Fresh Miracle

on

Reagan Mackenzie Hunter


"Are you guys going to stay the night or go home?" Dawson inquired.

Anna tells some of the story of her first birth
Earlier that day, Pam and I, along with our granddaughter Robyn, enjoyed a warm ride south to Corvallis, Oregon, with the top down on Pam's convertible.  Our only daughter-in-law, Anna, was about 10 days overdue with her first child.  She had been induced that morning so we were anticipating the arrival of Reagan.  But, of course, babies come when they want unless taken by surgery.  We enjoyed a dinner with Anna's parents, her sister and her fiance, and returned to the hospital that night to be updated on any progress.  We were all waiting
three stories below the labor and delivery room.  It was a place and time to enjoy updates from the texts and several photos arriving on the smart phones kept nearby ... punctuated by occasional visits from Anna's mom, her twin sister Reba, or our son, Dawson.  Anna was working hard, but the baby was not yet ready to arrive.  Saturday looked more and more like the day chosen to be her birthday.

Our response?  "We are staying!  We are here for the duration!  Reagan is only going to be born once and we don't want to miss the joy of the miracle."  Besides, we are confident that the Lord sent us back to the States for four months to focus on our relationships with family and friends.  No cross country tours.  No real promotion of our work in Uganda.  Just time to enjoy who we sacrifice while working in East Africa.  This coming miracle promised to be one of the major events of our time here.

Reagan and Grandma Pam love each other already!
Our second daughter, Stephanie, had planned a 40th birthday party for her husband, Jethro and his twin, Jeremiah, at our house on Saturday. But, we couldn't miss this huge event in the lives of our son and daughter in law.

Reagan arrived sometime before 10:30 AM on Saturday morning, September 8, 2010.

She became the object of instant love by her parents first and quickly followed by her extended family.  Thumbs and fingers flew over tiny keyboards as text messages sped to friends and family.  A photo was posted on several Facebook profiles.  Big news:  Mother and Baby are fine.  Baby Reagan was 21 inches long and weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces. And,  of course, phone calls were made to nearest of kin.

Enjoying the medical state of the art provisions of a developed nation, at Anna's disposal, I couldn't help but reflect on the previous blog I wrote.  Women In Crisis was the focus of the post and featured the hope that Lyzette Kasigwa brings to mothers who lose their babies in the "torture chamber" (as one American doctor termed it to me) of the maternity wards of the government hospital near Pam and me in Jinja, Uganda.  What a stark contrast.  Mothers and babies in Uganda lose their lives everyday for lack of developed medical services.  If Reagan or Anna were in any danger I knew that the best human resources were instantly available.  But, of course, I bathed Reagan's birth process in prayer and depended on God for her life.

Proud of my son, his wife, and their daughter 
Reagan is now home with Anna and Dawson who are enjoying the pleasures and challenges of parenting.  Changes in her development will happen quicker than they will realize.  One of the young girls that I pastored for 20 years is now the mother of two, the wife of a pastor, and about to be a published author.  Kari recently wrote a blog title Babies Don't Keep.  Pam remembers reading the poem on Kari's parents wall years ago.  It read:
Cleaning and scrubbing  will wait till tomorrow
Children grow up as I've learned from my sorrow 
So quiet down cobwebs!  Dust go to sleep! 
I'm rocking my baby.  Babies don't keep. 
It wasn't all that long ago that Reagan's father, my son Dawson, was a baby.  Now he is a father.  I will always treasure the miracle he was to me and now enjoy the miracle that Reagan is to him. Thanks for being my son, Dawson.  And, thanks Father, for giving us the miracle of life.
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.  Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands.  How joyful is the man who quiver is full of them!  He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.  (Psalm 127:3-5)