January 10 - B-Day
D-Day, V-Day….B-Day! I love the tags history puts on days. Some of the nicknames have world-wide significance. But today we are looking at January 10th as an extremely memorable day in the history of our family…our personal joy-day and time to celebrate! Today is the date of a much-anticipated delivery. Today may be the birthday of the newest member of the clan. I say may be because he is not here yet, but maybe!!!!
Since I am not the Mom, my expectations are different. I have witnessed the birth of my six other grandchildren! And that was a blessing I can't even put into words! But I was the mother of the mothers and if one other person gets in the delivery room, it is usually the Mommy's Mommy. That is logical and beautiful, and as is should be. I want my daughter in law to be comfortable and surrounded by the two closest people in the world to her. I love the role I have today. I am going there to support all of them, especially my son and beloved, very beloved, daughter in law. Hooray! This is a new role for me and I am praying I fill it well. God knows how much I hate mother in law stereotypes and pray I never overstep, boss or meddle! (You know I will, so I pray someone will set me straight when I do!)
Here is what I remember about the first time I saw my children, remembering there is a slight difference in being the grandmother. The miracle of finally seeing the tiny little being who has been growing inside of you is almost impossible to describe. To see each feature individually and yet grasp the tiny being close to you…to want to unwrap the swaddling each time you hold them and study each tiny toe…the perfect little hands that have for so many months been stretching out inside, reaching from inside and now outside! Wow!
Now, here is the part I wasn't prepared for at all. How swollen the little faces are minutes after birth…just try to imagine the compression of the birth canal and the fluid they have been existing in. All that makes for a strange look at first. Don't misunderstand me. I thought my babies were beautiful, but I wasn't sure why everyone else kept telling me they were beautiful…perfect, ok, but beautiful? I thought the nurses and visitors were just being kind, maybe whispering behind my back. In truth, I had never seen a seconds-old baby. In the movies or television, the newborns looked like, well, babies, not strange like my tiny darlings. I had no idea why they looked a little like aliens. My precious bundles from heaven… perfect gifts to me, but with puffy eyes (from the drops the law makes them put in their eyes), swollen lips and everything else. But my heart was so full of love I didn't have time to question it too much. By the time I saw them again (they used to whisk them away pretty quickly to clean them up, weigh them and check them out completely), the true face was starting to appear. The swelling goes down in a few days and before you know it, the true features are there. By the time we left the hospital, my babies were truly physically beautiful. I know this is a strange point to make on B-Day, but I just wanted to say my perspective was so different with the grandchildren. I knew the surprising truth (to me) of their initial appearance. Yet, for all I remember of the six previous births, I can't imagine how magnificent this baby will be to me. It is not mundane, ho hum or old….oh, no, it is not!!! It is the miracle of life! Our family's treasure…my baby's baby! Is there a greater joy on earth? The birth of your grandchildren ranks right up there with the miracle of your own children' birthdays! I am praising God today for allowing this joy in our lives! I know how He loves to give us the best gifts and I think He outdid Himself when He gave us grandchildren!
"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." James 1:17
Pray: Dear Father, I thank you for the gift of life, the miracle of birth. Today, I ask for a personal gift of safe delivery of my grandson, for an ease of birth, and that Your hands will safely guide this precious baby to breathe in the air of the earth. I trust You today and praise You in advance for the blessing of a baby.
Amen
