Struck by Lightening

How Great is our God!!

What are those statistics that we always hear about “you’re more likely to get struck by lightening than to die in a plane crash”.  We don’t know many people who have been struck by lightening, so the statistics always sound pretty good.  That is until you are very nearly struck by lightening!!  All we can say is “thank you!!”  Thank you for those of you who hold our family in prayer and thank you God for your angel armies which placed a hedge of protection around C!!

We just evaded what could have been the worst Fathers Day weekend ever!  C was nearly killed last night when a massive tree was struck by lightening and crashed down 5 feet!! from where he was sitting with one of our team members Jason.  The tree took out 4 transformers which all exploded into flame as they pulled over the power lines and fell, blocking an entire intersection.  If you’ve been to visit us in Thailand, you KNOW what the electrical lines look like around the city….an absolute mass of wires and cables!  It is not only the divine hand of God’s protection that laid that tree down without so much as a scratch to C’s body, but it is also a miracle that he wasn’t electrocuted!!  

With power out at our house (which is about 3 blocks from where the accident happened), the temp in our apartment very quickly became unbearable.  We booked a hotel just down the street which we were told still had power.  Through the pouring rain, we marched our funny little pajama-clad parade down the street and into the hotel and checked in, only to find out that their power had just been taken out as well.  It was a hot sticky night in muggy Bangkok which reminded us of so many things we take for granted so often.  We prayed together and thanked God for power….for air-conditioning….for God keeping daddy safe!

Luke 12:7

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows

Psalm 139:16

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

While I should be shaken up, all I can do is smile.  Its rare, but occasionally God gives us those glimpses into His sovereignty and his hand in the details.  The clear picture I have in my head is that God’s work for C isn’t yet finished.  When it is his time, C will be ready and in an instant, God could call him home, but there are purposes for which God still has C here and Im so grateful for the chance for my kids to see what could have been a disastrous situation and trace the hand of God in it!!

The wreckage is still being cleared this morning…gonna take some time to sort through those wires!

In Paradise with Eden

Eden dear
As I started packing away your preemie outfits today, no longer able to snap closed the buttons over your growing torso, a tinge of sadness hit me……you are no longer a “newborn”.  The sink that Ive bathed you in comfortably until now is not sufficient to hold both water and you anymore.  You just don’t fit.  

You’re growing.  

Bittersweet!

Today you turn two months old.  Why has it taken me this long to introduce you to the “blogosphere”?…..I have not a single regret.  Its the same reason that I haven’t finished writing thank-you notes for the gifts and meals that came in when you were born.  Its the same reason that the laundry room may be in a bit of disarray and the refrigerator is not well stocked.  Its because I have savored every, single, solitary second of your delicious newness!  When you’re awake, I hold you and gaze into those big, blue, beautiful eyes.  And when you’re sleeping, you mould so perfectly to my shoulder, that I don’t want to put you down.  And that is why daddy somedays comes home from work to find me in the same spot he left me that morning…lounging on the couch holding my baby and feeling like it was a beautifully fulfilling day doing absolutely nothing but loving on you!  Unproductive maybe, but so fulfilling drinking in that new smell and basking in the baby-moon.

Lest the details ever get blurry, lets go back to your birthday…

No, lets go back further. 
Lets go back to crazy, hormonal mommy who sat on the floor of the shower crying after my first bout of morning sickness and vomiting many months ago.  That day had been hot and muggy in typical Thai style and the smells were revolting.  An exhausting bedtime routine had just finished and the dinner I had worked to prepare and forced myself to eat, had revolted in my stomach.  I sat sobbing with scalding water pouring down my back.  I was crying because of the ugliness that I saw in my own heart.  I was crying because I didnt want to be pregnant.  The shame at what I felt drowned me in bitter tears.  What a terrible response to what I knew in my heart was a gift from God, but what i felt was more than I could handle! 

God did a lot of work on my heart in the months that you began to grow and form and move inside me. Daddy reminded me often as he held me in some teary moments, that I had told him before we got married that 7 children sounded like a perfect number!  I was at a place of peace and acceptance, but it would be a stretch to say excitement by the time your due date rolled around.  I had fears for possibly the first time about having a baby.  I felt too old to be starting over again lacking the energy I once had as a 21 year old with the twins.  I suddenly felt like a “newbie” at this and didnt know if I possessed the patience for a lifestyle change.  I didnt know where a baby would fit in what already felt like a very full plate with 6 kids, 2 jobs and ministry overseas.  Being told repeatedly by doctors that my heart condition made it too risky to have a natural birth and that I had to have a C-section only made me feel like more of an unfit mother. 

The morning of your birth, daddy and I got up at dark-thirty and big sister Abi got to come too.  Her enthusiasm bubbling over in the wee hours of the morning was just the support I needed.  She was so excited to get to be the first to meet you and to be mommy’s “doula” and photographer!  

You arrived at 9:03 on March 17th with a healthy, lusty cry.  The times since then that we’ve heard a proper wail from you I can count on one hand.  You are the most easy going, passive, pleasant baby ever!  We were grateful to have the kindest anesthesiologist who adhered to all of our special requests and even turned the air-conditioner off in operating theatre so that it wouldn’t be such a shocking cold for you when you were born and so that you could have a few minutes with mommy.  As soon as they placed you cheek to cheek with me, I had a reaction to the medication and got sick.  The nurse kindly waited for me to gather myself and give me a few moments kissing your forehead before they whisked you off to the nursery to monitor some respiratory issues.

