Waiting for the baby

One of my dearest friends had a baby at 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning and I had the privilege of being there.  She has two elementary aged children already, so this wasn’t exactly her first birth, but it was her first baby as a Christian.  I have watched her blossom over the past five years and she is simply one of the most precious individuals I know.  She has truly given her life to the Lord and walks purely by faith every single day.  Several years ago, she and her husband decided that they probably wouldn’t have any more children because she had always had troubled pregnancies, miscarriage, bedrest, etc.  When she first became a Christian, she devoted one day a week to a ministry she started where she would go to the hospital and deliver care baskets to mothers on bedrest.  She offered her time as a gift to the Lord. 

 

Anyway, last year, she began to feel that God was not finished with her yet and that maybe she was supposed to have more children.  She left this matter completely up to the Lord and sure enough, she soon became pregnant.  Our prayers were that this pregnancy would be successful and that it would result in a perfectly healthy baby.  She called this her spiritual baby because he was a product of her walk with the Lord and the evidence that God had moved in her life and in the life of her husband. 

 

She called me at 8:30 p.m. Monday and said they were on the way to the hospital and that things were moving along quickly.  So, my daughter and I rushed up there. The doctor said he’d be born around 11:00 p.m.  11:00 p.m. came and the baby wasn’t here yet.  My friend’s spirits were up, though.  She was tired, but still talking on her cell phone to friends and family.  Midnight came and then 1:00 a.m.  We were all getting a bit worried.  Then finally, her sister came in and said that it was time.  We still had to wait until 2:00 a.m. to get back in there to see her and the precious baby boy that God had brought into our lives.

 

I realized that night that whenever we have problems in our lives, issues that need to be resolved, prayers that we haven’t seen answered yet, etc., that it is much like having a baby.  There’s lots of waiting that goes on.  We are so impatient sometimes for God to answer our prayers quickly and maybe we can learn a lesson or two from my friend.  You see, when you are pregnant, there’s nothing you can do but wait.  You can’t have a full-term baby any quicker than nine months (actually ten months, if you count it by weeks).  You can’t rush delivery either, unless you have an elective c-section, but even then, you’re waiting.  You can’t rush the nurses either when you want to hold your baby.  They will give him or her to you when it’s safe to do so.  Wow!!! If we could all learn to wait upon the Lord like a pregnant woman waits for her baby. 

 

And when we do get that naswer to prayer (whether it’s what we wanted or not) do we look at it and into the eyes of God like a new mother looks into the eyes of her baby?  Not usually.  Most of the time we say a quick thanks and then move on to the next prayer request.

 

I just want to say thank you to God for all the blessings he’s given me in my life, including the blessing of seeing my sweet friend continue her walk with the Lord.

My Devotional Reviewed!

I started getting sales last week that I had no idea where they were coming from. I usually know how someone hears about me before I get an order.  So, I did some fishing and found out that Cindy with Homeschooling From the Heart had reviewed my Bible Study.  I was so excited.  Check it out.  She only gave me a B+ rating, but I’ll take it. 

Here is the direct link:

http://www.homeschoolingfromtheheart.com/hsreviews/teachme.html

http://www.homeschoolingfromtheheart.com/hsreviews.html

A Message from Proverbs today

I try to read a chapter of Proverbs everyday.  Some days I read something else and then go back and read several chapters at a time.  Today, I started over with Proverbs for the month…a day behind already.

Proverbs 1:8-9 says: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

I’ve always read these verses and thought to myself, “Yeah, listen to your father. Don’t forsake your mother’s teaching!”  As a homeschooling mother, you know, I thought these verses were like a ball in my court.

Today, as I read this, I thought, “Hey, you know, that’s a lot of pressure on a parent.”  I mean, we have the responsibility of actually giving the children some instruction to listen to and some teaching that’s worth not forsaking, right?  Wow!  It really makes you stop and think about what you’re doing on a daily basis; how you’re walking with the Lord; is it something the kids would want to mimic?

I pray that as I seek the Lord daily, he’ll light the way for my kids to follow in my footsteps. Hopefully, my footsteps will be inside the footsteps of Jesus.

 

High prices and collection agencies

Last year I went to the local hospital to have the dreaded mammogram.  Ouch!  Well, as it turns out, the insurance we had at the time did not consider that a necessary expense, so I was billed for the entire mammo.  No problem, I thought. I’ll just make payments to the hospital.  So, I made my usual payments.  After so many days, it was turned over to a collection agency.  No problem, I thought. I’ll just keep making the payments.  So, in April, I sent in my payment as I had been doing. I received a letter back a week later with my check enclosed saying that my payment did not meet our agreement.  Okay, whatever. I didn’t make an agreement with them.  But, I decided to send them another check with a little bit more added.  It’s not like I don’t want to pay it. We just have many other bills, you know?

 

So, before I could even send an additional payment, I received another letter from them that, in my opinion, bordered on harassment. It contained multiple words in capital letters basically attacking my character for not sending in a payment.  Of course, I did send in a payment and they rejected it.

 

What really cracked me up was a question they posed that said: Where would we be in today’s economy without the privilege of saying “Bill Me”?  In answer to their question, here is what I said to them… ”I think this entire country would be much better off if we had never accepted credit extended to any of us.  We would be living debt-free and probably would not have to deal with exorbitant prices from healthcare providers, grocery stores and retailers. But, of course, creditors like you would be out of business.  I must also add that I do not feel like hospitals and doctors should be lumped into the category of credit.  If their prices were not so inflated and health insurance not so poor, people would be able to pay their bills.”

 

So that’s what I said. That’s how I feel.