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Miracle of birth illustrates the way God looks after us
By Pastor Mark Driscoll
Something in my gut last spring told me that my wife was pregnant, but she was unconvinced until she started feeling a bit queasy. A visit to her doctor confirmed that she was indeed pregnant with our fifth child. By then, God the Father was already at work preparing my son for his homecoming with our family.
The Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, metaphorically knit together in our mothers' wombs by the hands of God. By the time we visited the doctor, the miracle was already under way, as our child, measuring perhaps the same size as a raisin, had the beginnings of a backbone, spinal column, nervous system, kidneys, liver, intestines and a heartbeat. Again and again as the months wore on, I found myself thinking about the strange and wonderful mystery that is the beginning of human life.
Sitting at Safeco Field, cheering the Mariners and eating nachos with my other children, it occurred to me that our unborn child had fingers, a mouth and tongue, and eyes, each with a retina and lens. And, within a few years, my wife and I would be buying a seat and some snacks for the newcomer, too.
As we enjoyed the University District Street Fair weeks later, our unborn child had already developed vocal cords, the baby's brain was beginning to form, and his taste buds were developing.
Around this time the arrival of our child seemed more real as my wife began to show, and the baby began to move around in her belly.
Our other children began touching mommy's tummy and asking whether their sibling could one day also get his face painted, eat lots of food, and dance wildly with them to various eccentric musicians on the Ave.
By midsummer the baby was perhaps a mere 6 ounces as my wife and I began packing up our house. Our growing family caused me to purchase a larger home with a larger yard and plenty of space for our kids to play.
By late summer, our child could recognize his mother's voice and had developed fingernails and fingerprints. He had also developed sex organs, and so we had an ultrasound to reveal the gender of the baby. The doctor told us we were having a boy, which helped determine the rooming assignments at the new house.
When they heard the news, our other two boys erupted with delight because they would soon outnumber the girls and have an additional warrior for their regular wrestling matches against me.
By Halloween, the baby was sleeping throughout most of the day and not moving a great deal. This concerned my wife until our doctor assured us that everything was fine and she started feeling the boy doing what appeared to be a gymnastics event in the evenings.
During the Christmas season we hung a stocking for the baby, and our other children stuffed it with pictures and cards they'd drawn. They also prayed for him often and wanted to know what his name was to make their cards and prayers more specific. But, unlike with our other children, we were at a loss as to what we would name the boy.
One of my sons kept lobbying that we name him Soup, while the other argued that we should just call him Dude. My youngest daughter wanted to call him Diego because that is Dora the Explorer's cousin and best friend, and watching Dora on TV is the equivalent of a religious epiphany to her.
Finally, after all the waiting and praying, our son was born a couple of weeks ago.
He came out yelling and flailing his arms like a Seahawks fan and proceeded to pee everywhere like a sprinkler. To me, he looked like a Gideon so that is what we chose to name him.
He was covered in a pasty white film, which caused his brother to remark that he looked more like a glazed doughnut than a Gideon.
As I now pray for him at night while he rests on my chest, I am reminded that the Bible says that God is a father. As a father, God loves us, cares for us, and keeps watch over us, and I am comforted that God's heart toward me is the same as my heart toward my son.
Taking my son home reminded me of the day when God my Father promises to take me to his eternal home, where I suspect there will be as much fun as awaits my son at our house.
Meanwhile, God is developing my soul each day just as he did the body of my boy in preparation for the great homecoming.
Seattle Times