God is good. All the time. And all the time. God is good. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve heard this , or said it yourself. Usually as a Christian feel-good-holy-sounding phrase. But what if He is really ? Good, I mean. ALL.THE.TIME? Even when you have a surprise pregnancy after a complicated one? Even if your husband’s start date on a new job gets delayed and delayed and delayed and you have no income for months? Even if your child is diagnosed with something that changes your life? Even if your (young) friend’s mother dies too early ( is there ever a good time to die?) ? Even if your family member goes through umpteen health scares? Even if you feel rejected by your close friends? Even if you move (a move to a different city or state or country) for the fourth time in your 7 year marriage? Is He? Good. He is. Though sometimes it takes me forever to realise that.
With our first child, our daughter, we went through a complicated pregnancy, with my doctor asking me to come in three times a week so she could monitor her ( from my fifth month of pregnancy itself). I was given steroids early at 32 weeks to develop her lungs . I went in for a routine ( by that time, it had become routine!) checkup at 38 weeks and they found her heart rate decelerating , not enough for alarm, but enough for admission. We had one car at that point, (which I’d taken to the hospital after my husband came back from an overnight shift at the same hospital where he worked, and went to sleep). My husband got a ride with another resident and came over. While they hooked me up and were going to wait for labour, the baby’s heart rate plummeted , causing us to be rushed for a C-Section. Christina was born 20 minutes later , at 4 lb 7 oz. Miraculously she returned home with us after three days. No NICU. No need for any interventions.
We decided to wait before going through that again. We took measures. We used 3 contraceptive methods. At Christina’s 4 month visit with her pediatrician, I found out I was pregnant. Absolutely. Totally. Undeniably. Not our plan, but God had planned this child. Even so, my husband and I were shocked, very surprised, lost and not sure what we wanted to do. My husband was devastated. Only then did I realise how much of a toll Christina’s pregnancy took on him. It took us several weeks to decide we were going to keep the baby. It took us several months to be all right with that decision and wait eagerly for his arrival. ( From the time I found out I was pregnant again, my doctor asked me to come and see her twice a week). I was given steroids again, early in case they needed to take him out. My amniotic fluid started dropping to dangerous levels, when they took Adam out at 37 weeks. He was 4 lb 5 oz. He needed a bilirubin blanket and UV light. They day we were leaving home, his body temperature dropped, and he needed to be in the incubator. He spent 4 days in NICU and then came home. He is now 4 1/2 years old, healthy, vibrant and active. Christina now 5 1/2 loves pink, colouring and painting ,dancing and pretending things. Where was God , good, in all this, you may ask?
He was good . All. That. Time. While we were getting used to keeping Adam, He brought me in contact with random people who had similar stories. An ophthalmologist who had children 15 months apart, who told me about her life, with no prompting. A friend who had a surprise baby while on contraception. Several articles about Irish twins, ( I hadn’t started to research anything at that point). Friends at church , who without knowing my situation, would come up to me, and tell me of God’s faithfulness . On the other hand, I came to know several friends at church had gone through massive struggles with infertility. Again no prompting, They felt led to share with me, their pain. Through those few months, I felt God telling me, He’s got it. He’s in control. He’s faithful. Raj and I were encouraged and started to hope.
God was good, and He was faithful, and He showed that to me practically. While I was going to the doctor so frequently, my 4, then 5, then 6 month old daughter would come along as well. After a particularly rough appointment, when Christina screamed her head off, and the technician was so distraught, I mentioned to a group of bible study friends that I was lost. They rallied together and offered to watch Christina during those appointments. We still had only one car. I would drop my husband at the hospital, go to Dortie or Joy Or Ann or Lisa or April or Marie or LeKeshia ‘s home and drop off Christina. Then go back to the same hospital. Then pick C up. Then pick up my husband in the evening ( or afternoon if he had an overnight shift). None of them were blood. All of them became my family. Dortie kept her dog away from the baby. Joy dint let Christina eat crackers off the floor ( and dint do any household chores). Ann watched two children 5 months apart ( her own son is a couple of months older than C). Lisa had her hands full with a toddler (hers), a baby ( mine) and a dog who wanted attention. April recruited her college age daughter without her knowledge! and she dint get to do homework while Christina was there. Marie dealt with a diaper rash, which made Christina fussy the whole time she was there . Keshia walked , walked, for 45 minutes and rocked Christina, because C dint want her to sit down! These people loved a family from another country and so became God’s hands around a new mother, who was feeling overwhelmed.
God was still good, when I went in for my second C-Section in two years, Christina stayed with Kristie and Dorothy and Ann, three different homes, three consecutive nights , and they spoilt her rotten. Dorothy brought her to the hospital , just because Raj and I were dying to see her!
Remember the part where Adam needed to stay back at the hospital for 4 days?????
It was still part of God’s plan. Raj was flying out to another city for an interview, the day after coming home from the hospital. I was coming home from a surgery. I would have had 2 babies then. So God allowed Adam to stay at the NICU, where the nurses are exceptional, and the care , fantastic and round the clock. 11 month Christina who had been in three other homes, the previous nights, could cuddle with her mama. She needed that time , alone, without a new baby.
God allowed me to heal well from both surgeries. He gave us friends of different colours who were our family through it all. He showed us His faithfulness and His goodness, through small and big, seen and felt, practical, physical and spiritual ways. These two miracle babies are now strong, have barely been ill since, and have reached most of their milestones on time.
It is only in hindsight, have I seen His faithfulness and goodness. And so I can say God is Good. All the time. And mean it. And be thankful. So thankful. His plans are not mine. But they work out better every time.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8
Vanessa Samuel 