I Said a Prayer

We were so grateful when God blessed us with The Boy.  After struggling with infertility for almost five years, our wait was finally over.  We were happy and our family felt whole.  We couldn’t possibly ask for more.

Imagine our surprise a few years later, when I (who was taking birth control) began to suspect that I might be pregnant.  I was scared.  I was older than I had planned to be as a pregnant lady.  We weren’t exactly financially ready for another person.

Michael came home late one Wednesday night from praise team practice and found me sitting in his recliner.  Crying.

He immediately came to me and knelt down in front of me.  “What’s wrong?”

I silently held up the positive pregnancy test.

He smiled.  “Why are you sad?” he asked.  “This is awesome!”

“But we’re old!” I sobbed.  “We’re like Abraham and Sarah!”

He laughed.  “You’ll be okay.”

“We can’t afford this,” I whispered.

“Honey, if people waited to afford babies, they’d never have them!  We are blessed!  This is a gift!”

I nodded.  He’s always had a way of making everything better.  “Okay,” I agreed.

Then he asked, “Can I ask you one question?”  I nodded and he pointed to what I still held in my hand.  “Did it really take three pregnancy tests to convince you?”

I’m a slow learner.

Looking back, I can’t believe my audacity.  We had waited so long for The Boy.  And suddenly God had given us this precious gift.  I can’t believe I was upset.

I began to pray for the baby.  For health and strength.  And then the telling ultrasound.

“It’s a girl!” the lady announced.

I look up at Michael and began to cry.  Again.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.  “I thought you’d be happy that it’s a girl!”

“I’m happy,” I told him.  “But we have to paint the nursery again!”

I had another uneventful pregnancy.  The only real problem was the awful heartburn.  Everything gave me heartburn.  Even strong perfume!

In the hospital, we laughed and were so excited.  And then, my precious doctor came in with a sober look and told me that he was concerned about the baby.  Her heart rate was dropping with each contraction and he didn’t think we could wait.  I had to have an emergency C-section.  I was given enough Demerol for a full-grown moose, so I was pretty loopy.  Michael said it was a good thing because if I’d seen how many people were in the operating room, I would have been as terrified as he was.  Not knowing what may have been wrong, my doctor had several teams of varying specialty waiting for my baby’s arrival.

And then, she was out.  I heard her crying and my doctor said, “Well, that explains your heartburn!  She’s part orangutan!”  She had so much thick dark hair that it touched her shoulders!  She was perfectly healthy and everything was fine.

After I found out that we were having a girl, I began to pray for her husband.  There I go again.  Always prepared.  And I wasn’t even a Girl Scout!

I made a scrapbook page for this prayer when The Redhead was only two years old.  Here’s the journaling:

• I said a prayer today for someone we haven’t even met yet…your husband.
• I prayed that his eyes are seeing examples of kindness, sharing, and responsibility.
• I prayed that his ears are hearing about God and His love.
• I prayed that his mouth is laughing while he enjoys life.
• I prayed that his hands are growing into strong tools that will one day protect you and provide for you.
• I also prayed that those hands will be just the right size and shape for yours to fit into.
• I prayed that his feet are walking in safe paths.
• I prayed that his heart is open to God and to love.
• I prayed that his knees are already bowing in prayer as he learns to talk to God.
• I prayed that the life lessons he is learning are shaping him into a man who will love, nurture, and care for you and your children.
• No, we don’t know who you will marry, but God does.
• So until He brings the two of you together, I will just keep praying for the man to whom you will one day give your heart.

She started talking just before she was five months old. (Just like her brother, she started with the word Mama!).  A few months later, she was speaking in full-blown sentences.  I’ll never forget when she was only 14 months old and I was driving us home.  I said, “Did you see those birds flying across the sky?”

From the backseat, I heard a little voice say, “Well, actually, they were on that telephone line and then they flew.”

I nearly drove off the road.  Well, actually?  Smart little booger!

She’s ten now.  And the world we’re living in is tough – especially for girls.  They are bombarded every single day with images of what they’re supposed  to be.  Hair like this.  Clothes like this.  Body like this.  We just want her to love herself – exactly as she is.  She’s stubborn and funny and imaginative and artsy – she can draw like nobody’s business! – and she’s an awesome archer.  She’s incredibly verbal and loves to voice her opinion.  She’s about to launch a You Tube channel called “The Red-Haired Reviewer” in which she reviews books for kids.  She doesn’t follow the crowd.  She loves to be herself.

We’ve been given the privilege of loving her.  Of giving her a firm foundation based on the fact that God loves her – exactly as she is.  If He – the creator of this universe – loves her, then it’s going to take somebody really special to win her heart.

My prayer is that she will realize that the first and most important love story in her life is the one between her and God.

When He’s ready for her to meet the man she’ll spend her life with, He will bring them together and there will be no doubt.

Until then, I’ll  be praying.