Life Unexpected

***I actually wrote this weeks ago as I was joyfully anticpating a new life in our faimly. That precious one now awaits our return in glory. We celebrate all the same. ***

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Our friends had just left our home and though tired from a week of corralling 5 little ones and cooking for a small tribe that night, I begged my husband to leave our home and head into the cold night to buy the test. My heart needed confirmation that my “instincts” were correct.  The Lord had been whispering that new life was ahead.   

It will forever be a day of great joy and celebration as I recall my husband and I and staring at the proof of new life. And then we decided that another test was needeed.  So he went again. And just as the first time, we waited and the confirmation appeared.

 Life was present.

 Standing there in that moment, His presence was thick. It was joyful. It was amazing. As in the first time I discovered I was pregnant, I laughed with delight. For me tears are usually a first response in such joyous times but on that Friday night, I giggled with delight as my Father proved once again that He can shine light in the darkest of places.

A day later, our news had somewhat settled, my husband and I got to escape and enjoy a date night at our favorite, a fun, expensive Tex-Mex restaurant here in Asia. We were after all celebrating!! As we walked that night we talked about how the barren days had prepared us for this. I am sure if children had entered our family through a more normal path almost 10 years ago, we might stand back and question at the Lord adding a sixth legacy. Instead the years of longing for children and the pain that was met during those long days has not been forgotten by either of our hearts.The pain has led us to offer thanks even when we feel pressed and see that the though we are in unfamiliar territory, we trust that we will look into the wilderness and the manna will already be provided. This life was a gift to celebrate.

My body is not exactly a perfect habitat for life to begin…it has been scarred by surgeries and almost two decades of a disease that steals life and breeds pain. In His intimate ways, He had been preparing my already full heart and hands to get ready for another gift.  Days before a feeling that the Creator had once again, in His graciousness, knitted this little ones frame and breathed life into this barren home. A soul that we must patiently wait to meet…yet blessing even in these first days.
 

A new joy in finding Him… His presence my theme these past few weeks is followed by the awareness of a new life present within my womb. I just needed to remain on my knees in awe of His works and trust Him once again to lead us through most barren wilderness and most fertile valleys. This discovery will alter our course of life not only for the next few months but for the rest of time. This soul has been fashioned by the Maker of all. Our privilege is to tell this one daily of His glorious work.

For the first years of our parenting the theme has been redemption, Christ the One who in our brokenness and need rescued us and adopted us as His heir.  These past two years we have experienced the miracle that He truly is the giver of new life. Each path so unique and different yet we are privileged to walk this journey and see beauty in each of our children's lives as they embrace LIFE with Him.

 

We stand in awe of this life within and the deep work of the soul. We remain at His feet in complete surrender for His abundant strength and joy for each and every treasure.