The men of our church went on a retreat in the midst of this adventure and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with a friend who had a couple of young kids. What a treat! I really did not like staying alone at the time. Learning to do that without being a scaredy cat came much later! We went to the park, the pool, Whataburger (a real Texas institution!) and I learned volumes about parenting from a Christian perspective. After the men returned and I was safely home with my hubby, that sweet mama called to say her kids had come down with the German Measles! I may have mentioned I did not, at the time, have an immunity to that particular disease. It is not a good thing for pregnant moms to be exposed to German Measles during pregnancy and we were taking steps to remove that risk when we found out about our new baby's presence. Let's just say the outcome for the baby can be less than wonderful. Funny, I don't recall being particularly anxious about her news. Maybe it was just that I didn't know enough yet to be afraid. Maybe I have just forgotten. We did, however, call our doctor the next morning and he asked us to come in later in the week. After some testing, he met with us in his office and explained the possible problems we might expect and that we had a couple of options. Only one was acceptable to us and that was to complete this pregnancy just as we had always planned. He was a kind man who knew enough about us to know that no other choice would even be given any serious consideration. I remember the drive home being pretty quiet. Of course, that sweet, Measle spotted family felt horrible. They could not have known and I could not just hide out in my home for the entire pregnancy. We just moved forward and prayed all the time for the health and safety of our baby. We were blessed to be in a church led by a pastor who was quite familiar with special needs children. Two of his four children fit into that category and the nursery even had a special ministry to special children and their families. I took great comfort in the fact that if God had selected us to raise a special needs child, we could not be in a better place to do that. We were at peace, most of the time, but there were moments when we had to fight off the worry. Would we be able to parent a child who might be blind or deaf or retarded? I had not, until that time, even considered that to be a special calling. These thoughts occupied quite a bit of my time.
In October, just a few weeks before the bay's due date, Mr. Brown was to be ordained as a deacon. This event was marked by a meaningful ceremony in which all the deacons being ordained knelt and all of the ministers and deacons of the church laid hands on them and prayed blessing over the men, their families and their ministry to the church. When Bill's turn came, the head of the deacons, a man who had been an example and blessing to us, leaned over and whispered in his ear "I have seen your son and he is whole." Bill waited until we got all the way home before he told me that. You have to know this was a fairly traditional Baptist church, not charismatic in any way. This kind of thing just didn't happen. We didn't really know what to think but the day to day trust in God for every dollar, every meal and now the health of our unborn baby, sure made us open to hearing God in unusual ways. Hmm, maybe that has something to do with why we experience such challenges. I'm just sayin'. We didn't tell too many people about this event and in just a few weeks we would all know if that sweet man had really heard God or not. The excitement built and built. Due date came and went. Finally, sixteen days after his October due date, well into November, that perfect little boy entered the world. We had not known his gender before the deacon ceremony. We had not known he would be without birth defects. We had felt the tender love of God as this man went out on a limb and shared that with us. Our faith was built even further. We have recalled this event to one another many times during the long years we have spent raising that son. When his life was threatened, we remembered how much trouble God went to to protect him and to even tell us about it in advance. Surely he had a plan for his life.
All your sons will be taught of the LORD;
And great shall be their well-being.
Isaiah 54:13
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