(Savannah Grace, 4 or 5 days old)
(At Savannah's 1st birthday party on Saturday)
About a year ago to this moment I got a call from Kim, undeniably the person who understands me most in the world, to tell me that she was going into labor. Here's what I wrote in my journal that night: (Not even Kim has read this...)
For the first time in the 2 years and 8 months that I have lived in Birmingham, the following words came out of my mouth: "I want to go home."
You know me well enough to know that though I live away from them - my family is incredibly important to me. At the moment I'm writing this, Kim is in the hospital going thru the labor process - and I would love to be there to welcome Savannah Grace into our world. Instead, I cry and pray for them - anxiously anticipating getting on the road at 4:30 on Friday to go home.
Kim is my sister, if I had one. I swear at time throughout our lives we have had sympathy pains, could read each other's minds, and could finish each other's sentences. I'm closer to her... and cannot explain the attachment we have to each other - even though we don't talk all the time. God truly blessed me with a friend like her. Kim was born 3 months premature, if she had been born when she was due in October of 1983, we would not have been in the same grade throughout school - which is one of the reasons we were always so close. On the other hand, I was a surprise. Mom and Dad had not planned for me, and if I would not have been born when I was... she would not have had me!! God planned our friendship and attachement from the womb - even before that - SO AMAZING!!
I pray Savannah has friends like that one day.
I can't tell you (well, I guess I am) how many times I have thought about Savannah as our family's own personal blessing this year. In our times of sorrow, she was there to take our mind of things, to put a smile on our faces, or simply to put life into better perspective. Instead of thinking about first milestones without Pawpaw, Daddy, or Mawmaw... we (I at least) thought about Savannah's firsts and it helped to get through those things. Savannah is another example of God's divine hand in our lives. He sent her to us when we needed her... precisely when we needed her... and I tell you ... when she's not crying and screaming... that little on can put a smile on my face at any time. She's not my own daughter... but until I have my own kids (if God chooses to bless me with them one day) I don't think I will ever feel more protective of any one person (sorry Kristen, you got trumped on this one...)
Psalm 127:3 says the following:
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward."
Savannah was a gift to her parents and our family... but we have also been given a great responsibility in her raising. Just as I pray that Savannah is blessed with great friends in her lifetime, I pray that we each uphold our responsibility in teaching her the lessons. Lessons of faith, friendship, morality, leadership, culture, and so many other things. I so look forward to those opportunities...
As she celebrates her first birthday, please say a prayer for Savannah Grace, that she will grow to become a woman who fears the Lord and follows His plans.
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