Reason #497

The day we got home from our honeymoon, we found out. Our family was going to be adding a new member within a year, growing slowly but surely. Tears filled my eyes as the news sank in and my heart was overjoyed. I couldn’t believe it. God was up to His working ways again. Answering prayers at the most unexpected time. At the right time, like He always does. We didn’t see this coming, although we had been praying this would happen before too much more time passed by. And, as with all things in life, we just trusted that it would happen when the Lord was ready for it to happen, believing that He does grant us the desires of our hearts.

 

And so in January (I think), I will be an aunt… not a mom, as the first paragraph may have led to you believe. But I am ever bit as happy as if it was my very own child. Because this is a little miracle baby. Well, I suppose every baby is a miracle, but especially this little one, as s/he has been a long time coming.

 

This year, my brother and sister-in-law will be celebrating their 5 year anniversary. It seems like just the other day they were getting married, and it’s almost been half a decade! Anyway, they’ve been hoping for a child for a few years now. In fact, I remember a year and a half ago when my brother called me with the news that there might be a baby on the way. I was sitting at home feeling the lowest of low, and he shared this exciting news with me. I was hoping with all my heart that the blood work would come back positive because we could have used the joy of good news at the time. Plus, how much more exciting does it get than a baby?! Well, it was negative and there was no baby. My heart was extra heavy because I knew how much they wanted this. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he thought about the possibility of becoming a dad soon, and I wanted it to happen for the both of them. But God has a plan for our lives and His timing is perfect. It just wasn’t the time yet, they had to wait.

 

He doubled our joy this month. A marriage and the news of a baby, it doesn’t get any better than that! I saw the first sonogram of baby today and it looks like it’s going to be a… polka dot! A little too early to tell, but I already love that dot with my whole heart. And sure, they’ve had to wait, but I bet if you asked them, they’d say it’s worth the wait. I don’t think there’s a bit of disappointment that a baby is finally on the way. Not just any baby, their baby! Their own DNA mixed together to make the perfect little one. One being secretly formed, one who is already known inside and out by our Creator, one who has a purpose and a plan. A sweet little dot whose story is just beginning!

 

He is the Author and Perfector of our lives. Of my life, of Kenlee and Lacye’s lives, of baby dot’s life. And He is a God who hears our prayers, answers the desires of our hearts, and lavishes us with blessings. A God who is so good, who does everything right, and who has a perfect plan. And sometimes that plan requires us to wait, to trust, to really be stretched and to be patient, but in the end, it’s always worth it. All of the disappointment, heartache, trials, and challenges pail in comparison to the joy that comes with the answer He gives.

 

Maybe this is you. Maybe you’re stuck in the spot of waiting. Waiting for a job, a baby, a spouse. Waiting for healing, for an answer, for anything. Keep waiting. Don’t give up on Him. Don’t doubt Him, either. Just ask, keep on asking, keep on trusting, and remember that whatever answer He gives, when He gives it, will make it all worth the wait.

 

Baby dot, I can’t wait to meet you and see your sweet face. We’ve been hoping and praying for you, and we know that God has sent you to make our family even more complete. Oh, the joy that will come with your arrival! You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and you are dearly loved. And we thank you, Lord, for your miracles, for your continuous goodness, for blessing us beyond belief, and for rewarding us with more than we deserve!  

 

#497 - Because of baby dot and His continuous goodness!

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it." - Psalm 139:13-14