About Our Pregnancy Announcement

Grains of prophecy, mixed with tears and seasoned with belief.

Since our first pregnancy, almost one year ago, this is what we have offered to God. In obedience and just because. While not always a joyful expression, it remained a grateful one.

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I’ve fallen in love with the book of Leviticus, particularly the salam (shaw-lam). Some translations call it the “fellowship offering.” Some know it as a “peace offering.” In either case, it was a voluntary sacrifice expressing devotion and gratitude to God.

In Leviticus 7, we are told that part of the salam is a grain offering, a meal shared between the worshiper and God Himself. It was a cake made from fine flour mixed with olive oil and seasoned with salt.

Chapter 3 of Leviticus reveals that a fellowship offering is about giving the best we have to God – we give Him His portion of the fruit He grew in us and around us. It’s a covenant of peace – making peace with God and finding peace in our circumstances.

So let me walk you through our last year by sharing the “cakes” we’ve left on the altar.

An infusion the day after our first miscarriage.

We got pregnant our first cycle, and we offered grains of joyous disbelief, coated in hope and seasoned with possibility. And when we experienced our first loss, this is what we offered – grains of hope, doused with grief and salted with trust. We mourned, believing that this – all we had to offer – would be a pleasing aroma in the courts of Heaven.

Our second pregnancy occurred almost immediately, and we found ourselves offering grains of unease, anxiety mixed in and excitement sprinkled on top. When I started bleeding again, the grief hit harder and our lack of understanding ballooned. All we had to offer that Thanksgiving were crumbled grains of promise, soaked in heartache and laced with the belief that He wasn’t finished yet.

In the months of waiting that followed – waiting for my body to heal, waiting for my hormones to recover, waiting for the Spirit to prompt us to try again – we continued to offer our best. We tithed our time, our talents, our treasure. We built a ministry. We invested in our church family. We studied. We communed with the Lord. We sat silent. We did chores, bought groceries, took naps, and watched movies. We ate ice cream, got colds, and went to work.

TR + Ava circa early spring 2025

Then one evening, in early spring, TR + I looked at each other, and we knew. It was time. So we went to the altar, offering “cakes” made from our finest grains of conviction, the best oil of dependence, and the most potent confidence in God’s character.

Today, we walk in a story only God could have written. A redemption only He could have orchestrated. A blend of grain and oil and frankincense that only He could have provided.

So about our pregnancy announcement…

TR + Ava excitedly peek over a newspaper announcing their pregnancy!

The week we thought we’d be holding our second baby in our arms is the very week we get to share that another little one is on the way.

Grains of prophecy, mixed with tears and seasoned with belief.

This is our reality.

Two babes in Heaven. One baby getting ready to enter our arms, dwell in our home, and do life to the fullest with TR + I.

Grains of life, oil of loss, salt of the assurance of things not yet seen. Our cake is an exquisite blend of separation and unity, sorrow and resurrection, fellowship in suffering and bliss.

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There’s another translation of the Hebrew word salam.

To be complete. To be finished. To be sound. To make whole. To make safe. To restore.

Our salam these past four months has been praise for the restoration of my womb. Thankfulness that my body has been made safe for a child. Celebration that all has been made whole and right. Gratitude for the soundness of this pregnancy. Awe at the fulfillment of the prophecy. Worship as we wait for the finish line. Delight in the completion of God’s promises.

Grains of wonder, combined with bittersweet reality and drenched completely in the goodness of God.

And here’s the thing about a salam offering – we sacrifice our cake, and we, as priests, are permitted to eat it, too.

So about our pregnancy announcement…

TR + Ava read their full broadsheet announcing their pregnancy over iced coffee.

This is the abundance of God. This is the life we live. This is the Love we bask in.

And this is the birthright and inheritance our little one will be born into.

Grains of prophecy, mixed with tears and seasoned with belief.

Here's to the next chapter and a life replete with fellowship, praise, and salam offerings!