I was wheeled into recovery 1/2 an hour later with confidence that daddy knew exactly what to do.  Your daddy, my hero, insisted you get to go to mommy in recovery, a bit out of the “norm” or procedure.  That daddy of yours is a force to be reckoned with and no little Thai nurse wanted to cross him!   The nursery nurse who brought you to me was clearly a bit miffed to have diverted from policy….she pulled back the curtain in my recovery cubical, walked in and all but dropped you on my belly and walked out.
There I was, alone, numb from the waist down, flat on my back and shaky from surgery with two wide eyes looking at me.  And in that moment, I became mommy again and instantaneously my fears dissolved as I took you to breast and peeled off blankets to count fingers and toes.  

Just the two of us.

Time stood still and the chaos of a busy hospital and beeping monitors behind sheer drapes was drowned out by the sweet sounds of your firsts breaths and little gasps and coos and sucks.  My heart, once again, grew to love another with such a fierceness that I was brought to tears.  I couldn’t have imagined the bond that would form in the course of seconds as I fell all over again, deeply, helplessly in love with this baby of mine!  Thank you God that you know better than I what I need and that you give good gifts….undeserved, blessed, beautiful good gifts!!

God knew exactly what He was doing when he gave us you Eden.  Your name means “Pleasant, delight, perfection” and that is what you are!  We have marveled at your pleasant demeanor and contented personality.  Granted, you are never put down and are held and rocked incessantly.  A great-aunt expressed her concern that maybe you aren’t getting to stretch those legs out since there is scarcely a moment a day that you aren’t swaddled in someones arms.  Mommy feels like after 3:00pm, she hardly gets so see you since the girls burst in the door from school and fight over who gets the first shower so they can come take turns and hold you.  Tristan couldn’t be prouder.  He’s waited a long time for a little brother and keeps saying how he cant wait to teach you things!!  Never has there been a baby so loved!!  

meeting eden

homecoming

dreamy first days

Sunday afternoon rugby watching with daddy.

lil’ man-cub

little momma Abi

he’s waited a long time for a brother!

our souvenir from last summers trip

Eden my love, Im so thankful that God who is rich in mercy, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love and the giver of good gifts, has seen fit to bless our family with YOU!  Welcome to the world little man!

Anticipating Eden

With a first baby, the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” book sits on your bedstead as the “bible” on daily survival. There are apps for tracking your pregnancy and websites alert you as to the size of your growing sprout….an apple seed….a pinto bean….a cumquat….etc. You post weekly selfies of your growing bump and savor the hilarity of your pickles and ice cream cravings. Not as much with number 7! The months sped by with undeniable intensity of the swift kicks to my ribs and pressure on my bladder, but hardly time for the nightly read on babycenter.com about progress. Life and hands were full with school and ministry and my work as a doula and photographer. The awe and wonder of those flutters and hiccups and somersaults inside of me is my favorite part, but Ill be honest that pregnancy is hard on me (….yes, I know….the irony)….but I vowed to try and document it better this time as I cannot find more than a handful of pictures of me pregnant after a grand total of 54 months of pregnancy!

As would be expected for a baby of our little gypsy family, his life even in utero was anything but boring…..

3 months pregnant
In Bali on my 35th birthday

5 months pregnant
Riding elephants in Chiang Mai – girls trip with Abi

6 months pregnant
On the Great Wall of China helping my friend with her adoption

7 months pregnant
Christmastime

9 months pregnant
Little baby-moon getaway

Ready to pop
A few days before delivery

I protested, but Abi insisted I let her take some ‘pretty’ pregnancy pictures.
…and now, looking back, Im so glad she did!

Never expected to be so spoiled and celebrated with baby #7. Once you’ve passed half-a-dozen babies and pregnancies, there is a fear that you’ll be met with the “what? Another one?” raised eyebrow from people at the announcement that another munchkin is on the way. But not with my lovely friends! They rolled out the red carpet, threw open the doors of their hearts to love another of my littles, and lavished on us so much support in the days and weeks leading up to (and recovering from) the birth of our little Eden!

Shower in A Suitcase
Even from a million miles away, my sweet sis and mother can throw a party! My brother who was coming to visit arrived with a “shower in a suitcase”….dozens of beautifully wrapped gifts from friends and family stateside all coordinated and packaged up by them. What a fun Saturday morning surprise to walk out to breakfast already prepared (blue waffles fixed by Abi and Britain) and celebrate our little man’s anticipated arrival “virtually” with girlfriends and aunts and sisters and a mother who love me well even from so far away!

The Bangkok Bunch
A very dear friend here in BKK insisted that #7 deserved just as much pomp and circumstance as #1 and coordinated a morning brunch in Eden’s honor. Another dear friend opened her apartment for 20+ friends to come for a fun morning of yummy food and some practical gifts for the little boy who desperately needed a “blue” wardrobe after a string of big sisters with useless hand-me-downs! So touched by these ladies Im blessed to call friends….women from my bible study group, neighbors, clients and team members. And thanks to them, Ive yet to buy a single diaper even with little guy being nearly 2 months old. We are stocked!

My Doula Tribe
Abi was included in my doula “blessingway” as she was ushered into her role as my birth attendant and encouraged by these ladies who have supported countless women through their passage into motherhood. My sweet team of birth-workers here, gave me a wonderful, meaningful morning of pampering and commissioning for the blessing of bringing a life into the world. These wonderful women also coordinated dinners for my family for the time I was in the hospital and a few welcome home meals!

Ready or not….here he comes!!
So grateful for the dear friends in our life who helped us anticipate and celebrate Edens arrival even as we navigated packing, and moving 2 days before he was delivered!!