July is a month of celebrations for us.
July 4th, birthdays, vacation, and our anniversary.
This July we celebrate our middle child’s 21st birthday.
What the heck?!?!? 21 years old.
It has been a crazy, emotional, terrifying, joyful, hopeful journey.
From the moment she was conceived to this day, she has always been special. There has always been something about her that has stuck out and it has been hard to pinpoint what it is.
Until now.
Here is my story as her mom. I am not going to air out her stuff because it is not my place. She has an amazing testimony that, when it comes time for her to share with the world, will change the lives of those that hear it.
So here goes.
22 years ago, we had a series of events that changed our lives.
22 years ago, we discovered in November that we were pregnant with our second child. I was ecstatic. Our oldest was 4 ½ and I had wanted another baby for a while. When I found out I was pregnant I was overjoyed.
January 21 years ago, shook our world. Larry had gotten a phone call telling him that the next day the company that he was working for was going to announce that they were closing the branch that he worked at. Panic set in as he was the insurance carrier and we were trying to figure everything out with all of that. We were up until 2am the next morning. Then, a little after 4am we awoke to the growl of our power going out and realizing that Clarksville was being hit by a devastating F3 tornado.
Those months were emotionally crazy for us. But the craziness was not over. You see when we went to have our anatomy scan with her, they discovered something wrong on the ultrasound. They saw “pockets of air” around her skull. When we asked what that meant they told us that the doctor would call us and talk to us. A day or so later he called and said that he was going to send us to a specialist for a better ultrasound because what they saw on the ultrasound could be a symptom of congestive heart failure.
Wait. What?
We did not really process through that before we went to the specialist. When we got to our appointment, we went back for the ultrasound and she looked perfect. Her hair was flowing in the amniotic fluid, her face was beautiful. Then she spit. LOL!! Anyway, the specialist looked at the ultrasound then called us into his office to discuss the results. He introduced himself then proceeded to ask us why we thought we were there. We told him. Then he said well she does not have congestive heart failure; she is just fat!
Those words have stuck with me these past 21 years because they were the most comforting words I had ever heard!!! Time would prove that the doctor was right!
We thought that the craziness with the pregnancy were over then, at 7 months, the doctor went to listen to her heartbeat and found it much higher than it should have been for a baby that is in the proper birthing position. Because of this, we had to have an ultrasound at every appointment to check her positioning. She was heads down on every ultrasound, but we were hearing the heartbeat way too high. Anyway, this went on until the day of delivery, when they finally discovered that she was in the right position, her head was just stuck on my pelvis.
Wait. What?
I will spare you the gruesome details of her delivery just needless to say it was even more eventful than the pregnancy. She has heard it many times. If you really want to hear it, I will share it with you. 🙂
It has been an adventure to say the least, but I would not change it for the world.
She has had her ups and downs. She has lived well, and she has lived not so well. She is loved deeply by those who love her, and she has been hurt deeply by them as well. She loves fiercely and, like her momma, she also protects fiercely.
She, like most 21-year old’s, is writing her testimony. She is fighting her own demons and you know what? She is winning!
She is an amazing daughter and one that is a force to be reckoned with.
God has great plans for her, and I cannot wait to see what they are.
I am ever so thankful that He chose me to be her mom.
Happy Birthday Princess! You are loved more than you will ever know.
Not Your Typical Pastors Wife 