Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 6:41 a.m. – Our eighth grandchild was born yesterday, January 25, 2010, at 4:05 p.m. He weighed 8 lb. and was 21 ¾ inches long. He was the first child born to our only daughter. All three of our sons have children (our other seven grandchildren).
Our daughter had a difficult labor in that her baby boy was slow moving at coming to the opening. He finally got to the pelvic bone, but he could not move past it, so the doctor assisted the birth with the use of forceps. Bill Cosby did a comedy routine several years ago about giving birth in which he nicknamed the forceps “salad spoons.” Our daughter, Jenny, remembered this while she was in labor, so that became the term we used for the instrument used in assisting in her son’s birth.
When she first began pushing, one nurse was at the foot of her bed helping her to push. As I watched this process from across the room, I could see that Jenny could use some help, so I offered to help her. Randy, her husband, got one foot and I got the other and as she pushed (like she was doing crunches), we pushed against her feet to give her that resistance. Then, another nurse came to help, so Randy helped with Jenny’s neck support when she did her crunches, and a nurse took his place with her foot. We did this for hours, working together as a team. Then, two more nurses were added plus the doctor, so then I let them take over while I watched and prayed. I was praying all through her labor and delivery.
The doctor was talking about having to do a C-section if Jenny could not deliver naturally. Yet, the nurse’s staff worked hard with her, and so did the doctor, to try to help her to deliver vaginally. The whole process was not only physically exhausting for everyone, but it was emotionally draining, i.e. it was an emotional roller coaster ride. At first, the nurse was concerned that the baby’s head was swelling when Jenny was pushing. Then they were anxious about the baby’s heart beat slowing down whenever she pushed and they were fearful that the baby was not getting enough oxygen so they gave Jenny an oxygen mask to wear. They were also worried that he was not rotating and then that he was not positioned in the right way and that he might come out face up instead of face down. All of these concerns then transferred over to me and to others in the room and then they translated into much prayer for both Jenny and her newborn baby.
My daughter’s mother-in-law was also in the room watching and waiting along with the rest of us while the two grandpas waited in the waiting room. I could tell that Randy’s mom was also very concerned through this process. When the baby’s head began to come out of his mother (our daughter), Randy’s mom and I moved closer to watch, and we held on to each other. First his head came out and then the rest of his body. As soon as he came out and we could see that he was ok, both Randy’s mom and I broke down crying and we hugged each other. We had just shared together a trying, yet joyful experience that, for that moment in time, bonded us together in a way that no other event in history ever could.
We were all relieved that our grandson had delivered in safety. For Randy’s parents, it was their first, but for us, it was the first born to our daughter, so we both had “firsts.” We were relieved, as well, that the difficult labor process was now over and that Jenny, Randy and Kade could begin their lives together as a family – a family that now had added on a child.
Lord Jesus, I commit my daughter, her husband and their child into your most capable and loving hands today. Help them to learn how to be a family of three. Teach them what they need to know. Strengthen them and keep them in your care, I pray in Jesus’ name. Speak to my heart now, I pray in Jesus’ name.
James 1:1-18:
My Understanding: I don’t know a better illustration for this passage of scripture than what we just went through with the birth of our newest grandchild, i.e. our grandson. James begins by saying, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” Wow! What a wonderful picture of the birthing process!! I can say from the experience of having given birth to four children myself, that the only way that a woman could endure the pain and trial of labor and to have that desire to push is to consider the joy of the birth of her child. That is the motivating force behind those pushes. It was what sent me over to her bedside, as well as concern for her, to assist her in pushing so that her baby could be born.
For my daughter and her husband, the “joy” of her labor was that it resulted in the birth of their firstborn son. We were all focusing on the end result of our labor. That is what this passage of scripture is talking about, too. It asks us to focus on the end result of our trial or testing and to let that be our joy. In the case of this scripture, the end result is that we learn and we develop perseverance. I can tell you that it took much perseverance, not only on the part of our daughter, though she had the most difficult part in all of this, but it took much perseverance on the part of everyone of us who assisted her in that labor process. We had a goal in mind and we worked toward that goal with unceasing labor until our mission was accomplished.
