Perfect Timing



We have been in the U.S. now for a little over 1 month. It has been wonderful!!!! We have had ample time to relax, rest, and visit family&friends. One of the things I am most thankful for about the random timing of this trip was that it just happened to coincide with the birth of my sister's second child. If you've followed my blog for a while, you will remember that I was quite a bit depressed when my sister gave birth to her first child when I was on the other side of the world. At the time I just felt so detached from my family and so alone as they experienced that joy while I sat and waited desperately by the computer for any photo or story that would come through the internet. When we found out Katie was pregnant again I had no expectations of being able to be there, but God very clearly arranged our steps to take this winter break and come to the states. I was thrilled that this time I could be here.



As it turns out, God knew my heart and my needs and also knew the future. And as usual He arranged my steps in perfect order in a way that I can never see until I'm looking back. Katie was due to deliver on the same day she was scheduled to sign on her first home. We joked all the way along that she would go into labor on that day and it would be a crazy one. Sure enough, she signed on the house, took us all on a tour, and then proceeded to go into labor that evening. My mom and I arrived at the hospital expecting to find a baby already delivered based on her quick and easy delivery the first time around. We were suprised to be told to wait. As it turned out, her easy delivery was not to be this time and she had been rushed to an emergency c-section when the delivery had gotten complicated. We got to wait with Jared and watch my tiny little nephew through the nursery window before Katie even knew it was a boy (and boy was that a suprise!). We finally headed home when the OR gave her the all clear and she was headed back to meet her little guy and get some sleep. But in the middle of the night, I got a call that she had hemmorhaged and would need several blood transfusions. We weren't allowed into the hospital in the middle of the night so all we could do was sit up and pray and wait for updates from the nurses. I called often and the staff was wonderful with updating us, but nothing could replace the precious joy of rushing off to the hospital the next day and hugging my pale and battle worn sister. God knows me so well. I could not have endured being on the other side of the world for that night. Missing a happy healthy delivery was one thing, but missing that night where we could have lost my sister would have been more than I could bear. My sister is so precious to me and being able to be there for that 24 hours, rejoicing with her over her first home and the arrival of her first son, and praying over her as she fought hard for her life was God's gift to me. I would have been a disaster sitting by the computer waiting for updates that no one would have had time to send as they took care of her, would have been torture to me. And God saw, and God knew, and He let me be here. I can't be here for most things in her life, but I could be here for this very memorable month in her life and I am so thankful that God arranged each step to grant me the desires of my heart. He didn't have to do that, but He did it because He loves me.




My nephew Daeron is perfect and adorable. I am enjoying the chance to cuddle him, changes his diapers, and get to know him just a tiny bit. He won't remember my presence in his life for these days, but I will, and Katie will and to us it's a gift. I am enjoying watching them each get stronger every day and am reminded again and again to praise the God who gives me every good and perfect gift.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Identity

Image
This study of John continues to totally captivate my attention. Most recently one of the things that came out of our study was identity. Jesus repeatedly identifies himself in John; I am: the bread of life, the light of the world, the living water, the way, the truth, the life.   So who am I? A wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an auntie, a nurse, a teacher.........and on goes the list. But none of those are really me. Those are relationships that I have, or things that I do, but they aren’t me.   I spend a lot of time talking to young people and their parents who are trying to identify who they are. So often the discussion is based around the building of a college application. My child is an athlete, an artist, a musician, a linguist, a maths genius........ Then there are the national identities, and the passport identities, and the religious identities. My child is an A student, a C student. And from the children: I am an academic s...
Read more

Not forgotten

Image
It’s easy to feel forgotten, overlooked, or abandoned in our heart of hearts. Sometimes small things make us feel that way: not being invited to the party or not being acknowledged for a job well done. Sometimes it is much bigger things: extended illness, infertility, or loosing a job. Beyond this exist even heavier things that we shy away from thinking about: poverty, the loss of a loved one or violence. Whether big or small, intentional or unintentional, inflicted by fellow man or allowed by God, these disappointments leave behind varying levels of deep and painful wounds that are often difficult for anyone else to see.  Our tendency is to guard these wounds carefully and to protect ourselves in any way possible from the pain that they bring. Simultaneously most of us still wish to be noticed and to be known, but our fear of letting down that guard and letting anyone close enough to see our quiet pain or worse touch the pain holds us back. As a result, no one really know...
Read more

The Fount of Every Blessing

My birthday has rolled around again (that happens so quickly these days J ).   Sometimes, I’m surprised by my own age, I’ll wake up some mornings and think I’m still in my 20’s only to jolt myself back to reality that more time has passed then I think.   We use our birthdays and anniversaries to mark the passage of time.   They call us to stop and remember what has happened since the last time we passed this way. And whether the memories are good or bad there is something in us that needs to recall, evaluate, and acknowledge what has transpired.   As I pass my milestone this year I am captivated by the words of a very old hymn penned in 1757 by Robert Robinson, “Come Thou Fount”.   “Come thou fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing thy grace.”   Looking back over my year and even farther past that into the years before, I find that my life is covered with evidences of God’s grace.   They are weaved into every portion of my existence and...
Read more