Perfect

This is a repost in honor of Caleb's 1st birthday TODAY!!!  This was originally posted on July 26, 2010.  Happy Birthday to my miracle! 

Wow!  It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write.  As many of you know already I’ve just come to the end of a very difficult pregnancy.  From the very beginning Caleb and I were attacked physically.  It started with a month of bleeding which the Lord healed.  Then severe abdominal pain which was also healed.  

Then it was contractions which were treated with medicine, but got worse.  Then at 30 weeks I went to the hospital with very painful contractions and while I was there my water broke.  The doctors and nurses were sure that he would be born that night, but were trying to prevent it.  They even had a neonatal nurse come and tell us what to expect with a premature baby.  

They gave me some very strong medicine to stop the labor and at one point they gave me to much.  I remember looking at the nurse and saying, “I’m going to pass out now.”  And then I passed out.  I saw a white light that grew larger and brighter and I was sure I was gone.  I remember the only thing I could think was to pray.  And all I said in that prayer was “We are in Your hands.”  Soon I heard the nurse calling my name, but it took me a while to be able to respond.  

Once I was stabilized the doctor told me that because my water had broken I would have to stay in the hospital for the rest of my pregnancy.  And we prayed.  And we asked for prayer.  And God’s people prayed.  Two days later I was no longer leaking.  A few days after that I had an ultrasound done by a specialist and he found no evidence that my water had broken at all!  And a few days after that my doctor sent me home to spend the rest of the pregnancy on bedrest.  

After a week in the hospital I lasted 6 more weeks on bedrest at home before my water broke again at about 11 pm on July 14.  Caleb was born by C-section at 6:40 am on July 15, 2010.  He was technically 3 weeks early, but is perfect.  He was 19 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, which is actually the heaviest baby I’ve had.  As I look back on this difficult time I can see so clearly the hand of God working on my and Caleb’s behalf.  The healing that took place is undeniable.  And as I look at my beautiful sleeping baby I can see that His work is perfect.  In my moments of weakness His strength was evident.  How can I not give Him praise and trust him in all things?

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:4

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

I See The Baby

This is a repost in honor of Caleb's 1st birthday this Friday.  This was originally posted on November 22, 2010.  Happy Birthday to my miracle!

I was playing with Baby Caleb this evening and he was smiling and giggling and eating up all the attention.  But out of the corner of my eye I was seeing the growing mound of clean laundry across the living room on the other couch.  

It was trying to taunt me.  Saying “Hey!  Fold me!  Hang me up!  Put me away!”  I ignored it and went back to playing with the baby.  I wasn’t going to let a pile of laundry ruin my special moment with the baby.  

I chose not to see the laundry, but to see, to REALLY see the baby.  I saw the joy in his eyes when he saw me smile at him.  I heard the giggles bubble up from inside him when I tickled his belly.  I felt the softness of his skin as I caressed his cheek.  I love that baby and no pile of laundry or dishes or any other chore is more important than sharing my love with him.  
I’ve met people who look at my children as a chore.  Sounds terrible, but it’s true.  When they find out that all three are mine and they are all ages 3 and under the first thing they say is, “wow, you must be busy!”  Or, “I bet you have to do laundry every day!”  (which I do, by the way)  Or how do you do it?  

When I look at them, I don’t see the meals I have to prepare, the floors I have to clean, the dinosaurs and cars I have to pick up, the diapers I have to change, the noses I have to wipe, the laundry I have to do, the dishes I have to wash, or the nails I have to clip.  I see my boys.  I see my babies.  I see LOVE.  

Lord, help us to have Mary’s heart and attitude when it comes to our families.  Let us treasure our time with You, our husbands, and our children the way that she did.  

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"  "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:39-42

When The Baby's Not Such A Baby

This is a repost in honor of Caleb's 1st birthday this Friday.  This was originally posted on December 12, 2010.  Happy Birthday to my miracle!

We passed another milestone this week.  Caleb had his first “solid” food.  Josiah gave him his first bite.  He wasn’t so convinced, but as the days have passed he’s gotten better and better.  I’m pretty sure that now at least half of his cereal gets to his tummy.  The other half ends up on the bib, but I think that’s pretty normal.  
 
