New Life

Spring 2012 is one that will go down as a double-portion-new-life spring for us. On Wednesday, February 15, the word came that our younger sons’ wife would be delivering our granddaughter that day. The baby’s birth brought our total to six—three girls and three boys. We hadn’t had a grandchild in pink for seven years. You might say we had had the “blues” (certainly not the sad kind).

Two months later to the day, on Sunday, April 15, the temporary tie between grandsons and granddaughters was broken. We had received word that our older son’s wife was beginning labor with grandchild #seven. My husband and I went to Sunday School expecting any moment to receive the call to come to the hospital. I was teaching the Rock Group on the book of Job—not a light-hearted topic for sure. No frantic call came, so we enjoyed our learning and fellowship with our respective classes.

Afterwards, we set off for the nearby hospital. Often I find myself frustrated and impatient with God when life isn’t lived on my schedule. Doesn’t He understand how important it is that plans work out according to our agenda? No! But this time, He really came through in the timing department.

As it was Sunday, the maternity section of the hospital was deserted. That proved to be a huge blessing for us and for the hospital. The two families involved have become very close over the eight years of the young couple’s marriage, and the two families are also very close to each other. That’s a fun way of saying we all go to whatever anyone is celebrating.

The daughter-in-law giving birth has two grown sisters and our son has a brother and two sisters plus spouses and children. Between the two families, there are 8 lively kids under the age of 10 and all were present in the waiting room along with aunts, uncles, moms, and dads. It was what you might call “controlled chaos.” We won’t include the other newborn as she was a quiet, smiling addition to the crowd, but the 7 other young ones are all, as I said, lively.

New baby did not come as quickly as we expected, so there were several hours of the 7 kids anxiously waiting. Since it was a weekend, all were able to be off school or work, and because of the timing, the little mob did not bother anyone. They took a walk outdoors around the exterior and played some lawn games, always keeping one eye out for the moment when the new cousin would come into their world.

Then came a sign from behind the double doors—the nurse flashed a thumbs-up and we knew he was here. The little fellow, just shy of 8 pounds announced his arrival to the cheers of the mob waiting for the good news.

Thank you so much, Lord, for your schedule for the birth. Given the size, the ages, and the volume of the welcoming committee, it was perfect!