July 22, 2013 will be a new notable day that will first appear on the 2014 calendar. The new picture will be of our newest and youngest granddaughter, Johannah. Johannah was brought into the world by our youngest daughter and her husband.
I was actually around for the birth of this grandchild. This daughter studied and read and planned and met with people in all areas of childbirth. She was the most informed expectant mother I have ever known or even heard of. She planned to do it all natural, had a great midwife and set up her home for a home birth. Things dragged on and three weeks past the due date she was getting pressure to take a conventional route. She trusted her study and the information given by her very experienced midwife.
Eventually, things began to happen. The midwife came to help with the delivery and all seemed fine. As she was ready to leave for a bit, she did one more check and something was not quite right and they all went to the hospital. Our daughter fought for hours to maintain her path of a natural delivery. She was determined to do her best for her baby and it was really a battle.
As hours passed, it got to a point that some decisions had to be made. With her husband at her side, the midwife, my wife and me nearby, serious discussions ensued. Everything seemed right and the baby was in the right position but she just wasn't coming. We all prayed, then left the room so our daughter and her husband could make a decision. They decided that in spite of all the plans and preparation, a c section was in order.
Watching our son-in-law getting dressed in scrubs for the operating room, reminded me of a day in the San Fernando Valley in California some 27 years ago. So many years ago, I also put on a set of scrubs and walked the halls alongside my wife as we headed for the operating room. I watched this very same daughter, who was being readied for surgery, come into the world also by a c section. That same little baby born 27 years ago, was today making the same journey herself. This time, my wife and I waited in a waiting area while the little one, who we were so excited to see, would enter the world the same way her mom did.
Our daughter had studied, planned, read and talked to educated people. We had all been praying for the natural delivery and all to go as planned. We all were shocked when it was all going a different way. I know our daughter was disappointed but by the time she made her decision, she just knew it had to be done.
Our daughter did great, dad did great and Johannah came out a beautiful baby. It all went very well and we all could not rejoice more.
We could not understand, why after all the planning, things went the opposite way. On the outside, all the plans, precautions, and preparation were right on. But on the inside, little Johannah had her umbilical cord around her neck three times and basically ran out of rope and could not come out the natural way. She was ready and in position but had gone as far as physically possible. No matter what was planned and no matter what we saw, it had to happen just as it did. All we could see was what was visible to us but God protected Johannah and knew what was going on. He led everyone to the right choice. What had to happen, had to happen and we thank God for His guidance.
Today, we have a beautiful, sweet (as of tomorrow) 1 month old addition to our family. Now we have grandchildren from 10 years old to 1 month old and we could not be more blessed. We are proud grandparents of 5 girls and 1 boy. It is the strangest feeling to see your youngest child have a baby of her own. You can't help but think your baby just had a baby. That is a crazy thought.
We are so incredibly proud of all our daughter did to do what she believed was right in her planning and even the final decision to have the surgery. We are so proud of her husband who stood by her the entire time supporting her and walking with her through some tough moments at the hospital. We are so proud of the little one, so tiny and precious, who fought and hung in there determined to join the family . We are so proud of our other daughters who shared their concern and prayers as the story unfolded. I think we have grown as a family and it is amazing how each new addition to the family brought us closer and closer, step by step. Today, we all share the memory of that long, tense July 22.
No matter what we plan, no matter what life looks like on the outside, God knows the real story and watches over us and protects us. Sometimes we are not even aware a situation exists, yet we are protected. Sometimes we don't even know we need protection but He gives it. Often, unknown to us it just has to happen the way it does.
Last night we were at our friends' house sitting on their porch talking. We got on to the subject of the world and problems in Egypt and all the crazy things going on everywhere. On the outside, the entire world seems to be a mess. It seems that things are just not going as we would plan or like. But we need to rest in the truth that it has to happen just as it is.
God created the world and all life. Man stumbled and fell from the grace of God and things went sideways. We are now struggling and watching as life seems to be getting crazier and crazier. But we live with the hope and promise of a new world when Christ rules. It is like all of creation got twisted and we have to go through birthing pains to see the delivery of the new world where there is no more pain or suffering. Perhaps we have to go through a c section of sorts, to be delivered healthy and whole. We just have to trust in the Great Surgeon. He will know when the time is right and He will do a perfect job of facilitating the delivery.
Sometimes everyday life isn't going at all how we want it. Sometimes it seems like life is caving in on us. Sometimes life just has to be as it is and we don't know the entire story.
Our hope need not be in the here and now for it will pass away. Rather, we should place our hope in the promise of what is yet to come and know our God, who is faithful, will do as He promised. He has been faithful all these years and will be faithful always - no matter what it looks like on the outside.
Congratulations to our newest family, now three - we are so proud of all of you!