Thankful for baby girl Adeyemi

I started a new devotional this week and as the Lord always does.... he not only opens my eyes to Him, but he is so close to me, I can feel his breath.  I was reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 before work yesterday and meditating on what it really means to be constant in prayer with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 

As my orientee and I started our day, I soon realized it was going to be quite busy.  We had two patients, both with pain issues and needing our help at the same time.  For me, it was hard to let my orientee figure out which is most important-I just wanted to go help one patient while she was with the other-but by stepping back and praying to make good choices, I was letting her learn valuable lessons.  After lunch time we found out that one of our patients was “complete” and ready to have her baby.  We gave up our other patient and was able to focus solely on this family.  As we spent the rest of the day with this family, I cannot even begin to accurately describe the feeling in this room.

The family was from Nigeria and the mother, husband, and the sister were all present for the delivery.  As Sarah and I are setting up the table and getting supplies together, they are all praying and singing praise songs to the Lord. This woman is feeling pressure and the urge to push and yet she is singing and swaying in bed(with an epidural), eyes closed, having the Lord as the center of this all... not her and not the baby, but the Lord.

As this sweet patient was pushing, she was focused and pushing well, but when it was time to rest she was saying over and over again, “Thank you Jesus. Thank You Lord.  I worship you, Savior.” And her sister was saying “ Thank you Jesus. Thank you for progress. Thank you for her strength.” And the husband was saying “Thank you Jesus. I love you, Lord.  Thank you for this progress.  You are King, my Lord.”

Once “Adeyemi” was born and we placed her on moms chest and she made her first cry.  The mother was saying, “O, you are praising the Lord. Be strong, little girl.  Stand up for what you believe in.  Love the Lord.  Thank you Jesus.” over and over and over again. I didnt want to move, didnt want to work, I felt frozen in time as I marveled at this family and the work of Jesus in them all.    

I dont think I had a dry eye for the whole two hours of pushing and delivering this baby.  The docs teared up, the midwife teared up, my orientee teared up... not ONE dry eye.   This family was showing all of us, Christians and non-Christians, what it means to not only rely on the Lord, but to give HIM the thanks for all that happens.    

People say that once a woman gets into the groove of contractions and labor, that she has this look on her face of dedication and almost goes into another place to get through it.  This was the epitome of going into another place.  This woman was worshiping as she was bringing new life to this world and she was with the Lord the entire time.  Pray without ceasing. yes. Rejoicing always. yes. and giving thanks in all circumstances. yes.  This woman was living out 1 Thessalonians 5 right in front of me and I was praising Jesus for her, for her family, for her new beautiful baby girl and for the blessing of being able to serve this woman as she was serving the Lord.  Thank you, Jesus, for opening my eyes and showing me JUST how near you are to me, if I just open my eyes and trust in you.