Yesterday, I was reminded of the preciousness of life.
At a little after two o’clock in the afternoon, I received the news that Zach had taken Kelsey to the hospital. She hadn’t felt any movement from the baby and they were concerned. Doctors were able to find a heartbeat, but the next thing I learned was that Kels was being prepped for an emergency C-section.
My mom informed me that both Zach and Kelsey were, understandably, panicking, as they were unsure of what was wrong but just knew that the baby was going to be delivered almost exactly four weeks before her due date. Though trying to hold everything together and pass the news around to family and friends, I could tell that my mom wanted to break down. She kept saying, “I just feel so far away right now. I can’t do anything to help.” However, we reminded each other of the need for prayer, which was the most effective thing we could do.
After getting off the phone with my mom, I called my roommate. As I sat on the back porch of my house, wanting to cry, she encouraged me to trust God with the entire situation. Her words reminded me that I needed to have faith, that stressing didn’t help but was a sign that I didn’t think God was competent. He had created my niece and knows her more intimately than anyone, even before birth. And he desires the best for her.
A couple hours after the initial news, I headed in to work and was only able to get updates through text messages. The vagueness of the information contained in the brief sentence fragments of a text did nothing to calm me, but I continued to pray and to take comfort in the fact that family and friends all over the country were doing the same.
Words cannot describe the joy that flooded me, as I looked at my vibrating phone and read, “Congratulations Aunt Alix! Charis Lynlee Bohler was born at 5 lbs 6 oz and seems to be doing well!”
The rest of the evening was a frenzy of texts, emails, and phone calls as everyone rejoiced over the birth of this beautiful, frail baby girl.
Last night, as I talked with my older brother and he told me about sitting the nursery with his daughter as she gripped his finger with her tiny hand, I thought about how every good and perfect gift is given to us by a loving and gracious Heavenly Father.
Though premature and being monitored carefully, Charis seems to be doing well. There seem to be a few health issues caused by her early birth, but doctors have reiterated to her parents how important it was that immediate action was taken, since the situation could have been much worse.
We are so grateful that both Kelsey and Charis are doing well. Praise God, our loving and life-giving Father, for this perfect blessing!
