Happy Birthday Bethany!

Happy Birthday Lovely Lady! My third daughter Bethany was born on the 15th day of March, 24 years ago. Her birth was quite eventful. I went to the hospital early on the morning she was born for a scheduled c-section. Everything appeared to be going just fine except the epidural I was given didn’t seem to be working. After administering the maximum amount of medication, the anesthesiologist was convinced I would be numb by the time the surgery began. When the physician came into the operating room to start the surgery, he poked me with what felt like a needle on my oversized abdomen and based on my response said, “Oh, sorry. I guess you can feel that.” Needless to say the failed epidural caused me to have to be put to sleep for her delivery. My recovery room experience was horrendous. My sweet gentle husband told the attending nurse not to touch me again until we spoke with the Doctor. I was so glad to have him there to stick up for me. After speaking with the Doctor, we were convinced that either the nurse didn’t get the memo that I had had a c-section or she was taking out her frustration on me. Of course all the pain went away when I got to see my sweet little baby girl. She had dark hair and dark eyes and was obviously unique from the moment I saw her. She captured my heart just as her sisters had. From our first encounter I knew my heart was set to take the very best care of this fragile little life God had entrusted to me. At two weeks old, she quit breathing during an evening feeding. Tim and I did everything we could to get her to breathe but to no avail. Now remember, this was before 911 was in affect and we lived 30 minutes from the nearest hospital. Tim handed her to me and telephoned a local physician who lived down the street from us. The physician told us to get to a hospital and Tim responded with “there isn’t enough time.” When he hung up the phone, he fell to his knees and cried out for God’s mercy, convinced that she was gone. I just couldn’t give up. I proceeded to work on her and just as the physician was walking through our front door she took a breath. I quickly handed her frail body to him and he proceeded to examine her. He said he thought she was going to be fine except for maybe some bruising from us trying to get her to breath. I cannot put into words how helpless and weak Tim and I felt that evening. It was a stern reminder to us both that we as parents have certain limitations in the lives of our children, but their heavenly Father is without limits and cares for them more deeply than we ever could. Bethany quit breathing again the following evening around the same time. We took her to the hospital this time to try to figure out what was going on. After a five day hospital stay, and an enormous amount of trauma, we were told that there was nothing wrong with her and that she had had coincidental choking spells. Anxious and relieved, we headed home knowing that the affects of the whole experience brought us to a new found dependence on the Lord, especially in the area of parenting. Through the years of her life, Bethany has brought us a tremendous amount of joy! I truly believe that the enemy had a plan for her the evening she quit breathing that was different from the Lord’s. There have been other times in this journey of stewardship in Bethany’s life when her Dad and I have fallen to our knees and cried out for God’s mercy and, always, the Lord was there to give wisdom, strength, protection, courage, grace, and forgiveness as it was needed. I am so thankful that the Lord’s purpose and plan for her can not be thwarted by the evil one, his devices, or her or her parent’s weaknesses. My heart is overjoyed today as I reminisce over the life of this beautiful woman. She is not only my daughter but my friend and my sister in Christ. And, I have no doubt that her life will continue to bring praise honor and glory to her King, JESUS. I love you Bethany and hope you had a wonderful birthday!