As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Hoped For


Rebekah Hope.


For many years, we hoped for another baby, another child to love and to live and to grow with. And then we found out that she was coming at the very time that we would not have chosen ourselves. It was after I had had a very serious illness, and was on multiple long-term medications. And I had just turned forty.

So then we hoped that this little gift within would make it. Not only were there real concerns about the effects of the drugs I was taking, but I had had a middle trimester miscarriage five years earlier and that fact caused apprehension. Then I had complications in the pregnancy, including one dark day when I hemorrhaged so badly that my OB doctor assumed that I was miscarrying, but sent me for an ultrasound to confirm before performing a D & C. Imagine my elation when the baby’s heartbeat sounded loud and clear! So we kept hoping.

I’d like to say that we hoped for nine long months, but on a Sunday morning seven weeks before my due date, my water broke, and I spent six days in the hospital hoping that she would stay put a little longer, hoping that her little body would be ready to enter the world a bit early. Then labor was induced, we learned she was in breech position, and Bekah was delivered by C-section at 9:22 on a Friday night. After giving our tiny girl a quick examination, the neonatologist turned and gave us a thumbs-up sign and we breathed a big sigh of relief.

Bekah spent the next ten days in the NICU, and then came home with an apnea monitor, and then had difficulty gaining weight, but by the end of the summer, she was the plump little baby in the beautiful smocked dress at her big sister’s wedding!



So today, our little “hoped for” Rebekah is nine years old and we are rejoicing. She is beautiful, bright, tenderhearted, opinionated, musical, talkative, artsy, indecisive, feminine, delightful—a true joy to our hearts and our home!

Happy Birthday, Rebekah Hope!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent [her] to the LORD; as long as [s]he lives [s]he shall be lent to the LORD.” I Samuel 1:27,28

4 comments:

  1. Happy birthday, Bekah! We remember all those milestones and are so glad you are with us!

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  2. Oh Cheryl. What a testimony and triumph. I didn't remember that Bekah's middle name is "Hope". How fitting! I love the way you have woven the word "hope" into your telling of this real-life story. Our God is a God of Hope. Happy Birthday, Beautiful Bekah. We can't imagine the world without you.

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  3. These amazing stories remind me all over again what a mighty God He is. We may wish that things had gone a bit smoother, though He knows the reasons why the path was a tougher one. One thing is certain—Bekah is the miraculous result!

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  4. A joy to be celebrating with you Rebekah Hope's story :)

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