Hallie Grace....
I wanted to pop in to show you why I flew to Idaho two weeks ago.
This is a family answer to prayer. A miracle of sorts. A reminder that when the preacher tells us to repeat after him, "God is good all the time, all the time God is good" he's right.
Our middle daughter, Leslie had a little boy 7 1/2 years ago, then no more. Appointments and procedures and tears and asking God why, then settling in. Then a longing coming back to the surface, and more procedures and tests and still no baby and more tears. The wait had been long enough that their son was old enough to join in asking God.
And finally, out of the blue, an ordinary, non-specialist, somewhat-elderly, partly-retired doctor asked her one question, suggested a simple procedure. Told her afterwards she should be good to go. As in go home and get pregnant. I prayed God wouldn't let her heart be broken another time.
When that little boy called me, I thought we were going to talk about his guinea pig again. He said, "Grammy, I'm going to be a big brother." "What?" "I'm going to be a big brother."
I completely, absolutely, 100% fell apart with joy that made my face turn all squishy and red, and I was speechless.
Leslie decided somewhere in the midst of all those prayers, if God ever gave her a daughter, she would be named Hallie Grace. After Hallelujah for 'Praise the Lord'. After Grace for undeserved favor. To be in the room with that family of three, after praying and waiting for six years, and see and hear this little one's heart beating, watch in wonder as her legs and arms moved, see a button nose and hear them tell us everything looks great - again, I couldn't speak.
Standing three feet from Leslie's belly, locking eyes with her as the technician said, "and it's a little girl" - the joy of a daughter for a daughter swept me away.
For the first few days after we found out she's a she, thoughts popped up. We talked of tutu's and nail polish. Of Daddy/daughter dances and princess costumes at Halloween. Tea parties and walks down the aisle and pony tails and girl cousins at sleepovers, ruffled dresses and leggings, a long list that made us smile over and over and over. Oh the fun we had in store aisles, searching for soft pink.
This little one will be grandbaby #8, and we're so thankful for every single one of them. In the past twelve years we've prayed over grandbabies' surgeries, minor and scary, fevers, broken bones, splayed open limbs, etc., with more than our share of God's goodness and mercy as an answer. This one isn't anymore a blessing than those other 7; she is, for me, another reminder that God is faithful, even when we give up. Maybe because this particular grandchild was such a long time coming, I find myself thinking about that moment of conception when God takes something so microscopically small and creates life. A person the size of a poppy seed, with an eternal soul is formed, will have their own, unique place in history.
When we first learned about Hallie Grace she was the size of an apple seed. Now she's a hefty one pound. We've known about her for four months, but He always knew. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
This is a family answer to prayer. A miracle of sorts. A reminder that when the preacher tells us to repeat after him, "God is good all the time, all the time God is good" he's right.
Our middle daughter, Leslie had a little boy 7 1/2 years ago, then no more. Appointments and procedures and tears and asking God why, then settling in. Then a longing coming back to the surface, and more procedures and tests and still no baby and more tears. The wait had been long enough that their son was old enough to join in asking God.
And finally, out of the blue, an ordinary, non-specialist, somewhat-elderly, partly-retired doctor asked her one question, suggested a simple procedure. Told her afterwards she should be good to go. As in go home and get pregnant. I prayed God wouldn't let her heart be broken another time.
When that little boy called me, I thought we were going to talk about his guinea pig again. He said, "Grammy, I'm going to be a big brother." "What?" "I'm going to be a big brother."
I completely, absolutely, 100% fell apart with joy that made my face turn all squishy and red, and I was speechless.
Leslie decided somewhere in the midst of all those prayers, if God ever gave her a daughter, she would be named Hallie Grace. After Hallelujah for 'Praise the Lord'. After Grace for undeserved favor. To be in the room with that family of three, after praying and waiting for six years, and see and hear this little one's heart beating, watch in wonder as her legs and arms moved, see a button nose and hear them tell us everything looks great - again, I couldn't speak.
Standing three feet from Leslie's belly, locking eyes with her as the technician said, "and it's a little girl" - the joy of a daughter for a daughter swept me away.
For the first few days after we found out she's a she, thoughts popped up. We talked of tutu's and nail polish. Of Daddy/daughter dances and princess costumes at Halloween. Tea parties and walks down the aisle and pony tails and girl cousins at sleepovers, ruffled dresses and leggings, a long list that made us smile over and over and over. Oh the fun we had in store aisles, searching for soft pink.
This little one will be grandbaby #8, and we're so thankful for every single one of them. In the past twelve years we've prayed over grandbabies' surgeries, minor and scary, fevers, broken bones, splayed open limbs, etc., with more than our share of God's goodness and mercy as an answer. This one isn't anymore a blessing than those other 7; she is, for me, another reminder that God is faithful, even when we give up. Maybe because this particular grandchild was such a long time coming, I find myself thinking about that moment of conception when God takes something so microscopically small and creates life. A person the size of a poppy seed, with an eternal soul is formed, will have their own, unique place in history.
When we first learned about Hallie Grace she was the size of an apple seed. Now she's a hefty one pound. We've known about her for four months, but He always knew. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
Comments
Hugs,
Di
Our son and his wife have been married for 11 years with no sign of a child. It is so hard. I know God has His timing, because I can see reasons why it has not been a good idea quite yet, but sure hope and pray that someday we'll have a little beautiful combined African/Caucasian baby to love. (Officially it will be all American, since she became a citizen last year.)
So happy for you all!
thank you,
Jody