The Father

Twenty-five years ago this past Christmas Jim and I were anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child.  Our baby girl was due and we were ready to meet her.  (We were also enjoying the idea that it was Christmas and we were relating to another young couple in a new way.)

Christmas came and went but no baby.  New Year's Eve and came and went without a baby (there went Jim's tax deduction).  Little Christmas, as my Armenian Grandma called it, came and went with no baby.  On about January tenth I told Jim, "I think this child has subscribed to Better Womb and Garden and has taken up permanent residency."  As we went to yet another doctor's appointment that same week, we were convinced that this baby was never going to come.

The doctor checked everything out and said it was all good so we settled in to wait some more.  Then on Saturday evening, the phone rang.  It was our doctor.  "You know, I've been thinking and talking with some other doctors at University Hospital.  It is our thought that since the baby is not in distress we should induce labor and help this baby along.  I would like you to come to the hospital tomorrow morning and we will have a baby!" 

This new development caught us off guard and Jim was scrambling because he not only had to preach the next morning but it was annual meeting day and he needed to chair the congregational meeting.  The doctor assured us that it was not a problem.  If I could get a ride to the hospital, we would get things prepped and by the time Jim got there we would be ready to go and have our baby.  That is exactly how it happened.  A nurse friend took me to the hospital with all my gear and Jim went off to church. ( He said he conducted the shortest annual meeting on record.)  As soon as he could, he hopped in the car with everyone's good wishes and prayers and drove the half-hour ride to our wonderful little country hospital.  I was so glad to see him!!

Labor kicked in and we tried to remember all the things we learned in our birthing classes.  "Hee hee hoo;  hee hee hoo."  The hours passed and the sun went down and we were still laboring but then the moment came when the nurse said, "Ok, it's time to push."  There was a flurry of activity and the doctor was called and now there was no more chatting, or joking.  It was all business.  We were having a baby!

Abigail Rose arrived at 10:35 on January fifteen.  She was perfect and beautiful.  The nurse wrapped the baby in a pastel striped receiving blanket and put a stretchy pink hat on her head.  She lifted our daughter over the bed rail right up next to my cheek so I could see her and touch her soft newborn skin.  Our first family picture was taken and then the nurse said to Jim, "Would you like to take the baby to the nursery?"  "Would I?!"  Jim cradled that precious bundle in his arms and headed down the hall where they were waiting for the baby.  I swear that the second he took Abby in his arms his feet raised six inches off the floor and he floated all the way to the nursery. 

Remembering that wonderful evening makes me think of one of my favorite passages in God's Word.  Isaiah chapter forty-six and verses three and four say:

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
    and have carried since you were born.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

 

Can you not see God, the Father, carrying you, taking delight in you and protecting you as though you were His most treasured child?  Do you not take great comfort in the idea that he not only loves you as a little child but he loves you throughout your entire life even into old age.  He will carry you and sustain you and rescue you.