Gifts: Like Borrowed Sweaters

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When I told my oldest brother that I was going to have a baby.  He said, very seriously, ``You don’t like babies”.  

He was right. ​

​I didn’t like to babysit (his kids) when I was in high school.  I just wasn’t that person.  Honestly, I didn’t know much about babies.  Chad and I had been married for a little over a year and here we were.  I guess it seemed like the next logical step, and we were naïve - but excited.  ​

​We were ready to tell our Sunday School class the next week when another friend shared at the same time that they were also expecting. 

​A third friend stopped us before we left that day, “Hey, I teach a little class called 'Preparation for Parenting'.  It can help you get your baby to sleep through the night by 8 weeks old!”  

THAT was the moment when I realized that I had no idea what I was getting into.  Babies don’t sleep all night?  What was she talking about?  I had so much to learn.  We took the classes.  I’ll always be grateful for the classes.

Over the next several months we would learn so much about babies.  Feeding schedules, routines, and training hearts to love and to follow Jesus were our priorities.  There was some sound advice thrown in and it was all wrapped in scripture.  When Bridget arrived we would be ready!  

Too Busy...

I think God was showing His sense of humor on March 31, 1999. Chad started out his day telling me he would be ‘too busy’ to come to my Dr.'s appointment with me.  He worked in a family business and it was the busy season.  I was 'too busy' to have a baby that day, too.  She wasn’t due for another 2 weeks, so I thought it was fine, but I didn’t feel well that morning.   

It was payroll day.  I am also a part of a different small family business and 30 families were counting on me to get paychecks ready before the end of the day.  By midmorning I had started a funny column of numbers on a piece of scratch paper on my desk.  9:45. 10:05, 10:22, 10:49…. My appointment was at 2:00.  ​

I decided I should probably get the payroll done before I left for the appointment, because these contractions were getting closer.  I called Chad at noon and told him he had to come with me.  I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I thought maybe I was having a baby.  At 1:45 when we walked into the Dr.'s office, they instructed us to go straight to the hospital.  

​It was actually the next morning at 1AM before she made her grand entrance via emergency C section.  April fools day was registered as a real holiday forever in my heart.  I’m glad I got the payroll done, because the person that I was when I left the hospital a few days later was very different from the person I was when I had left work that day.  Everything changed in an instant.  I was a mom. ​

"April Fools Day was registered as a real holiday forever in my heart."

One of the strangest emotions I can remember happened that next day, after Bridget was born.  We were still at the hospital and my in-laws arrived to celebrate with us the birth of their first grandchild.  We were all so happy!  I recall very clearly my mother-in-law coming into the room and saying “Wow, look what you made!” ​

She used that phrase several times over the years, every time our kids were born.  It’s not “wrong” to say that, I guess.  I suppose science would say that babies are grown by their mothers' bodies.  I’ve heard it a million times since then from a variety of different people, but every time I hear it I feel like it just doesn’t fit.  When I look at my daughter, I simply see a miracle.  

It’s like this: I know how to “make” a cake, I can “make” plans, but I had no idea how this gift was made.  The Bible says “Children are a gift from the Lord” (Psalms 127:3).  There is a big difference between a gift that is given to you and something that you make.  I don’t always deserve the gifts that I’m given, especially a perfect gift that God gives.  

​Of course, I don’t recall ever correcting my MIL, and I wouldn’t.  I do have so many questions for heaven though, and some of them are really hard.  Maybe you have questions too?  Like:  Are these babies somehow formed from who I am?  If so, I would love to take that credit for the great stuff, but then, what about the miscarriages that came along the way?  Did I somehow “fail” to make them?  Did I do something right that made my daughters smarter than me?  Did I do something wrong that made them socially awkward sometimes?

When I read my Bible I see clearly, children are a gift.  From the beginning of the book to the end children are mentioned over and over and we are instructed to handle them carefully.  Of course, they were God’s first.  Entrusted in our care.  And we are to raise them to love Him. They weren’t ever entirely ours, because they belong to Him the whole time. 

Read that again. They aren’t mine.  Like the borrowed sweater that you don’t want to stretch out or ruin because you’re going to have to give it back someday.  A really expensive, irreplaceable, priceless, borrowed sweater.  God entrusted me, and you, with these tiny humans so that we could teach them about Him.  And hopefully someday they will tell others about Him, too.   He did give us some instructions:

No pressure, but this parent-thing comes with a lot of responsibility! 

​Open up your Bible with me today and consider these additional verses:  

A gift with a purpose, that God knew I would love.  That is the best kind of gift. 

Please, pray with me:  “Thank you, Lord, for the treasures that you have given me.  I pray that I will honor You every moment as I get to be their parent.  Show me how to do this the way You want me to.” 

Spend some time today being thankful today for God’s gifts.

​Speak Life, friends.

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