Uncategorized – Page 4 – Meagan Louise

Beautifully Brutal Beginnings

As I sit here, my 10 day old daughter lays on my chest. My eyes hidden from my keyboard, blocked by her tiny little body. She loves to be held. Loves to be wrapped tight and held onto.

This past week and half has been more overwhelming than I could have ever imagined. I’m still sifting through the changes, brought on by the birth of a tiny human being that is mine to nourish and nurture.

Nothing can prepare you for these weeks. And I’m sure they look different for everyone. But for me, it has been a storm of change and processing.

Beginning at the hospital, our tumultuous start didn’t set my feet on solid ground. Our tiny babe being whisked away to NICU and away from our watch set both of us up for difficult days.

So we hit the reset button when we came home. We sat together, and breathed together. We learned to build a wall around us so we could just BE and figure this new family thing out.

I’ve been so blessed to have family here to cook and clean and protect us from all the things that are not healing and recovering and bonding and resting. All of these things are needed so much, and there should be no pressure to let them go before you’re ready. Heal. Recover. Bond. Rest. Do nothing else and do not feel shame or guilt. Feel like you’re doing what’s best for your family. Because, you ARE.

Being a new Mom is not easy or simple. It is complicated and hard all wrapped up in confusion and worry and fear.

This gift, I have prayed for. But even good gifts come with difficulty in receiving them. I have cried more tears than I care to admit, feeling waves of overwhelming emotions between the sleepless nights. I look at our daughter and feel swept away in love and engulfed in fear and worry at the same time.

It is beautifully brutal, this parenting thing. It requires a complete and utter loss of self. You have to give into it completely or feel torn apart. So I am learning to lean into the waves, and let them wash over me.

I will not drown.

“²³Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!

²⁶He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Matthew 8:23-26

6 months of Pregnancy

I wish I had kept blogging throughout these past 6 mths, because every month looked and felt so different! But here we are, in our third trimester with not one iota of writing to document it. So here’s to recalling the monumental moments.

13 weeks – I felt my first flutters! Sitting at the dinner table, what felt like a tiny bird flapping in my belly, twice in a row! I wasn’t sure, but when I felt it again about a week later, I knew it was her!

15 weeks – We announced our pregnancy publicly. This was a moment I had dreamed of and anticipated so many times over the past couple of years. Pressing “publish” on that blog post was a moment wrapped in such fulfillment of desire and happiness that we’re HERE.

17 weeks – Geoff felt her kick for the first time! And while we were at Saint Simons. What a perfect place for such a sweet memory!

19 weeks – We found out we’re having a GIRL! I had thought from the beginning we might be, I couldn’t get the idea of a girl out of my head. Only girls names were appealing, all things girly swirled around in my head, and I just felt like I knew our baby was a SHE.

For the gender reveal, we just had the ultrasound tech tell us in the room. We wanted to know her gender, and still see her while knowing, “That’s our DAUGHTER.” Then we immediately went and bought pink shirts and made took some pictures to reveal her gender to our friends and families!

20 weeks – I’m definitely showing now! And she’s moving a ton! This pregnancy thing is AMAZING. I am soaking up every minute that I can.

21 weeks – we started our first baby registry! My wonderfully amazing friend went with G and I to BuyBuy Baby to help us with all the things. It was incredibly overwhelming and so exciting. At this point, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is real, and I get to do these things. It’s crazy how slow my mind has been to receive this as reality.

23 weeks – We went to Virginia to visit family! We had a great time seeing their new home and how big all the little ones are getting. First started to notice the top of my stomach feeling like a sunburn, my stomach is stretching, and stretching FAST! Also a monumental moment, I had to buy compression socks. Long car drive + lots of walking + baby = swollen legs and feet. Rest assured, I looked awesome and compression socks are a gift straight from Heaven.

26 weeks – I took my first prenatal yoga class! Sitting in a room with all of those pregnant Mamas was so amazing. It was the first “pregnancy related” class or activity, outside of my doctor appointments, that I had done, and it was wonderful. I really felt like I was pregnant, like I get to do these pregnant things with these other pregnant women, because I really AM pregnant!

27 weeks – We met with a doula! The realization of labor started to sink in. I can’t believe how close we are. Also, labor. Jesus, help.

28 weeks – The discomfort of pregnancy is starting to catch up with me. Round ligament pain, more heartburn, congestion, sleeplessness and fatigue have all found their way. I’m still feeling good for the most part, but my body is definitely more cumbersome.

