7 Weeks

Today I found out that our baby is the size of a blueberry. Oddly enough, as my wife was telling me this, she was eating blueberry yogurt. As of right now, the baby resembles very little of what it will develop into, yet it has a heart, spine, partially developed lungs and soon will be able to hear vibrations, though it's ears aren't quite complete yet. 

I'm explaining this simply because one thing has been on my mind since the moment I first found out that we are expecting: even though this fetus is completely dependent on my wife for its survival, and even though it doesn't resemble a human at all, IT IS ALIVE. Alive in every literal and figurative meaning of the word. It is a living being inside the womb of my wife. It is growing, developing, eating. There's even research that says babies (much further along than ours) go into REM sleep, meaning that they dream. How much more alive can you get than DREAMING? 

Anyone who says that in any stage a fetus is not alive is trying to justify their own fears for whatever reasons. No amount of doctorates or scientific research can deny that at the moment of conception, a new life begins. And no amount of higher education or "enlightenment" can justify saying that at any moment in time that life growing inside of you isn't a life. 

My baby is life. Life given graciously by God. I already love it more than I thought I could love my child. I already fear for it, have cried over it, and laughed over it. Soon I will get to talk to it. And I WILL talk to it. About everything. You cannot tell me that I'm doing all of these things to something that isn't a life, that isn't alive. My baby is alive and growing.

Jeremiah 1:5

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."

It's a verse we all know, even if we don't know where it is. It's a verse that now has an unreal meaning to me. This verse reveals God's omnipotence, His omnipresence, AND His Omniscience. It shows that He is in control, and that He is Control. He has chosen to bless Amber and I with this precious life that He created. And He already has a plan for him/her. 

This is our LIVING baby. And we serve a LIVING God.  

It Begins

There are only a few moments in the short time I have been on this Earth that have completely flipped my life. Honestly I can only think of two before now. First, obviously, is accepting Christ as my Savior on August 18th, 1998. Next is July 10th, 2011. Yes, that's the day I was given the highest honor as the husband to the most amazing woman in the world, Amber Nicole (now)Floyd.

While those two moments in time change your life in multitudes of ways, nothing quite prepares you for the moment when your wife comes out of the bathroom saying, "baabbbbbbe" in that voice that tells you something's not quite right. As I got off the couch and headed back there with quite some speed, she was staring intently at a pink stick. Immediately, my brain started pumping 101mph. The only thing my brain was computing was "No way. No way!"

Well, yes way. After taking another test (and after taking one myself just in case it was a cheapo pregnancy test), it was undeniably clear that we were pregnant. I have never cried, laughed, cried, smiled, cried, and laughed so much in my life. The next hour was full of prayer, talking about the future, how we should tell both of our parents, and a million other things.

The implications of those two tests rocked the foundations of every single 'plan' that I had for the next 1-2 years of our lives. A majority of them have crumbled. Some survive, but changes are being applied in the repairs. And of course, MANY are newly constructed. These past three weeks have become the most stressful, exciting, happy, and determined weeks of my life. God has DAILY reminded me of my duties. He has DAILY reminded me that it's HIS plan that is in effect, not mine.

The Art of Becoming a Dad. Maybe I'll make it a book. It'd always have to be updated, but hey, I could do that. In 8 months I will have a child in my arms, a new life given to my wife and I by God. So here we go!