God’s Surprises

A few days ago, my youngest son had his 30th birthday. He was born at 6am on a snowy day in January. After a hard night’s labour, I lay in the hospital bed, looking at the little blue bundle in the cot beside me, glad that it was all over and a bit bemused that we now had 5 children. This was not our idea!

Ten years earlier we had had a boy, then a girl, Ben and Anna. We also had a very small income and a small house, and two children were just about manageable. So for a while we contemplated that we probably had our quiverful, but were not entirely closed to having one more. Then one day a lovely family visited us who had three teenage boys and a little girl.  They were such fun and when they left, we looked at each other and said, “let’s go for four kids!” So we did; over the next few years Joel and Simon were added to the family.

We were complete! The last one was duly potty trained and with a sigh of thankfulness I put away the nappy bucket (this was in the days before the ubiquitous Pampers). I could now emerge from babyhood and toddlerdom. My nights would no longer be dominated by feeds and teething wails; my body could shrink back to its normal size; I could sit down to eat instead of  shovelling porridge into the baby and gulping food haphazardly while standing up; a small(ish) buggy would suffice instead of a big three wheeler. Babies are great: cuddly, sweet, but hard work! I’d had enough!

I was packing up baby clothes to give away, when six year old Joel wandered in.

“What are you doing Mum?”

“I’m packing up baby things to give away. We’re not going to have any more babies.”

He looked at me in horror.

“Not going to have any more babies? I’m going to pray about that!”

Joel doesn’t remember that; he is now a pastor, preacher and father, and a praying man. But even then his prayers were powerful. A few weeks later, I was completely astonished to find I was pregnant! In fact I was devastated.

I went to the doctor who confirmed I was pregnant. “Was this baby planned?” he asked.  “No”, I admitted.

“Well, you already have four, we could see if you have grounds for a termination,”  he offered.

I was shocked. In that moment, I knew that such a course not only was against all my doctrinal beliefs, but it violated something fundamental in my being. Inside me was an embryonic human being, a child, being grown, nurtured, protected, prepared for a life. How could I be party to destroying it? All my instincts were marshalled to protect it. This had nothing to do with convenience, with putting my life on hold, with plans for a tidy, symmetrical family.

I went home with a different perspective. Terry prayed and God spoke to him, that this child would be a joy to us. We had a name picked out, Nathan. But when he was born, we looked at him and said, “This isn’t a Nathan!” Somehow, we knew he was to be Timothy.

Now Timothy is a man. Just writing those words chokes me up! He has come to maturity. He has married a beautiful, Godly young woman called Esme, and they are serving God in Cape Town. Now they have a son called Boaz. Boaz…bit of a shock, until Tim explained that Boaz in the Bible was noble, kind, gentle, uncompromising; a kinsman Redeemer, a picture of Jesus. Wow.

I am glad God had another plan that superseded our plan. If we had had our way, Timothy would not have existed, and neither would Boaz.

Not only is Tim a joy to us; he has a little family which expands the joy!  God often surprises us; his ways are not our ways. Abraham had to wait until he was a hundred before he got his son, in whom were wrapped promises for the world. Mary had her son in a cowshed, the promised Messiah. The sons and daughters born to us all have enormous potential to further God’s purposes in the Earth. God’s word says that children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127): keep that in mind when yours are driving you up the wall, and pray them into the destiny that God has planned for them.