Hello? Hello?

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Don’t you hate when the phone rings, and you actually get up to answer it, but no ones there? Maybe it’s worse when you answer and it’s a telemarketer. That’s kind of like what happened to this boy Samuel in the Bible.

Samuel heard a voice calling him during the night. So he got up and went to his boss (who he was living with) and said here I am (i.e. what do you want??) But the boss said he didn’t call him. This happened three times! Finally the boss realized that God must be the One calling Samuel. He told Samuel to stay in his bed next time he heard the voice and to ask God what He wanted.

I wonder how many times we do the same thing as Samuel. We hear a “voice” and turn to who we think is “calling.” Maybe it’s not always a voice or a phone ringing, maybe it’s a crisis. Maybe it’s losing a job or a loved one. Maybe it’s a fight with your spouse or an argument with a friend.

Instead of turning to human solutions, maybe God wants to use this event in your life to get you to turn to Him.

Turn to the Lord in prayer, in reading the Bible, in going to church. Ask God why He has allowed this crisis. Ask God to be your strength. For wisdom and peace when you’re fighting. For comfort and hope despite loss.

You can try to solve things and live life in your own power but you’ll continue to fail. Turn to Jesus who is the source of hope, peace, and love. He heals the brokenhearted. He comforts the weary. He takes away your burdens and gives you peace.

If you’ve never called out to God its not too late to start. He says “call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and marvelous things” (Jeremiah 33:3). I could use some great and marvelous in my life. I bet you could too.

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Reflexes

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Babies have this reflex where they throw their arms out if they think they’re falling. The funny thing is, they aren’t falling. Jack does this all the time. And it’s hilarious.

Jack loves his changing tables – any changing table for that matter. But it seems to be the place most often where he thinks he’s falling. I wish I could capture it in a picture or video but I never know when it’s coming. Sometimes he just throws his arms to the side, trying to catch himself (from no danger). Sometimes his legs go out too so his body makes an X or a starfish. I laugh a little and reassure him. “Jack you aren’t falling. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

Then it hit me: how many times do I do the same thing? How often do I “freak out” over nothing? Worry about things that won’t happen?

And God looks at me, laughs a little, and says “Debbie don’t worry. I’m with you and I won’t ever leave you. Give Me your burdens and I’ll give you rest.”

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Monster or Miracle?

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“Mommy’s Little Monster” is what Jack’s shirt says. A friend gave it to us. I’ve seen “little monster” baby clothes everywhere. But I’m not a fan.

Jack isn’t a monster. He’s a miracle. Even if he wasn’t prayed for by a hundred people, even if it wasn’t a high risk pregnancy with complications, he’s still a miracle. Every baby is.

Babies aren’t monsters. They are a gift. A reward. A blessing.

Yes I even feel like this at 2am when he wants to eat. And though there will be challenges and hard days, I’ll feel like this when he’s a teenager.

It’s Jack’s third outfit for the day so he can wear the monster onsie. Yes I know its just a onsie and not a “big deal.” But he won’t hear his mommy call him a monster. My Jack is an amazing gift from God. What a privilege and blessing that God has entrusted this precious boy to me!

It’s Just Beginning

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You may have thought this blog was over. I started the blog pregnant and on bed rest, talked about trusting God for a full-term baby, the baby arrived, so the “Adventure of Trust” is over, right?  Nope, it’s just beginning. The journey of trusting God never ends.  I’ve just been a little too busy to blog…

In the hospital

In the hospital

When Jack isn’t in my arms I’m eating or sleeping… or shopping.  The boy is already wearing 6 month size clothes! But I miss writing. I’ve been writing blogs in my head for the last couple months, but obviously haven’t gotten around to actually typing and posting them.  Now they seem out-of-date, although some day I’ll write about Jack’s first vacation when he was two weeks old and half the hotel collapsed… (now I’ve got you interested so you’ll keep checking the blog for when that one is posted!)

Since Jack is currently napping in his crib, a small miracle in itself, I’ll make this quick.  I’m preparing to share my “Jack Story” for a women’s retreat in a few weeks and I need to finish writing my talk.  The retreat is about prayer. I prayed for Jack, that he would be born full-term, and God answered my prayer. I claimed Mark 11:25 – “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Why did my prayer work and yours hasn’t? Did God really hear my prayer? How do you convince God to answer your prayer? Maybe these questions and more go through your head.  When I finish my talk for the retreat, I’ll post it here and maybe I’ll answer some of those questions.  Or you can register for the retreat and spend a day focusing on the Lord and learning how prayer can make a difference in your life. For now just know that faith in Jesus Christ can move mountains.

The Answer

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You stood with us in prayer as we asked God for a healthy full-term baby.  He has answered! On June 1 we welcomed Jackson Archer Chun into our arms.

Jack weighed 7lbs 15oz and measured 18.5 inches long. Not only was Jack full-term, but I was 40 weeks and 5 days gestation when I was induced into labor. What a powerful, awesome God we serve who can do the seemingly impossible.

Whatever you might be praying for, keep believing that God can do it. He hears your prayers and wants to give you the desires of your heart. “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24

Birth Pains

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Does anyone else, especially pregnant women, dislike reading all the Bible verses about women being in pain during childbirth? We all know labor is painful… does it have to be repeated so much?

