A Gift from God

I think I know how Hannah felt at the birth of her first born son, Samuel.

Fifteen years ago, my infant son was placed in my arms. I had never experienced such an awestruck wonder. For nine months (possibly 10!) I carried this child inside of me. I talked to him, sang to him, read the Bible to him and prayed over him- all while he was in my womb. All of a sudden - well, no - actually after about 22 hours of labor- he was in my arms for me to look at and be amazed at.

The incredible responsibility of raising him to be the man God intends for him to be weighed heavily upon Rusty and myself that first day. We had been up for over 24 hours, but we couldn't think about sleeping. We just laid him on the bed and watched him.

Amazing.

I can't mention his birth without telling about the day we knew for certain we were pregnant!

Ahhhhhh! What happy memories! :)

You see, we were told we would probably never have children of our own. We had been blessed with a beautiful teenage daughter three years earlier. She was in her senior year of highschool and our lives were perfect. Of course we wanted babies, but Glenda brought so much joy to our hearts and life to our home, that we didn't have much time to think about it.

I was sitting in church on a Sunday night. My husband had invited a singing group to our church. Those of you who know him - you guessed it- a southern gospel group. They were ok, but not my favorite. I was trying my best to pay attention but my little mind began to wonder. I got out my 2 year planner and was checking the date of Glenda's next out of town ballgame to cheer at. I flipped back to August to check something else when I saw the circle.

Hmmmmm. I looked at September. I must have missed something.

I counted the weeks. I counted the days. I did a mental back track of every day in between.

I just must have missed it. This had happened before. I remember telling myself not to get all excited. But I couldnt' remember which week I was forgetting to put the circle on.

(If you have ever struggled with infertility, there is no doubt in your mind right now about what the circles mean. If not, remember these were the days before you could purchase an ovulation predictor test over the counter.) :)

After church, I asked my husband. Do you remember this month?

We just couldn't remember.

I went to bed. I tried so hard not to get excited. It just almost could be too painful.

By the time the sun came up on Monday morning, my husband knew we had to go to Wal-Mart to buy yet another pregnancy test. (If I had all of the money I have spent on those things in the past 23 years, I could probably pay my house off.)

After I carefully followed the instructions, Rusty, Glenda and I sat and watched the test strip.

The second hand on the clock refused to go any faster. Time simply stood still.

We were bunched up close to the bathroom counter like sardines watching the stick.

A faint trace of pink began to appear.

A gasp came from all three of our mouths.

We quickly silenced ourselves.

Another minute dragged by.

As the pink plus became clearly visible, we were all in shock. Then as if on cue by a conductor we started screaming and hollering and jumping up and down.

Then Rusty, the forever wonderful realist, said, "Let's not get excited until we get a blood test."

We had to make Glenda go to school. Her argument that it had never made a plus sign was a good one, but she couldn't afford to miss so early in the school year. We promised her that if we found out something for sure, we would let her know.

Rusty and I drove to the little clinic in our town and asked to have a blood pregnancy test.

They drew my blood. We sat in the small cubicle as we waited. The technician heard our story. She was almost in tears.

Again we waited. We had been waiting for ten years, so what was ten more minutes?

The technician cleared her throat. "Well", she said, "there is no doubt". My heart sank. I had been disappointed a hundred times before. I could handle it yet another time. "You are most definitely pregnant!"

What!!!/???

Did I just hear what I think she said?!

Rusty and I both began crying. Then we bowed our hands and praised our faithful God who had promised a child.

I think we spent the rest of the day on the phone! It was so exciting! We sent Glenda a huge balloon bouquet to the highschool telling her she was going to be a big sister! How fun!

May came very quickly. And there this baby was in our arms!

He is now about 6 foot 2 and very, very handsome. He is precious to this mother's heart and makes me proud!

He is 15 years old today and loves the Lord with all of his heart. He disciplines himself to read God's Word daily and I know God has great things in store for him.

Happy Birthday, Jordan! You always have and always will make my heart smile!

I love you, Bub!

Mom