It's a Bear!!!

Well, here he is! After over 30 hours of full on labor, Christian Matthew "Bear" Shepherd arrived at 7:01 am July 19th. He and my sister both put up quite a fight, but they had to go in after him. A c-section was performed and everyone is healthy and wonderful. As you can see he is beautiful and we are all in some kind of love. A sweet little picture of how the fatigue/drugs/surgery hit Ashley is this...she had just been wheeled back into the recovery room. Bear had not even made it into the room yet and she said, with complete earnestness, "So, do you think they'll let us take him home with us today?" HA!!! I wanted to say, "Ashley, you cannot move your legs, and won't for at least 10 hours...you aren't going ANYWHERE!!!" She is beautiful. Watching her labor was a real privilege.

I do have 3 children, but mine were all c-sections pretty much from the beginning. I've never seen God's plan in action. It was brutal. I don't have time or research to go into it, but it was a picture of what it really means to labor in the Lord and how our labor is not in vain. I saw with each excruciating contraction the fatigue on her face, but the joy set before her because she knew of her reward. She just wanted to gaze into her baby's face and tell him of her great love. The harder the contractions the more effective. Isn't that just like God? He doesn't waste a single thing. Even the pain has a purpose. That I haven't researched...I don't have scripture to confirm it...but I know it's there and I know it's true. Especially in this case.

I believe there are times that God is trying to birth something in us. The excruciating pain of obedience can be tiresome, it can cause us to weary and grow faint, but those who put their hope in the Lord will rise on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint. Ashley uttered those verses several times during her labor, she was hoping that with each labor pain she would be that much closer to her prize.

She was the one who said a c-section was in order. She could feel the baby fighting to descend and she had fought mighty hard herself, she said, "He's not in position, the only way he is coming out is by a c-section." She was right.

Sometimes we labor and labor and it doesn't go our way. However, if we are laboring in the Lord, our labor will not be in vain because our prize, our goal, is seeing Jesus face to face and hearing Him tell US of His great love.

It was hard to watch, but that reward, that sweet, sweet reward...blessed be the name of the Lord.