After we had the gift that is Meredith, we learned to take parenting day by day. No one told us to do that, we just did instinctively I guess. For us, having a special needs child threw out our expectations for what “normal” life would be like. Because of that, having another child seemed unwise. We wanted to make sure we had the capacity to steward the children God had given us.
When we first moved to NW Indiana, Meredith was on medication for ADHD. We hated what it did to her. She became zombie-like. She just wasn’t Meredith. So, we started praying that the Lord would make it so that Meredith would not need medication at all and stopped giving her the “chewies.” The Lord answered our prayers. Outside of normal fever or allergy meds, she has not had one pill since we moved to Indiana. Praise the Lord!
I mention that to say that King Jesus has given us a stability in our home that has made having a special needs child seem more like normal. Mere is doing very well. We think it likely that she’ll be with us our whole lives, but she’s doing well.
Little did Lynsey know that a few months into our move here, I started asking the Lord for another child. More specifically, I asked the Lord to either (1) remove my desire for another child or (2) give Lynsey a desire for one, too.
Then Christy Archer, our Children’s Ministry Director, had the baby girl of Dan and Joy Sneed (yes, she was their surrogate). Lynsey and I went to see them in the hospital and I got to hold baby Evie. (This was a few months after I started asking God to remove my desire for another child.) When I held that little girl, I welled up with tears and kissed her little forehead. She was so precious. All that desire for another child came rushing over me. I had to give Lynsey the baby and go in the bathroom to wipe away my tears.
Lynsey knows me well. So when we left the room she asked what was wrong. I wasn’t ready to talk about it. She didn’t know what I had been praying. When we got to the car, all my emotions came out and I told her what I had been asking the Lord to do. I think that maybe softened her heart some to the idea (just to be clear–she is NOT hard hearted to begin with!).
I didn’t push it (Lynsey will have to handle that on her own!), but we had some more conversations over the next several weeks. One of us would point out how we had room in our car for a car seat. The other would say, “You know, the office really could become a nursery.” 🙂
I was so excited when she told me she was pregnant. We were at a bagel and coffee place we frequent when we go on breakfast dates. She handed me a gift bag and I said, “Is this a pregnancy test!?” It was. She just kept laughing and I kept saying, “We’re having a baby!”
This coming Friday will make 13 weeks along as a family of five. The newest addition to our family is due on November 22. Lynsey is doing well. We heard the heartbeat today and hope to get an anatomy scan at week 20. Caroline and Meredith are excited, and they both think the baby is a girl. People have asked us what we prefer. We both prefer a baby and will be overjoyed with whatever the Lord gives us.
It has been really fun telling as many people as we can in person. We started with our family and then moved out from there. I told the church family last Sunday, and now it’s very public in my writing of this blog (with my wife’s permission, of course).
It’s been eight years since we had a baby, y’all! We got rid of all the baby stuff. So if you’ve got some baby stuff you want to get rid of, we will consider it. Notice that I said consider! 🙂
Having Caroline and Meredith has been such a joy to Lynsey and me. We’re so excited about this new adventure, and we’re excited to let all of our extended friends and family know publicly.
Pastor Jacob’s Blog 