Then, the passage of scriptures says this: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” As I just recorded that verse I realized that, in the process of my daughter’s labor, we were also looking to receive “a crown.” It was the crown (top) of the baby’s head that we were working toward to come to that opening so that he could be born. So, that was a “crown of life” when that head came through that opening.
The “crown of life” that we will receive as believers in Jesus Christ is our eternal salvation and eternity with God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Salvation is a process and it takes perseverance. Jesus gave a parable about that (the Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13) in which he described different kinds of soil. Not everyone who receives the seed has the type of soil that perseveres. Some seed was immediately eaten by the birds. Some never took root and was scorched. Other seed was choked out by thorns whereas, finally, some produced a crop. Our efforts at the bed of my daughter produced a baby. God gave the baby life at conception and God brought the baby to birth and he used us and he used the doctor and the forceps as instruments to assist in that birthing process. And, it took much perseverance.
There is another kind of conception and “birth” spoken about in this passage of scripture, and that is the conceiving of sinful desire and birth to sin. When that sin is full-grown (fully developed), then it gives birth to death, not to life. It is interesting that the author uses the illustration of conception and birth here, because if you think about the process from conception to birth and all that is involved in all of that, this is the picture here of this birth to sin and ultimately to eternal separation from God (this is the death being spoken of here). So, we can choose death or we can choose life. It is our choice what we allow to be conceived in us and to grow and to develop and then ultimately to give birth to.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
I pray that everyone would choose to accept this “birth through the word of truth”. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, then he was buried, and three days later he rose again. When he died, he took upon himself the sins of the world. When he was buried, he took those sins to the death, and when he rose again, he conquered sin, death and hell, not only so that we could be free of the penalty (death and hell) of sin, but also so that we could be free from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. He came to set us free! He came to deliver us from the body of death and to give us life that will last. He came to give us that “crown of life.”
I woke this morning with this song in mind: More Love To Thee, O Christ / Prentiss / Doane
More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Our daughter had a difficult labor in that her baby boy was slow moving at coming to the opening. He finally got to the pelvic bone, but he could not move past it, so the doctor assisted the birth with the use of forceps. Bill Cosby did a comedy routine several years ago about giving birth in which he nicknamed the forceps “salad spoons.” Our daughter, Jenny, remembered this while she was in labor, so that became the term we used for the instrument used in assisting in her son’s birth.
When she first began pushing, one nurse was at the foot of her bed helping her to push. As I watched this process from across the room, I could see that Jenny could use some help, so I offered to help her. Randy, her husband, got one foot and I got the other and as she pushed (like she was doing crunches), we pushed against her feet to give her that resistance. Then, another nurse came to help, so Randy helped with Jenny’s neck support when she did her crunches, and a nurse took his place with her foot. We did this for hours, working together as a team. Then, two more nurses were added plus the doctor, so then I let them take over while I watched and prayed. I was praying all through her labor and delivery.
The doctor was talking about having to do a C-section if Jenny could not deliver naturally. Yet, the nurse’s staff worked hard with her, and so did the doctor, to try to help her to deliver vaginally. The whole process was not only physically exhausting for everyone, but it was emotionally draining, i.e. it was an emotional roller coaster ride. At first, the nurse was concerned that the baby’s head was swelling when Jenny was pushing. Then they were anxious about the baby’s heart beat slowing down whenever she pushed and they were fearful that the baby was not getting enough oxygen so they gave Jenny an oxygen mask to wear. They were also worried that he was not rotating and then that he was not positioned in the right way and that he might come out face up instead of face down. All of these concerns then transferred over to me and to others in the room and then they translated into much prayer for both Jenny and her newborn baby.