As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain… Isaiah 26:17

She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Revelation 12:2

She went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 1 Samuel 4:19

I think what might be worse than these labor-pain verses is the fact that God didn’t originally design childbirth to be painful. It’s actually the punishment for the first sin – Adam and Eve eating from the tree that God told them not to eat.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done? … Because you have done this… I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Genesis 3:13-16

Adam was punished too, along with the serpent who deceived them. Don’t you wish Eve had some foresight to see how her choices might affect the rest of us? I’m not having “labor pains” right now but I am having severe sciatic nerve pain. It comes and goes, but came on strong yesterday and hasn’t really left. I was just sitting on the couch and leaned forward to put a coaster away when this sharp pain shot through my backside. The kind of pain where you think you might die, even though you know you’re overreacting a little.

It eased a bit as I made my way to the car since it was time for my doctor’s appointment. But as I try to get in the car I realize I can’t lift my right foot off the ground without that pain shooting through me. Why is it that my first reaction to pain is the “F word?” There’s my confession for the day. I’m not proud of it. I usually mutter it under my breath or in my head, which seems better than shouting it out, especially when you’re standing in the garage and neighbors and school children are walking by. I’m working on eliminating this from my instinct-driven vocabulary so that Baby’s first word isn’t… you know.

At some point this blog post seemed to turn into complaining but in an effort to be real and honest, I won’t edit it. I don’t really edit any of these except for spelling and obvious grammar errors…

In case you lost track, I’m officially 40 weeks and 3 days. The doctors and nurses were surprised to see me yesterday (they’ve been surprised to see me the last 3 weeks!). As I’ve said before, I’m very grateful for medical science and wonderful doctors and nurses that helped me get this far. But the real credit belongs to God. No one thought I’d make it past my due date. This really shows His power and He is in control. Thank You Lord!

As for the pains…. I know it’ll all be worth it. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. John 16:21

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Immeasurably More

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Moses parted the Red Sea and led the Israelites across on dry ground.
Joshua marched an army around Jericho and the walls crumbled.
Jonah spent three days living in the belly of a whale.
I’ve carried this baby, who was expected prematurely, for 40 weeks and 2 days.

Is it because of Moses, or Joshua, or Jonah, or me? No. It’s because God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

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Your Love Is Deep

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With the combination of being pregnant and having missed three months of church, I seem to be more emotional at church than normal. This weekend at church we sang “Your Love Is Deep,” a song I’ve only sung at Young Life activities and haven’t heard in years. I opened my mouth to sing and immediately had tears in my eyes. I was remembering my Wisconsin Young Lifers, picturing sitting around the campfire singing with them, or hiking through the mountains in Colorado. I pictured their faces from freshman year, so young and full of excitement.

We probably sang that song 200 times during their four years of high school. But of all songs we could have sung that many times, Your Love Is Deep is a good one. Now those high schoolers are out of college! Some are married, some have children, they’re starting their own careers in the real world. I wonder, was spending four years of high school with them enough? When they were in high school I wanted them to know they aren’t alone. Yes, I’ll walk with them and try to be an example they can follow. But more importantly I wanted them to know the One who loves them so deeply, He gave His Son for them. The One who is always with them, and will never move to Illinois to get married. The One whose grace covers every mistake they’ve made. The One who will meet them where they’re at, wipe away their sins, and give them a fresh start.

Your love is deep
Your love is high
Your love is long
Your love is wide

Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than the road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled

Thank You Lord that Your love is greater than we could ever imagine. When we are struggling, or lonely, or afraid, help us turn to You and remember Your love is deep.

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He Knows My Name

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Here’s a quick, low-production video I put together. We have so many ultrasound pictures I thought it’d be nice to put them in a video to see how Baby has progressed.  The majority of the pictures are just of his face.  For many of them, his face was pressed up against the placenta so you only see his profile or his nose and an eye.  He wasn’t always cooperative for pictures. Hopefully that changes when he exits the womb.

Song is He Knows My Name by Tommy Walker (c) 1996 Doulos Publishing

 

The Competition Has Changed

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Our good friends were also expecting, but due two weeks after me. It seemed obvious that Baby Chun would arrive first. But guess who had their baby a few days ago… Not me. While we are very happy for our friends and their new baby girl, it’s like we lost. Baby Chun clearly hasn’t inherited Mommy & Daddy’s competitive drive. Although in fairness, Jeff pointed out that Baby Chun did try to leave the womb a long time and we said no. At least he’s already learned to obey.

When we visited our friends at the hospital I held the new baby girl. We took pictures because we thought it’d be fun to confuse everyone, but I haven’t transferred them to my iPad yet. The whole time I held the baby, Baby Chun was kicking her! It was pretty funny, especially since Baby Girl could have cared less. She was perfectly calm and sleeping while Baby Chun seemed to be jealous that I was holding her. Kicking is only allowed in the womb, Baby Chun. You’ll have to stop that when you come out. We had a few contractions that night and thought perhaps he had figured out what he’s supposed to do… But they passed.

Tomorrow is the due date. Can you believe we made it this far?! The doctors continue to be surprised. Now I’d really like to make it until after tomorrow just to say I made it past the due date. I don’t think anyone with an emergency cerclage has made it past their due date. That’s my new goal. I think it just proves that God is in control. He has been with us from the beginning and protecting the precious life inside me.

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