Our baby boy is due in April of 2010. That’s a miraculous thing for which we are very thankful to God. It’s been a long journey and we’ve prayed for a long, long time for this second child. We’re officially naming him Samuel David and you must read my wife’s post about how we arrived at that name. She tells the moving story far better than I could.
Yesterday, we found out that our baby is going to be a boy. You can see that pointed out in the ultrasound if you choose to watch it. You’ll also see that he’s moving like crazy and I could swear I saw his lips mutter, “Hi Dad!” but I’m not an expert or anything…
The first minute or two is really the best part, but the whole thing is spectacular in that it shows God’s handiwork in a womb. There’s life in my wife’s belly – a totally unique and individual little man is growing up, and he’s already 11 ounces!
When Angie and I went to her Doctor appointment Wednesday, we were able to record the heartbeat with my iphone. I’ve uploaded the mp3 file here in hopes that you can hear it – turn your speakers up. Everything sounded great!
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I admire my wife’s ability to write about matters of the heart, and deeper matters about our lives. I’ve been limited in my writing about our struggle with infertility (which has ended now), but she’s put it quite well over at her blog, The Sweet Life. Read on…
So here’s the big family announcement we made to our church family this morning…
We’re Expecting!
Well… my wife is, that is. We’ve spent several years praying for this to happen and during that time have suffered two miscarriages (one of them an ectopic), but God has answered our prayers. We’re about eleven weeks along, so please pray for health and safety. More details to come!
I know that there are readers of this blog from every perspective. I’m as pro-life and conservative as they come. If you’re not, I still love you, but I think we can all agree that when rising abortion rates correlate to an economic downturn, it’s tragic! The San Francisco Chronicle reports this story about the rising demand for abortion among those who wanted their pregnancies but have lost jobs or otherwise fallen on hard financial times.
I cannot stress how tragic this is to me. I normally try not to “blog on emotion” but my wife and I dedicated an entire day this week to research, prayer, and discussion about our infertility issue. It’s on our minds all the time. We’d lose everything financially to have another child. Meanwhile, children are being aborted because of economic hard times. In our church family are a half dozen homes (minimum) that wold love and nurture those children, people who have suffered and prayed and wept for a pregnancy and can’t have one.
The society in which we live is becoming more twisted every day. I’ve had my fill of the idea that having kids is somehow financially irresponsible. And like it or not, agree or not, we’ll pay for this. We will pay for our “choices” and the abuses of our “freedoms.” If you’re tempted to throw a life away because of the economy… call me!
By the way, at the end of my righteous indignation always remains a heart of compassion for every woman who has made this tragic choice. Even if you’ve had an abortion, I love you, God loves you, and God offers His forgiveness freely on the basis of His Son’s death on the cross for you. Turn to Him and simply ask.
And if you’re considering an abortion… start here.
Feel free to comment on this post, but please don’t argue with me about politics here – this issue is far more personal to me than political, argue your political point on some related post, but not here please.
We have a beautiful six-year-old daughter, for whom we are so incredibly thankful. Our own struggle with infertility is not as harsh as that experienced by many because of her, but it’s a struggle nonetheless. We had some issues leading up to her birth and were so incredibly grateful when we were finally blessed with Ella that we gave her the middle name of Grace (God’s undeserved favor). Since having Ella, we’ve endured an ectopic pregnancy and another miscarriage and have spent nearly six years in the waiting game.
Infertility is hard – no bones about it. I don’t write or talk about it much, perhaps because of my own fear of being vulnerable in such a public way, but I have come into contact with so many people who suffer this plight that I wanted to share in the hopes that my words might educate and encourage someone else.
I'm a Christian, a Pastor to Bethel Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, a husband to Angie, a Dad to Ella, and I also enjoy graphic and web design. I'm a huge fan of Chick-fil-A and have a little dog named Beau!
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