The Waiting Game

Annabelle is due a week from today so I am on a mission to do as much as I can before she arrives. I wake up in the middle of the night with this insane desire to clean, organize things, and start packing boxes to prepare for a move still months away. The doctor said she's ready to go, it's just a waiting game at this point, so get done what you can and know she'll come when she's ready. But what about me? He's estimating an 81/2 pound baby, possibly 9 pounds if she arrives on time. If she decides to hang out in the warmth of the womb for another 2 weeks I am afraid I'll be giving birth to a small man child!

I admit I'm trying a few little tricks to coax her out, just so I can say I tried. I'm drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, taking long walks, but that's where I draw the line. At the beginning of this pregnancy we had a scare and the ER doctors told me this wasn't a viable pregnancy and were minutes away from terminating this baby. Thankfully my OB believed so much in human life he was able to see it was all a mistake and sent me home where hours later we found out this pregnancy was not only viable, but a miracle! I spent 48 hours in constant prayer as we waited for test results and in those hours the Lord showed me I am completely out of control of this entire process. From conception this child was not mine and I can't control what the Lord has had planned from the beginning of time. So, I trust He will bring her to us in His timing, and the labor and delivery will be perfect because He brought her home, not a bunch of crazy midwife tales!

This was my last week teaching PE and as they played I watched their little personalities closely, wondering what kind of child Annabelle is going to be. Will she be the delicate little ballerina type who runs her laps delicately around the gym, telling her friends to pass her because she doesn't want to be too tired for dance class later that night. Will she be outgoing, running uninhibited throughout the gym oblivious to those around her, just happy to finally be out of a desk and free to run as fast as she can? You have to laugh at them as they come in with their messy hair, chapped lips, telling you stories from their day ranging from loosing a tooth to what they had for lunch. As I was contemplating all of this, one of the youngest little girls climbed into my lap and touched my face and said, "Mrs. Runion, your little girl is going to look just like you with your long eyelashes and gold makeup." And then she brought her finger up to my eye, brushed off some gold eyeshadow I was wearing and put it on her eyelid and ran off to finish playing.

It was in that moment I knew it didn't matter what kind of child Annabelle would be; athlete, dancer, artist, musician, whatever, she is going to be the best of Tony and me with a spirit filled with passion for God and a heart for the lost. Leave it to a 5 year old to put some things in perspective and in a matter of seconds put your mind at ease that all a little girl wants is to be held, loved, protected, and occassionally allowed to wear her mom's makeup. What an amazing gift to be given, what an awesome responsibility, what a priviledge to be trusted with life! And she is worth the wait!