping) and worth way more than that.

I tried to steal one of her pics to post here, but I couldn’t make it look right, so go check them out on her blog! (we bought the blue star-pattern)

I would LOVE it if you would support Megan and Sean (and Ethan and Eli) as they work hard to get ready for Emelia. And we go to church with these guys now, so we’re gonna get lots of chances to love on this little girl.

Cambodia

And while you’re at it, why don’t you just go ahead and place an order for a CAMBODIA ORNAMENT too? Again, no picture (Meg might be putting one up on her blog if she gets a chance), but they’re great! EDIT: Meg has a Cambodia Ornament Post up on her blog! Check it out!

You can order any of the colors/patterns (or request one you’d like) you see for the Africa ornaments and just specify that you’d like it in the shape of Cambodia.

What a great way to pray for Cambodia (and our trip if you’re so inclined)! And sweet Meg, despite my protests, is giving us 50% of the Cambodia Ornament profits for our Cambodia Fund (which is now up to $4170.00)!

Joanne

Bonus material! Guess what! Joanne wrote us a note! I don’t know if you’ve been following her story on her blog (her husband Toben updates it regularly) or her sister Kristen’s, but GOD IS WORKING MIRACLES. She can read and write–and she doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. This is a girl whose brain was completely shut down just a couple weeks ago. Incredible.

Please pray for her and her family in the long days, weeks, and months ahead. It’s going to be hard work to get her body caught up with her mind. We love you, girl!

No, not me. No, not my 38-weeks-pregnant sister. But some beautiful young (and not-so-young) girls I’ve never even met but have fallen madly in love with.

Some of you may know of Heather Hendrick. She and her husband and their four boys moved from Texas to Haiti last Spring (I think) as missionaries. Heather is this gorgeous person inside and out, and when it comes to writing, this girl flat-out has a GIFT. I can’t remember how I first found her blog, but it took about 1.5 sentences to get me hooked.

So, one of the things Heather does is work with a ministry called Heartline. This crazy-amazing ministry helps girls and women who are pregnant, alone, and scared by educating them about their bodies and pregnancy and breastfeeding and taking care of babies. They feed them meals packed with protein and give them water to keep them hydrated. They do exams and ultrasounds and give them a place to stay and share the love of Jesus. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Amazing. And these young mamas (some of them barely older than Livi) have grabbed my heart and won’t let go. I can’t get them out of my head. I see their faces, I ache for the dismal situations they come from and live in, I rejoice that God has brought them to a place where they and their babies can thrive.

A couple months ago, God gave me an idea. I think I shared it briefly here on the blog. You know how y’all have donated about 500 copies of Expecting to pregnancy centers around the country (and world!)? Well, I know these women in Haiti can’t read (especially not in English), so a book (full of drawings of white babies) wouldn’t do a whole lot of good.

But what if…?

What if WE women here in this online space, we women who CAN read and have the luxury of time and money and safety and access to health care and know Jesus, what if WE could do something for these women and their unborn babies?

What if WE could hold a copy of Expecting in our hands and pray the prayers for a God-breathed womb-baby down in Haiti as he or she develops inside of Mama? What if we could pray for a Haitian girl BY NAME, pray for her THROUGH HER PREGNANCY, and then get to rejoice with her when her baby is born?

I get chills just thinking about it.

I e-mailed Heather with my idea, and she was so gracious, so thankful that there might be some women who would care enough about these women in Haiti to pray for them once a week, or a couple times a week, or every day.

She’s going to get me a list of names of mamas-to-be along with their estimated due dates. Some will be early on in their pregnancies. Most will probably be later on. And you can do however much or little God lays on your heart.

You can choose one name to pray for. You can pray for the whole list. You can pray for a handful. You can pray once a week or more than that.

If you have your own copy of Expecting, just use that. If you want one, I have plenty. If you want to pray and can’t afford one, let me know.

Here’s a God-thing. Awhile back, the book was discounted to $6 on Amazon, so I bought 6. When I got them, there was a black mark on the bottom of each one (hence the discount). I didn’t want to send a marked-up book to a pregnancy center, so they’ve been sitting on a shelf.

If you’d like one for $6 + $3 shipping, let me know.

(And just so you know, Expecting is no magic book with super-power prayers (obviously). In no way do you need a copy of it to pray for these women. It’s just a guide if you’d like to know what’s going on developmentally with baby each week.)

Please go check out Heather’s blog, look at the pictures of these women, read the stories, marvel at God’s tenderness toward them, and ask him if he wants you to play a part in this incredible story he’s writing in Haiti.

I’m so excited about this I could bust. Who’s with me?