I love Christmas for many reasons but one in particular is that I love to give gifts. It is a thrill to watch someone’s face light up when you surprise him or her with something wonderful. While giving is great fun I have to admit that receiving them is not too bad either! Because of my love for this part of the holiday I have learned that Christmas presents come in three categories. Some are awesome and are just what you wanted Other gifts are in the “ok” category and are nice but just do not evoke that “WOW” emotion. Then there are those gifts that you receive (and hopefully never give) that…well you wonder what in the world that person was thinking when they purchased that item. However, those kinds of gifts make for great stories and also are the perfect thing for “white elephant” parties. The key here though is to make sure that the person who gave you that present is not at that party!!
The gift I write about today is not one that we would exchange and in fact has to be the BEST Christmas present in the whole world. It was our daughter, Rosemary who is celebrating her 20th birthday on Christmas. Her story is beautiful, amazing, funny, and filled with awe – just as she is. So…here is her story.
You would think that the story would begin on December 25, 1989 on the day she was born but so many things happened before her birth that the whole story requires telling. One of the most amazing sagas of her story happened in late May or early June. I was just about 8 or 9 weeks pregnant and with two small boys in tow, tired and sick most of the time. On one early summer hot afternoon, after a full morning of entertaining two boys age 4 and 2, I was exhausted. After putting the boys down for their nap I decided to take one also. I fell asleep on our bed on my back with my arms stretched over my head (which is something I never do) – right under our ceiling fan in our bedroom. Sleep quickly overcame me. Suddenly I heard one of the boys cry out in a loud voice, “Mom” and I reached forward with my right arm to get up. At that instant, our ceiling fan fell from the ceiling directly on to my stomach. The only thing shielding our baby was my arm and hand that had come across my body as I started to get up. When I disentangled myself from the fan and cleared my head from the shock of having a fan fall from the ceiling, I went to check on the boys. They were both sound asleep in their beds! I stood there dumbfounded because I knew someone had cried out and awakened me just before the fan fell. If that had not happened I would have taken the full blow and weight of that fan on my abdomen. I knew then that God had protected not only me but also our unborn baby from that crazy accident. The only injury I sustained was a bruised arm and hand from the heavy fan. We knew then this child was going to be something special.
Compared to the story of the fan, the rest of the pregnancy was pretty uneventful except the waiting and wondering about whether this was a boy or a girl. We had two boys and secretly I hoped for a girl but I was scared because I only knew how to raise boys. Girl’s hair and ribbons and frilly things scared me. I knew how to play football, basketball, and baseball but knew nothing of dolls and dress-up. I guess the anxiety began to translate into bad dreams. One night when my family had arrived for thanksgiving I got the turkey ready for the oven before I went to bed. I dreamed that night that I gave birth to not a baby but a turkey neck. I guess pulling all of the giblets and neck out of the turkey somehow traumatized me!!
The holidays were upon us and we had no baby yet. None of our children have been born on time or even near my due date. So…two weeks past the due date my mom and dad arrived. I felt like I was under a microscope all of the time. I was allowed to do very little so that made the waiting even longer. Christmas morning arrived and the boys got to open all of the gifts and we had a grand time with them. My mother and dad decided to stay home and get lunch completed while we went to the 10:00 church service. Before we left I began to feel a little weird but nothing I could say was labor. Sitting through church with two toddlers on Christmas morning is a challenge but being nine plus months pregnant adds a whole new element to the service. Just as the opening music started, I began to feel some serious pain. As the service continued, the pains got stronger and closer together. I let my husband know what was going on but I also knew that we have never left a church service early – we wait until the final chord has been played. Waiting would not usually be a big deal because children take a long time to be born. However, our 2nd son has been born in less than three hours from the first pain until the first cry and we had to drive to Little Rock. Finally, I leaned over and told him that unless we wanted to be on TV for delivering a baby in the middle of church perhaps we should leave NOW!! We left early that day! Everyone around us was a little nervous too. Seeing a very pregnant women, a harried husband, and two toddlers leaving in the middle of church must mean that something serious is about to happen.
We arrived home just as my mother was taking the turkey out of the oven. We told them we had to go to the hospital. My father asked if we could at least wait until we had lunch and I told him that even though mom was a nurse I did not think the pecan pie would be worth the wait. So…with my father looking longingly at his Christmas lunch on the table we left for Little Rock. We arrived and got settled into a room and the labor promptly STOPPED! I could not believe it (and neither could my dad). They walked me up and down the halls but nothing seemed to help. Finally, things started up again. After much time and effort the doctor announced that we had a baby GIRL! I could not believe my ears. What a wonderful gift we had received. After the pictures were taken and everyone got to hold her we all realized we were starving. The cafeteria was closed and no restaurants were open. So my poor husband drives all around until he finds a gas station that is open and he brought back cheese balls for our dinner. To this day, my dad tells everyone that his granddaughter caused him to eat stale cheese balls for his Christmas dinner when there was a feast waiting for him that we had plenty of time to savor and enjoy.
Late that evening in our room, holding our precious Christmas gift, I looked down on the hospital grounds at the manger scene bathed in a beautiful glow. I could not help but think of Mary and Joseph and the precious gift they (and all humanity) had been given on that Christmas night. The uniqueness of a Christmas baby was an awe-inspiring treasure. Words can’t really do justice to the wonder that we felt. Our boys overheard someone say something about how terrible it was that our baby was born on Christmas. They promptly turned around and told them that their sister had the best birthday of anyone – she had Jesus’ birthday. Out of the mouths of babes….
Since that day, Rosemary has grown to be a beautiful and amazing young woman. We have celebrated many birthdays – always at 8:00 at night on Christmas day. We are so proud of her – not just for all of her accomplishments but because of who she is. She is a delight and we are so grateful for the gift that she was and is to us. Happy 20th birthday, Rosemary. May God bless you with many more – you are the best Christmas present anyone could have ever received.
No comments:
Post a Comment