Timing is Everything

A year ago today, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Things have changed a little since then. Mostly for the amazing good, and only a couple for the worse:



GOOD:
- our precious baby boy Elijah is part of our family
- Mother's Day is extra special this year
- God answered our prayers for another baby, with a "Yes!"
- I survived a difficult pregnancy, scary delivery, and have great health, and a healthy baby too
- Isaac and Abigail love having a little brother
- I'm overwhelmed more than ever at the blessings of our sweet family members
- I have a deeper compassion for those struggling with infertility and loss after this most recent experience

WORSE:
- carrying around pregnancy pounds still, that are harder to lose at 35
- my heart is totally vulnerable to yet another gift from God, with his chubby self and sweet nature

Here are some recent pictures, and a neato story, if you believe in God's desire to bless us sometimes in seemingly "silly" ways, that really can knock our socks off.

Once upon a time, there was this couple - us. We'd been married for almost 2 years. And, about 10 years ago, we had the talk about trying to get pregnant. I had the calendar ready, and months marked - some of you get this whole "planning" thing I was trying to do. I explained based on my normally very regular cycles that if we were fortunate and things went well, we would probably be able to get pregnant in 3 months or so (where this number came from, I have no idea), and so we could hopefully have a baby the next March, April, or May. April was my first choice. :-) I am chuckling to myself now, at how naive and hopeful and clueless I was. My sweet husband was in agreement that we were ready to see what might happen, and we assumed things would just fall into place. Sometime within a few weeks, we were at a yard sale, and saw this sweet little Peter Rabbit baby boy outfit. We had already discussed wanting to decorate our nursery someday with that theme, so bought it on a whim, with a happy-go-lucky attitude, thinking, 'Next year our son (we knew our firstborn would be a boy) will wear this!'

The short version of the story is that we didn't have a son that next year. Due to some surprise circumstances and God's sovereignty, we did adopt one though, in 2001. Then, after years of struggling and waiting, we had Abigail in 2002. I remember thinking about that little outfit, still hanging in the closet, never worn. When it would have fit Isaac, I had no idea he'd someday be our son, so it never crossed my mind for him to wear it. The cool thing is, our oldest child is a boy - and he was born that next spring, just how I'd dreamed it would all work out when James and I first decided we were ready to have a family!

And, so, it's just really neat how Elijah came this past December, after more waiting and praying, and he was the right size in the spring to wear this little outfit we held onto for 10 years. It's not the most amazing clothing item ever, but it is a wonderful detail that I'll never forget. God put our family together, and answered our prayers in ways we never could've planned or imagined. Our children came to us when He was ready, and not when we thought we were, and though there were so many tears in the waiting, His timing sure has been great. We're tremendously blessed.