Preterm Labor & Free Together for the Gospel Tickets for Two
God answered our prayers for a baby 6 years into our marriage. What was obvious to us from the start was that this baby (as with all good things, c.f. James 1:17) was a gift from God in his perfect timing, in his perfect way, for our good and for his glory. From the first day we knew that Kiki was pregnant our prayer was
that whatever happens, God would be glorified as our faith is tested.
God was gracious to remind us of that when Kiki went to the emergency room with what was diagnosed as a threatened miscarriage. God's spirit guarded our hearts and our minds with His peace (Phil 4:6-7) as we called to mind God's steadfast love and endless mercies (Lam 3:21-23).
It turns out that God's little testing through this pregnancy was not over when on Wednesday night Kiki found herself back in the hospital 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced and in preterm labor (at 32 weeks gestation). Once again, God graciously guarded our hearts and our minds in the truth that this was from him and in his perfect timing. Just as we wrote during the threatened miscarriage we prayed in the hospital over the last few days:
We trust and love God - not because we have given Him what we asked for but - because He first loved us, and we trust that if He would sacrifice Himself on the cross for our sins, all things are for our good, whether birth or miscarriage, life or death.
And praise God! Although the contractions have continued, Kiki was sent home this afternoon on strict bedrest and terbutaline (to keep the contractions to a minimum). Our prayer now is that God would keep Elianna healthy, would keep her safe inside of Kiki for at least a couple of more weeks, and - please O Lord - that he would give her saving faith. And most of all, regardless of what happens with those first three requests, would be glorified through what happens and through our hearts in the midst of it.
God has answered so many prayers to get us to this point - so many prayers that he was not obligated to answer affirmatively and would have been good and still loving had he not answered them the way that we asked. We are truly overwhelmed by this gift, the answer to prayer that we are going to name her Elianna Joel: My God Answers, YHWH is God.
So please pray with us for our precious little daughter, that she would be healthy, be born, and then born again. Pray with us that in the midst of all of this we would see and trust God's sovereign hand and purposes in all of it.
One large disappointment that we trust is for our good and ultimately God's glory is that because Kiki is on bedrest and could deliver at any time, we cannot go to the Together for the Gospel conference we have been looking forward to for almost two years. But our "loss" is your gain.
If you would be able to attend, April 15-17, in Louisville, KY; if you can provide your own transportation and room, then you can have both my ticket and my wife's. First come, first served. Please leave a comment or send an email.
soli Deo gloria.