As with every milestone we pass with Caleb I have to come to grips with the fact that this is my last baby, who with each milestone becomes less and less a baby.  With Josiah and Matthew I can easily say that I met each new stage of their lives with the joy of seeing them grow.  To be honest, with Caleb it’s probably 90% joy and 10% wanting him to stay a baby.  I even waited a few extra weeks instead of giving him cereal the day he turned 4 months like I did with his brothers.
 
As parents it’s easy to want to keep our children little, but it’s not God’s plan, or His idea of parenting.  Our children are born to grow and fulfill a purpose.  If they stay small they won’t be able to do that.  It’s better to celebrate and embrace their growth than to dread it.  
 
Are you celebrating your children’s growth?  Or are you wishing you could keep them young forever?  Celebrating and looking forward to their futures will help us live more contently, but it will also encourage us to pray with purpose.  If our hearts are to keep them with us our prayers will be along those lines, but if our hearts are to see them fulfill God’s purpose we will pray for them with more direction.  
 
When we see our children grow it’s obviously silly to try to keep them babies.  When it comes to spiritual children it’s another story.  Do you have spiritual children?  People you’ve ministered to?  People who have worked under your leadership?  What is your heart for them?  Growth?  What if they surpass you?  I think that’s where our hearts are truly tested.  Would you think yourself less of a leader if your followers surpass you?  
 
Think of it along the lines of parenthood.  Would you think yourself less of a parent if your children surpass you?  Of course not!  That is our hope for our children that they surpass us.  And if they do it’s a sign of a job well done.  It’s the same in leadership.  If your followers, students, or spiritual children surpass you it shows you’ve done a good job.  Even Christ said that we would do even greater things in His name!  He never wanted us to stay babies.  He took joy in our rebirth and salvation, but His hope for us is the same as our hope for our children.  That we will do even greater things in His name.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

All The Days Ordained For Me

This is a repost in honor of Caleb's 1st birthday this Friday.  This was originally posted on January 6, 2010 when I was pregnant with Caleb.  Happy Birthday to my miracle!

I finally had my ob-gyn appointment today.  Everything seems to be good.  I got an ultrasound and the baby was beautiful and moving around!  I wish I had taken video because the pictures I got just don’t do it justice.  They even had a 3D ultrasound machine and I could see so clearly!  My little baby looks like a stuffed fabric baby doll, all round and pudgy and perfect.  They said he or she looked great and I am officially off bed rest.  I still have to take it easy though and am not supposed to carry anything over 20 lbs.  

With each pregnancy I am truly amazed at how God forms and creates a perfect baby in 9 short months.  Each of my pregnancies and deliveries have been unique and had their own complications, but the Lord’s hand has been on every situation and his protection has been on me and my children.  One of my very favorite Bible verses talks about how God forms us.  It says that even as He is forming a baby in the womb all of that baby’s days are written in His book.  So from the time a baby begins to form God has His plan and purpose for that child.  Before I was born God knew what he wanted to use me for.  And he knows what this baby inside me’s purpose is.  I know that He will be faithful to complete it.  Although statistics and research and the world my want to tell me that I am at risk of losing this baby, I will leave his formation and protection and future in the hands of my loving Heavenly Father.  I know he has a purpose and I will see it completed.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

Celebrating Caleb

My baby turns one this Friday.  And we are celebrating (of course).  He’s grown and learned so much over this past year!  The picture is from a couple months ago when he first learned how to stack blocks.  If you had seen me when he first did it you may have thought he had won a Nobel Prize for his tower design.  I was that excited.  

With every accomplishment comes pictures and praise.  When I see my friends I say, “guess what Caleb can do.”  And I share his latest victory.  Be it standing on his own, saying banana, crawling, or eating something new I share with excitement and joy.  I celebrate.

And I’ve been wondering if God brags on his children like we do.  Does he say, “Did you see that?  Christy held her tongue and resisted the temptation to get angry!”  “My daughter!  My little girl!  Look she’s serving others instead of demanding to be served!”

Does God delight in our growth and obedience?  Does he celebrate his children’s birthdays?  What would a party in heaven even look like?  Can you imagine?

But it’s right there in scripture.  God’s angels threw a party in heaven for me!  I was lost, but when I turned to Him there was a celebration!

Count on it-that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.

Luke 15:10