My daughter’s mother-in-law was also in the room watching and waiting along with the rest of us while the two grandpas waited in the waiting room. I could tell that Randy’s mom was also very concerned through this process. When the baby’s head began to come out of his mother (our daughter), Randy’s mom and I moved closer to watch, and we held on to each other. First his head came out and then the rest of his body. As soon as he came out and we could see that he was ok, both Randy’s mom and I broke down crying and we hugged each other. We had just shared together a trying, yet joyful experience that, for that moment in time, bonded us together in a way that no other event in history ever could.
We were all relieved that our grandson had delivered in safety. For Randy’s parents, it was their first, but for us, it was the first born to our daughter, so we both had “firsts.” We were relieved, as well, that the difficult labor process was now over and that Jenny, Randy and Kade could begin their lives together as a family – a family that now had added on a child.
Lord Jesus, I commit my daughter, her husband and their child into your most capable and loving hands today. Help them to learn how to be a family of three. Teach them what they need to know. Strengthen them and keep them in your care, I pray in Jesus’ name. Speak to my heart now, I pray in Jesus’ name.
James 1:1-18:
My Understanding: I don’t know a better illustration for this passage of scripture than what we just went through with the birth of our newest grandchild, i.e. our grandson. James begins by saying, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” Wow! What a wonderful picture of the birthing process!! I can say from the experience of having given birth to four children myself, that the only way that a woman could endure the pain and trial of labor and to have that desire to push is to consider the joy of the birth of her child. That is the motivating force behind those pushes. It was what sent me over to her bedside, as well as concern for her, to assist her in pushing so that her baby could be born.
For my daughter and her husband, the “joy” of her labor was that it resulted in the birth of their firstborn son. We were all focusing on the end result of our labor. That is what this passage of scripture is talking about, too. It asks us to focus on the end result of our trial or testing and to let that be our joy. In the case of this scripture, the end result is that we learn and we develop perseverance. I can tell you that it took much perseverance, not only on the part of our daughter, though she had the most difficult part in all of this, but it took much perseverance on the part of everyone of us who assisted her in that labor process. We had a goal in mind and we worked toward that goal with unceasing labor until our mission was accomplished.
Then, the passage of scriptures says this: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” As I just recorded that verse I realized that, in the process of my daughter’s labor, we were also looking to receive “a crown.” It was the crown (top) of the baby’s head that we were working toward to come to that opening so that he could be born. So, that was a “crown of life” when that head came through that opening.
The “crown of life” that we will receive as believers in Jesus Christ is our eternal salvation and eternity with God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Salvation is a process and it takes perseverance. Jesus gave a parable about that (the Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13) in which he described different kinds of soil. Not everyone who receives the seed has the type of soil that perseveres. Some seed was immediately eaten by the birds. Some never took root and was scorched. Other seed was choked out by thorns whereas, finally, some produced a crop. Our efforts at the bed of my daughter produced a baby. God gave the baby life at conception and God brought the baby to birth and he used us and he used the doctor and the forceps as instruments to assist in that birthing process. And, it took much perseverance.
There is another kind of conception and “birth” spoken about in this passage of scripture, and that is the conceiving of sinful desire and birth to sin. When that sin is full-grown (fully developed), then it gives birth to death, not to life. It is interesting that the author uses the illustration of conception and birth here, because if you think about the process from conception to birth and all that is involved in all of that, this is the picture here of this birth to sin and ultimately to eternal separation from God (this is the death being spoken of here). So, we can choose death or we can choose life. It is our choice what we allow to be conceived in us and to grow and to develop and then ultimately to give birth to.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
I pray that everyone would choose to accept this “birth through the word of truth”. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, then he was buried, and three days later he rose again. When he died, he took upon himself the sins of the world. When he was buried, he took those sins to the death, and when he rose again, he conquered sin, death and hell, not only so that we could be free of the penalty (death and hell) of sin, but also so that we could be free from the bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. He came to set us free! He came to deliver us from the body of death and to give us life that will last. He came to give us that “crown of life.”
I woke this morning with this song in mind: More Love To Thee, O Christ / Prentiss / Doane
More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
