“Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”
- Samuel Johnson
Sometimes birth surprises. We wait. We prepare. We are knowledgeable. Birth is not sudden, we grow heavy like fruit, seed to apple over nine long months, sometimes longer. Then we labor. We do the hardest work with our God, we join in the dance of creation, sway and burst, breath and birth. Fourth babies are rumored to be a wild card. We think we know what to expect and then we don't. This Mama barely had time to believe she was actually in labor. In one short hour from start to finish on July 7th, just after sunset, her beautiful third son, Lincoln Micheal, broke the long weeks of waiting as he swiftly fell earthside. Only one of her birth team arrived in time to catch this blessed boy. So many details had been thought of for this birth: the special notes to each person as they set to a beautiful cord burning, a birth altar, fireworks, and my favorite, t-shirts for the older siblings.
I missed this birth, much to my disappointment, but there were many special moments after.
A week later I visited this new mama for one of my most fun baby moons. We dodged raindrops and abandoned beautiful light, but moved furniture to get it. As we waited out the storm, they fed me tapioca! Good conversation, adorable bouncing children, and of course coffee, made this a wonderful evening.
