Twelve days ago, my day began like any other. Since we were expecting nine attendees for new-employee orientation, I got an early start at work. I would, no doubt, complete several little projects before-hand. I also needed to check my supply of hand-outs so I would be prepared when my time came to speak.
Though I am not responsible for the entire three-day orientation session, I play my part. It's always amazing to me how many voicemails and e-mails I can come back to when I'm away the two hours or so it takes to tell our newbees about Trinity's history and mission, our benefits, our focus on safety and the like. Before I knew it, my sheduled time had arrived. I had received the physical results on all of our new hires, save one; I wondered if I could quickly get those missing results before heading over.
No good. I had to leave a voicemail.
Though I arrived on time, the previous speaker had not yet completed his orientation portion. No problem. It would give me a few minutes to check...oh! I left something on my desk, something I would need. Off to my office again.
Gone for 10 minutes and my phone's voicemail light already winked at me. Maybe it would be the return message from the occupational health clinic telling me my last employee's "drug screen is negative...cleared for full duty." I had a second to check, didn't I?
The voice of my daughter greeted me. "Hello, Anna Bradfield. This is Amber. I just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way to the hospital. I think I'm in labor. Give me a call. Thanks. I love you." Calm. Steady. Confident.
This couldn't be. Amber's due date wasn't until June 29. The doctor had scheduled a c-section for June 23 so she wouldn't go into labor, due to some complications she incurred while delivering Lincoln two years before. Yet a quick call confirmed it.
Amber promised she would get in touch with me when she knew a little more. I must have called her another three times on my walk back over to orientation. "Amber, are they still planning a c-..." "Amber, if they say they're going to keep you..." "Amber, what about..." She finally cut in. "Mom, just remember. No matter what happens, everything's going to be fine."
Funny. I was the Grammy; she was the Mother. She should have been the one freaking out. I should have been the calm one.
Twelve days ago, I had no idea my daughter would deliver naturally, allowing me the opportunity to stay in the delivery room while Graham Jackson Striker pushed his way into the world. Posterior no less. I had no idea what he would look like. That his head would be covered with a shock of black hair an inch and a half long. That he would weigh nine pounds and measure 20 inches. That he would look just like his mother when he slid out with the amniotic fluid. That he would like nothing more than to be held, to be cuddled. That he would grow out of his newborn clothes so quickly. That he would love to sleep all day and keep Momma and Daddy up all night. That his toes would curl like a monkey's on a branch. That he would burp best when his back was rubbed.
Today, I can't imagine life without our little Graham Jacker. If someone showed me a two page spread, like Where's Waldo, and my job was to find his sweet face among the sea of other chubby newborns, I would find him in an instant. If he was in danger, I would throw myself in the way, to spare him.
This is just a glimpse, just a foreshadowing of the vast love the Lord has for us. Psalm 139 reads, in part:
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Can you fathom it? Can you grasp it? Are you worth it? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.
Enjoy your day. Enjoy this blog.
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