Witnessing Out Loud

i teach a Sunday School class of adults. Each Sunday we look at the gospel reading and sort of dissect it, looking for nuances and meaning that could be obvious, but then again might not be. In discussion this week, I brought up he idea of being a witness to an event and asked those in the class to think of a happy event they could share that they witnessed themselves, so they could relate to us what this event was like. As per usual, the group got into it and related moments of heart thumping observations of nature's grandeur as well as minute detail of everyday events highlighting their joy. I don't always share what I'm thinking during these discussions as I don't want to lead them one way or another. But today, for some reason I thought to tell them of one of my most wonderful experiences of my life. I say one of, not the greatest (although it was certainly great), nor putting it on a scale comparing it to others. It just came to me like this:

The first time I was pregnant I was nervous. I didn't like being pregnant, didn't feel the "glow" so many others speak of, and quite frankly, was thinking I knew nothing of babies so how was I going to do "this" (this being motherhood). My mother knew very little of the delivery of her children as it was the norm when we were born to "knock the mother out" so she had no recollection of our births. I was anxious. I had been informed that my due date was Mother's Day, but when June 11th rolled around and the baby showed no signs of wanting to come forth, the doctor informed me that we would need to do a stress test. The night after that, my water broke and after getting to the hospital, they informed me that the baby was in the breech position, which at the time made a C-section the way to go. If I wasn't nervous before, I was suddenly petrified. My hubby is not good with the sight of blood, so I assumed he would "sit this one out," but he surprised me and sat with me the whole time!

I know, I know, people who have children talk about the miracle of new life, the combining of sperm and egg and strands of DNA making a whole new individual, and yada, yada, yada. But see, it never happened to me before! It was miraculous. It was not like anything else in the whole world. It was better than Christmas. It was better than birthdays (and I love birthdays).  It was a gift from God. Our daughter, when she was laid in my arms was a gift that was so generous and huge, I could never repay the Almighty for it. She was and is a piece of my heart. No one, with the exception of the son, could bring such heart-bursting joy, and such intensity of feeling as that whole brand new life come into being that day 33 years ago. A new creation was born, not just a daughter, but a mom as well.

And as her birthday come up soon, I just thought I could share just a little of what was one of my greatest moments. Happy birthday, Sus!