When You Find Grace

 

The most popular member of my family is the youngest.

Posts about her on Facebook get the most “Likes.” When I visit my older two children at school, students in the hall and the classrooms call her by name. At field day last year, the students in my daughter’s class weren’t jumping and cheering their teammates. They were crowded around Miss Grace.

I have to admit; I think she is the cutest thing since the teddy bear.

But I forget from time to time that some of you haven’t been long time readers and you don’t know her story. So grab a cup of coffee and let me tell you…

After having two children, a boy and a girl, Alan and I decided we were done. We discussed this at length, wondering if we wanted a third child, but finally decided that two was a gracious plenty.

So, being the “spiritual” person I was, I prayed and told God we were done. (Note the sarcasm. Most spiritual people don’t TELL God what their plans are. They ask.) “God, Alan and I are done having kids. We think two is enough. I just wanted to let you know. But if you want us to have another one, we will. But it will have to come from you Lord, because I’m doing all that’s in my power to prevent it.” (Read: I was on the birth control pill.)

(*FREE marriage tip: Let your spouse know in advance if you are going to pray a prayer like this. Trust me in this.)

I imagine God having to slap his holy knee from laughing so hard when he heard this prayer. You see five weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. Two months pregnant!

So I knew for a fact that God had a special plan for Grace. God planned this pregnancy. Everything went smoothly right up to the end when I went into labor – four weeks early. I wasn’t overly concerned, because Grace was measuring big. I kept thinking they must be off on my days since I wasn’t really sure when I had gotten pregnant.

But as soon as she was born, she was whisked away to the NICU. She was super floppy and purple. They let me kiss her tiny face before scooting away. I was told it would probably only be for a few hours. Heartbroken, I asked immediately for my best friend, Allison. She is a Respiratory Therapist in the NICU.

Don’t you love how God works? Grace was taken to the NICU for breathing problems and it just so happened my best friend was an expert in that. That first moment she saw me, I think all her training fell away, and she was in best friend mode. I’ll never forget the tiny smile she tried to hold in place as she turned the door and saw me lying there – hopeless. She fell into my arms and cried with me. Pulling back enough to look me in the eyes, she said, “It’s going to be okay.”

But I wasn’t so sure. How could God have planned THIS?

Read Part 2 HERE.

Meanwhile, you may want to read these posts from my pregnancy.

Headed to Macedonia

God’s Grace