Also had a 28 week ultrasound to check on Baby Girl’s growth. She weighs 2 lbs 15 ounces and is measuring a week ahead of her gestational age! She’s doing just fine in there 🙂

And now we’re on to our 3rd trimester. Every day brings it’s own set of joys and challenges and questions and hopes.

G and I pray over baby girl every evening, hands wrapped around my growing belly, and thank God for this gift. That we would be good stewards, and learn from the perfect Father what it means to be good parents. We are so grateful for the gift of Baby Girl Ranson, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude that we get to walk down a path we weren’t sure we’d ever be able to take.

We knew that we’d be parents, and we hoped that it would be like THIS.

“…the Lord remembered her. ²⁰So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,^[b] saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 1 Samuel 1:20

Where Is The Church?

church-signs

As a church, we need to get on board with the social media tech trends the rest of the world is operating under. I’ve been attending Social Media Week Chicago, which has given me a plethora of insightful and inspiring information when it come to marketing and utilizing social media.

There was ONE faith based session. This was my moment. My the-skies-are-opening-and-I-see-the-light moment. But then the digital tech pastor speaking said, “We paid for 1 post. One. And it didn’t make a difference, so we don’t pay for anything.”

I might have publicly guffawed a little bit.

WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?

Every question she answered, every moment she had the opportunity to talk about the position of the church, how to utilize social media for relationships, how to invite people into the community in a more wide-spread and meaningful way, she dropped it. Every. Single. One.

You guys. Where is our presence here? Why do we have ONE session, and that one session is totally lacking? Why aren’t WE the ones innovating, and offering solutions?

WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Yes, Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN have big budgets and resources. But WHEN did that stop the church from being on the forefront of cultural change? Did Jesus ever stop and say, “Well, the temple of Artemis has more money than us, so we can’t influence as many people as them”

H-TO-THE-NO.

Jesus built relationships, preached from (free) mountaintops and changed people’s lives.

Sure, the millions of dollars would be great for data analytics, and marketing opportunities, but even if I had that to spend, I don’t know that I would. Because we have something that Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN DON’T have, and that’s LIFE CHANGE and a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. You can’t beat that. You can’t squelch that. People will forget a trending hashtag, but they won’t forget a story that drew them closer to Jesus.

So let’s educate ourselves in how to do this thing. Let’s become the experts on how to reach people online (because that’s where people are, you guys). Let’s win awards for social media strategy, and show the world how to impact people because THAT’S WHAT WE DO.

And it’s not for dollars or donations or publicity. It’s for relationships. If your motivation for jumping on twitter is to convert people to tithing, then you’re not a part of the same mission.

We’re here to be authentic, real, and reachable. This is where it gets messy, and it’s right where we’re supposed to be.

So how are you utilizing the tools so readily available to draw people closer to Jesus? This is our mission field, our people group. The church has been behind the times of being culturally relevant for far too long.

Here I am, Lord. Use me.

P.S. There ARE some great resources out there. If you want to learn more about it, check out That Church Conference and ChurchMarketingSucks.com

That Church Conference: What I learned about using social media in a Church environment

A few months ago, I was forwarded a church conference suggestion by a co-worker, and I thought, “Meh. What the heck…”

YOU GUYS. How highly did I underestimate the divine appointment that this conference, nay, this COMMUNITY was.

Communication and social media gurus from all kinds of different churches and businesses shared their wisdom and passion with us. Inspiring us to reach more people for the kingdom than we ever could with just our buildings.

Big picture: Social Media is not a megaphone to shout noise at people, it’s a telephone to connect, relate to, and draw in people. And if we’re not listening to people, we can’t minister to people. As a church, we have the amazing opportunity to reach millions of people via our online presence. If we choose to engage, we can get people’s attention that might not have thought twice about church, or really needed to hear that particular message that particular day.

The choppy waters of the 2D world is a new place for most of us, and we’re trying our best to leverage it for the gospel.

I can’t even tell you how great it was to sit in a room of like-minded people, all hungering for direction as we navigate our ships through the cumbersome channels of social media communication and digital strategy. The good news is that we’re all in this together. We’re offering lifelines and navigational tools to help pave the way. And even when we fail at it, we’ve got people around us to offer support and prayer.

If you’re looking for more practical things, email me at meagan.ranson@242community.com and I’ll give you ALL MY NOTES or go to That Church Conference next year. It’s worth all the things.