God Had A Plan

What started out to be a normal childbirth changed radically that August 19, 1965.

Three days beforehand, the baby girl was full term and ready to make her appearance. The momma’s contractions began when her water broke, but they were erratic, never getting into a solid rhythm. Shockingly, after three failed doses of Pitocin, the doctor sent the momma home half-dilated. The momma and daddy were confused and scared. The small child’s survival did not look good. BUT GOD… When she could take the pain no longer, the young momma returned to the hospital to receive a forceps delivery. The newborn baby breathed with difficulty as she lay there limp and unresponsive. The nurse whisked the baby away with great haste when she saw the baby’s lips had turned blue. The baby’s grandpa stood by, watching in anger as he watched the seemingly rough way the nurse handled the infant. “She was jerking her around by her leg like a little rabbit!” He didn’t realize the nurse had panicked. A lung infection developed in the baby, causing the hospital stay to extend 10 days longer than normal. The worried and tired woman, already a momma of a toddler, routinely made trips back to the hospital with the life-giving breast milk. The little one was so critically ill that the doctor’s orders prevented her from nursing the baby herself. GOD WAS THERE WITH THE CHILD. For at least the next two years, the child rattled constantly as she breathed. It was very trying on the momma and daddy. Nightly, they would jump to the child's rescue when the rattle stopped, as that meant the small one had stopped breathing. Like stories with a happy ending, this child grew up relatively strong compared to her uncertain beginning. A woman in her 30s now, the once sickly child, now stood at the church altar to commit her life to the very One who was there in the beginning. She remembered Abba Father’s hand gently guiding her in her steps as she walked to the front, almost like a daddy would gently pat the toddler’s bottom to guide her along. GOD HAD A PLAN FOR THE YOUNG WOMAN. The plan was to prosper her and not harm her and to give her hope and a future. This life she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was a gift not to be wasted. She continued through the years to grow her spiritual side. The desire was strong to be close to the One who was there from the beginning—the One who drew her in evermore. GOD HAD SO MUCH MORE IN STORE FOR THE WOMAN. Time marched on. The birthdays seemed to multiply as the years clicked by. The abundance of children and grandchildren brought great joy to the woman. She wanted to share these stories and more. So, along with the One who had been there from the beginning, the woman began to write. Her hopes and prayers revolved around seeing her family and friends come to know and love the One she had held dear from the beginning. And so, she writes. And just maybe, through her penned words, you too will draw evermore closer to the One who has known YOUR story since the beginning.

This is me at one year old.