Friday was a work day around the house, I cleaned my apartment and the upstairs, scraped and washed up the garage floor and did some cooking. It was about 45 degrees outside with clear blue skies, I actually went outside with only my fleece jacket and was warm!
During lunch I went up at sat in Freida's dining room area and watched all the birds soaring through the and at times flitting their way down in front of me to gather some food we had left for them and they fluttering their wings off to their next destination.
After bringing Sabbath in I listened to a sermon and started feeling an overwhelming sleepiness coming over me, so I decided it would probably be wise to sleep being it had been four days since a delivery. Other than a few interruptions when friends would call I was asleep at 7:00pm, amazing eh?
Bang bang bang, startled me out of my sleep. What could it possibly be?
Bang, bang, bang.... ahhh.... it's Freida, "I'm awake, what's happening?" I groggily asked
"Someone's in labor, it's time to go" She quickly responded, her voice fading as she ascended up the stairs to go get ready.
4:40am: Well at least I got several hours of sleep. I quickly threw myself together, grabbed some food and ran upstairs to load the vehicle with any needed supplies.
I quickly did the math: 2 hours after a birth is how long we stay, 20 minutes away, time to get ready, distance to church... "Lord please help this one come fast so I can make it to church" I prayed many time over that morning. We arrived around 5:20am and in my mind I was thinking,
"ok, if the baby's born at 6:00 am I can make it to church in good time"...
6:00am came and went
"ok, if the baby comes at 7:00 am I can still make most of Sabbath School..."
7:00 am came and went
"well if it comes at 7:30 am I can be there in time for church"
7:30 am came and went
"Lord, I REALLY want to go to church!!!"
8:12 am Jonathan was born, 9lb 2oz 21 inches long. Cute little baby boy. It was their sixth boy. We started referring to the baby as a boy even before he was born, we figured it was kinda safe and would be even more of a joyous surprise if it was a girl.
As i was doing the Newborn Exam Freida pulled her camera out of her pocked and asked if she could take a picture. A picture!?!? This was an Old-Order Amish family. To my ecstatic surprise the mom seemingly unsurprised said "sure, I don't mind"
WOW.... I stopped what I was doing, slipped in-between the bed and laundry hamper and ran to get my camera. I love the floors in their house, if you have the right kind of socks on you can run and slide across a nice portion of the floor. Sarah had no idea how happy she made me. So I came back in all calm yet with a big smile that couldn't be hidden and started taking pictures of the little miracle that was laying so peacefully on the bed.
After this my phone rang:
"Private Caller"
Out of curiosity I decided to see who it was. On the other line was the lady of the SDA couple that the Swartzentruber family had told me about. They invited me over to their house for lunch, even though I didn't know anything about them I was so excited for the invitation and happily accepted. The only problem was I didn't get their number, so I prayed that they would call back, and got directions to Lizzie and Harvey's house (their neighbors) Thankfully they called back and gave me directions so I made it their with ease. I'm becoming quite familiar with all the road names around here. I can go most places if people just give me the names/numbers of the roads.
We left the house at 10:00 am, enough time to get home, go through a bit of transformation into "English" attire, and race to church to barely make the service. It was such a blessing to be in church. It had been two weeks since I had seen a single Adventist, I think I was going through withdrawal.
Church was a blessing, and my time with Gabe & Phil was absolutely wonderful. They are the sweetest couple, and Gabe can make a wonderful vegan meal! We had sweet fellowship and Bible study and then I left their house around 9:00 pm. It always amazes me how God brings people together. And how He answered my prayer for fellowship in such an unusual way yet to the fullest extent that I could have ever wished for.
I got home, did some stuff and then went to bed... my bed is so comfortable and cozy.
This morning Freida called and said that she was at a misscarriage and that I could come over, somehow my phone didn't ring so I didn't get her call. Before I went to the home I picked up Freida's New-Order Amish mom and took her to Sunday school. They only have church every other week, yet on the weeks they don't have it they have Sunday-school. So I happily drove her there and then went on my way.
Freida is go gentle and careing with people, yet very open and honest with what's happening. It was good for me to see her and learn from how she deals with "the other side" of midwifery.
Now we're home, I'm sitting in my favorite place here... my bed ... and someone just called saying that their wife is in labor. It's not time to go yet but it could be any time.
How many times I remember doing such calculations! If baby is born by... then I can... Sat I thought of you and wondered how your sabbath went. Glad you enjoyed it!
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