My due date is fast approaching! And although yesterday's OB visit was just the 38-week mark, I left the clinic without a return appointment. Apparently, my cervix has been busy preparing for the arrival of this baby...and is just about ready! For those of you who like the medical details, the cervical exam showed 90% effacement and 3-4cm dilation. Yikes! I hope Mike gets here before the baby does! What a relief and a blessing it is to know that those training in Kansas get to have the 4-day weekend for Labor Day and that I get to give Mike a real live hug this Friday night. :D
All the busyness of transitioning and settling into a new home environment has helped this first month pass fairly quickly, but it's hard not to have moments of doubt and anxiety when thinking about how we're going to survive this separation... or more specifically, how I'm going to survive being a single parent of a toddler and a newborn.
A couple weeks ago, God seemed to speak to me and my worries when someone at church sang the song "His Eye is on the Sparrow," which tells of the hope and peace that comes from knowing of His protection and provision. First of all, this is a song that I've enjoyed hearing Mike sing in the past, and one of the Bible texts that inspired its composition comes from a passage (Matthew 6:25-34) that he and I had used to encourage each other through medical school and residency. Second is how the word "sparrow" is translated in Tagalog -- the main Filipino dialect and the language in which the singer at church performed the second half of the song:
Just before Mike left for deployment, we had decided to name our baby girl Maya. I liked the sound of the name but was having a hard time finding a significant meaning/origin of the name. So when I heard the Tagalog portion of this song, I became teary-eyed. I began to think of our soon-to-arrive daughter and her long-to-be-absent father... and all the concerns I had, especially for their relationship or possible lack thereof. The song reassured me that Maya will be loved and cared for by her earthly father and her Heavenly Father. And that no matter where Mike is, God will be watching over her and providing her every need.
Look at the birds of the air,that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not worth much more than they?Matthew 6:26
3 comments:
I love that song, and that's a beautiful name. I hope she holds on and the timing works out for Mike to be there. The girls pray for you every night...it's very sweet.
In college, my roommate (she was part of a trio I used to sing in) & I used to sing that song all the time. We were both a little homesick. Here is my favorite version...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiEsgaiLixA
dear Gemma, Scott and I were just talking about you and little Maya, what an amazing promise God has shared with you! I will keep praying for you...God's timing is perfect. we send our love ~ erika & scott
dear gemma, how encouraging and reassuring it is to know we are all cared for by our Heavenly Father. Thoughts and prayers are with you, Mike, Max, and baby Maya who I'm sure is waiting till daddy arrives. Love, smiles, and big hug across the miles.
Rhona
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