Little Miracles

Sawyer Anton Matoushek, 13 Hours Old
Bundles of Joy!
That expression used to sound trite to me. Not so much anymore.
Wednesday my son-in-law phoned me at 2:45 in the afternoon. “We’re being admitted and they’re going to induce Elaine,” Rob reported. “Everything’s fine…it’s just time.” Sawyer’s due date had come and gone eight days earlier. “We’re on our way!” I told him.
I phoned my husband and told him what was happening. We agreed to meet at our home before driving the 80 miles south to San Diego for the baby’s birth. My coworkers were excited as I wrapped up a few things and headed out the door. I beat Rich home, so I packed our bag and contacted our dogsitter. Rich arrived soon after I’d completed our preparations, and off we went.
The hours at the hospital were a blur. We  gathered there, Rich and I, Rob’s mom Judi, Elaine’s father Jim. Elaine’s best friend Angela arrived a few hours after we did. The medical staff slowed, then stopped, Elaine’s labor-inducing medication, as her contractions were close together and the baby was under a bit of stress. At one point they fitted her with an oxygen mask and my heart sank. Elaine was ready for privacy; the grandparents retired to the waiting room. We prayed. We waited.
A little after four in the morning, Rob came out and dropped into a chair beside Elaine’s dad. He announced to us that Sawyer had arrived at 3:30, weighing 9 pounds, 3 ounces, 23 inches long. Mom and baby were doing fine, he told us. We laughed. We cried. We hugged each other. We gave thanks.
Later in the afternoon I had some quiet time with my newest grandson. His mother was taking a shower. His dad had gone for a walk with his own mom. Rich and I were alone with Sawyer. I held him, studied him, and asked God to bless him and his family.
I reflected, as I sat in the hospital, holding this tiny infant, that the same God who created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the stars, the mountains and the mighty oceans–that same God had created this little life that I now held in my hands.
Sawyer is part of a grand plan.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.
Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
You are still with me!
Psalm 139:13-18 (NLT)