Sunday, February 15, 2009

Twelve Minutes


Time is an earthly thing. We run our lives by it... we must because everyone does. We have times to be at school or work, and times that are "free". Time to eat lunch, and time to go to bed... The Bible talks about times... It says that there is a time for every activity under heaven. "A time to be born and a time to die" is the first one it describes. The first two seasons under heaven mentioned are that of the beginning and of the end of our lives. There was a set apart time for Mia to be born. God knew exactly when that was. I never really doubted that He had our daughter in His capable hands through the adoption process. He is Sovereign and altogether perfect. Nothing catches Him off guard or surprises Him. So, on December the 4th He knew just when to prompt our birthmom to call the ambulance.
We were given Mia's medical papers a few weeks ago. I looked over every inch of the pages that we were given. I don't normally do that kind of thing. I get frustrated when I get a new cell phone because it doesn't work like my last one, and I don't like to take the time to read over the instructions. I am a bit lazy in regards to that, and quite honestly, disinterested... though, if I would read about it, I would save myself a lot of trouble with the device... Anyway, this was VERY different. I wasn't there when Mia was born. I wasn't there to watch Candice begin labor, or there as she came crying and a little blue into this world. So, I wanted to know every detail I could from these papers with very small - illegible handwriting.
As I read through the medical papers for our daughter, one of the first things I noticed was that Candice didn't have any pain medication... a million things flooded through my mind. I am a BIG advocate of the epidural. I love to enjoy my babies and hold them and not feel the complete and total pain of the delivery. I don't have a big spiritual opinion on that, but it has worked for me four times, and I don't regret it - even for one minute. Anyway, I just couldn't imagine it - how hard it would have been for her. This whole process would have been so painful emotionally... but now physically... I was heartbroken. And then as I kept reading every word... every line, I noticed something else. This was something that would make me even more in awe of our God. This God whom I KNEW held her in His hands...
Mia was born at 12:47 in the afternoon. Mia's birthmom, Candice was admitted to the hospital at 12:35 in the afternoon. Twelve minutes after she was admitted, there was a beautiful, blue, tiny baby girl in the delivery room. Mia wasn't breathing very well when she was born and had to have oxygen (this I also found out from the papers). Twelve minutes separated our little girl from being born in a house, not breathing well... and her actual delivery - safe and sound at St. Joe's hospital in Bryan. I can't put to words adequately how much peace that gives me. God timed it perfectly. Perfectly.
Twelve minutes... I can't blow dry my hair in twelve minutes. Two minutes extra of traffic, or five minutes more of waiting... every step that Candice made could have changed the outcome. God knew. He always knew. And He had His very loving hands all over our baby girl. It makes me look at each twelve minutes we're given. If you knew that any given decision you make in a day could affect another person's life that drastically - how would you live? I hope I am making sense. If you stopped for twelve minutes to talk to that lady that you see everyday, in the coffee shop that looks so lonely... how would that change you? How would it change her? If you left twelve minutes earlier for work - or for you workaholics, twelve minutes later... what would that do to your day? If you talked about Jesus to your friends for twelve minutes... do you see what I am saying? There is a time for everything under heaven. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to greive and a time to dance, a time to embrace and a time to turn away... a time to search and a time to quit searching... Ecclesiastes 3 is where God shows us that there is a season for everything... a time to live... a time to be born... Thank you, Father, that you knew her time... and you plotted every step to get her here safely. She is our little miracle baby. Four weeks early... five pounds, 2 ounces... and twelve minutes... I am in awe of our God all over again.