Sarah's Birth Story

One day last fall, I came home for lunch and found out that Liz had been doing crafts with Emily that morning. This is not unusual, and I often am treated to a new creation from Emily. One this particular day, Liz and Em were making little books out of construction paper and they had made one for me. Page 1 is red and has heart stickers all over it and it says, "God is love." Page 2 is black and has silver star stickers scattered and says, "God made the stars." Page 3 has giraffes and bears and ducks and penguins and monkeys and zebras and a hippo and says, "God made all the animals." Emily used many different crayons on page 4 to show that "God made different colors." Page 5 is green and had a handful of Emily's favorite flower stickers on it - "God made the flowers."

This book is so great, and I am so very thankful to have a wife devoted to teaching our children all about God, the Creator - their God and their Creator. I turn to the last page, "God made our family" is written across the top. From left to right on the page are beautiful stick figure drawings (my favorite) with labels above each member of our family - Daddy is standing tall, Parker the dog is eager to play, little Brandon is crawling around, Emily is smiling, and next to her is the last figure with the label "Mommy and new baby" above her head!

What a fun way to hear the great news about our little Sarah. The next many months were somewhat normal for us. They were normal in the sense that we had been through two pregnancies in the past couple of years. This pregnancy brought different challenges, as each did before it. Now not only do we have a 10 month old, but we have a toddler, too. Emily, our oldest, quickly learned that God was making a new baby in Mommy's 'tummy' and she loved it.

Parenting is difficult and exhausting and challenging and rewarding and humbling and fun and hard all at the same time. The Lord constantly reminds me in my times of frustration that I am His child and I am no more obedient than my kids and He also reminds me that He loves me more than I can love my kids - He tends to let me know both of these lessons simultaneously, and for that I am forever thankful. I am thankful for His patience, for His wisdom, for His grace, for His discipline, for His provision, and for His never-ending love. I don't know why He has blessed me with Liz and these three remarkable children, but He has and I am humbled by them.

Sarah's birth was a little different than her two siblings, as she seems to be a little more content and patient than they were (than they are). Emily and Brandon were born 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 weeks early, so we started preparing for Sarah's arrival about 6 weeks before the due date. I made all the arrangements at camp to have all my responsibilities covered each week, just in case. We kept going back for the weekly check-ups expecting to be told that the birth was imminent, but would get reports of "everything looks good, see you in a week." When you get an expectation stuck in your head, as we did with another early delivery, then news like this can be a little disappointing. After one such visit, at the 38 1/2 week mark, I was walking around camp on my way to lead a Bible study time for some of our counselors. I had fully expected to not come back home from that visit, but to be at the hospital having a baby. As I was walking I was airing out my thoughts and my disappointment that things weren't going to my schedule, and the Lord humbled me again. He brought to mind my prayer request to Him, my persistent petition that had been before Him constantly since that day in the fall when I read the book that Liz and Emily made for me. He let me know that He was granting my prayer of a healthy baby and a healthy wife throughout the pregnancy. Liz and Sarah were both doing very well, exactly what I had hoped and prayed for, and now I am complaining! Man, what a child I am. And what a loving Father I have.

At that last check up, we were also given the option for inducing the following Monday. After much, much prayer and a long weekend with some progression in the pregnancy, we decided Sunday morning that we were going to go ahead with the induction. We got to the hospital about 7:30 am on June 20, 2011 and found out that Liz was already pretty far along and almost in labor on her own. They began the induction at about 8:30 and then right at 10:00 am Sarah was born! A whopping 7 lbs 4 oz and 19.5" long!! By lunch the next day, both mother and child were discharged and our whole family was back home that night.

Sarah is 5 days old today (as I am writing this), and they have been some of the sweetest 5 days I have known. Emily loves to sit next to her Mommy on the couch and hold Sarah, and she just stares at her little sister and smiles and giggles. Brandon, who is always going 90 miles an hour around the house will sit very still right next to Sarah when she is in her little bouncer and he just watches and smiles. Both continue to share their toys with her and want to be around her. What a blessing!

Father,

Thank You for being our Creator. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for making the stars in the night that declare Your glory. Thank You for making all the animals that reveal Your creativity. Thank You for making all the different colors that I can see. Thank You for making the flowers that remind me of Your faithfulness and goodness to me Thank You for making my family, thank you for Liz and Emily and Brandon and Sarah (and Parker, too). My family reveals Your love for me to me. Thank You.


Humbly and only ever because of Jesus Christ,
Matt, the dad