Today is my youngest's birthday. He's 14 and I've always called him my gift. Jonathan's entry into our lives began at one of the darkest and most painful moments and I will be eternally grateful to the Lord for blessing us with such a lovely smiling boy.
My father had heart trouble for most of my life. He had his first open heart surgery when I was 9 and the procedure was fairly new. It was a very big deal and he was at UVA hospital for nearly 3 weeks. We learned to take very good care of him, and because of his dedication to walking and eating in a healthy way, the Lord spared him for nearly 22 years which was some kind of miracle. When I was 31 he went in for another open heart surgery and since it had worked the time before, we were somewhat complacent. He would recover, we would have more years and we were absolutely, totally wrong about that. His heart was too damaged and in 5 days he was gone. He only opened his eyes once and the Lord allowed me to be there at that moment to say words of love and goodbye.
To compound issues, John and I had been trying for another baby...which was kind of crazy since we had just blinked at each other and were pregnant with the first two. This one was taking a bit longer and the day my dad died, I found out I wasn't pregnant. Two blows at once and I dissolved in tears and heartache.
But...and I love a good but....the Lord wasn't finished with this portion of my story. We helped my mother cope with the funeral and some paper work and spent the next couple of weeks up and down the highway taking care of her. My husband and I hardly saw each other and it was usually to trade off the boys and run by on our way to someplace else. But...again the big BUT....I got pregnant. It was nothing less than miraculous considering the circumstances and we both found it hard to believe.
The first thing the doctors always ask a woman who might be pregnant is, when was the first day of your last cycle? I knew it because it was the day my father died. God had welcomed my dear daddy into His loving arms and had turned around and given me my precious Jonathan. From that moment on, I had life to celebrate and the joy of growing a baby under my heart.
There were still hard days, but they were tempered by the sweetness of expecting my little bundle of boy joy. He was born on December 4th and we named him Jonathan Charles...Charles in honor of my father.
The Lord takes away and He gives. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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