Pink or Blue?

Tonight I attended a party that will always rank in my top 10. It was small (only 4½ guests) but extraordinary. The younger generation would call it a “Gender Reveal,” but the rest of us would just say, “We learned the sex of the baby!”

Since Birgitta’s last doctor appointment 3 weeks ago, we’d been eagerly looking toward today’s ultrasound. They said we’d discover if the baby was a girl or boy, and Birgitta was bursting with anticipation. By the time she was on the table, we were all giggling with expectation.

Louisa had driven from Chicago to get in on the fun and had told us about Gender Reveals. Birgitta said, “Why don’t we have one! It’ll make a great story for the baby some day.” And so the Reveal was scheduled for after dinner.

We planned to ask the ultrasound tech to keep the baby’s gender a secret from the girls, but to let me know. Then, after the appointment, I’d bake a batch of cookies, decorating half with blue sprinkles, half with pink. After dinner I’d hand Birgitta a cookie with the baby’s correct color on it, thereby revealing the gender.

During the hour-long ultrasound we were reminded of the medical purpose for the test: to check each organ, measure bones, confirm the due date, and amass baby-data for Birgitta’s doctor. Learning the sex would come last, if at all.

With strained patience we all studied the fuzzy black and white computer screen, squinting in an effort to make sense of the tech’s comments. “See that dark spot? A kidney. And that bright one? The knee cap.” Complicating the process was a busy Baby Nyman, all four limbs continually in motion.

We ooohed and aaahed over glimpses of a hand, a button-nose, a rib cage. When a tiny foot came into view, the tech said, “See those five toes?” We did, asking how big they were. “Well,” she said while measuring, “the entire foot is one inch, so you can imagine the toes!”

When reveal-time came, the girls turned from the screen, and I leaned in close. But baby kept us guessing. “The legs are tight together,” she said, bobbing her scanner up and down on Birgitta’s tummy. “C’mon, little one. Let us see!”

Ten minutes of persistence paid off, and when she said, “There!” I couldn’t tell what I was looking at. “I’ll show you,” she said, and with her keyboard she spelled out the sex on her screen. I was ready to squeal, learning the baby was the gender Birgitta was hoping for, but managed to quietly say, “OK, I’ve got it,” and the image was quickly erased.

At home the girls poured over name books while I decorated cookies, and by dinnertime when Mary arrived, I’d managed to hold the secret without giving any clues. Finally the time came to give Birgitta her special cookie. I’d plucked one from the bunch and wrapped it in tin foil for this important moment. Handing it to her you’d think we were about to announce the winner of a Nobel Prize.

When she peeled off the foil, she screamed with delight, putting both hands to her face in shock. The sugar was pink! And she was carrying the little girl she’d hoped to have.

Thank you, Lord, for this child of blessing. Although Birgitta is carrying her, she’s really all yours.

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.” (Proverbs 13:19)

Anticipating Perfection

Decades ago when I was pregnant, I looked forward to each monthly doctor’s appointment with high expectations, longing to come away with a new tidbit or two about my unborn baby.

These appointments didn’t give me much to go on, but I did get to hear the rapid heartbeat each month and always learned I’d gained a few pounds, which meant the baby was getting bigger. Tummy measurements confirmed that, and I left with greater knowledge of my child than I’d had going in.

Today’s mothers-to-be are privy to sophisticated ultrasound equipment that gives all kinds of info. Three-D photos show facial features with such accuracy parents can even tell which side of the family their little one resembles.

Four days from now we will get to “see” Birgitta’s baby via scheduled ultrasound, and though we may not be able to view defined facial features, we’ll learn if she’s carrying a boy or girl.

Craving information about this little mini-human surely pleases the One who’s working on creating him/her. We’re excited to meet the child God is preparing, but October 21st seems very far away! Thursday’s ultrasound will be thrilling as we get to know our baby just a little bit more.

Doctors insist the main goal of the procedure is to check for abnormalities, to verify the due date, and to be sure baby is growing well. Our main focus is, should we think pink or do blue?

But what if the ultrasound discovers something irregular? What if we learn baby will have a defective heart or malformed spine? Or any imperfection at all? What then?

Delivering a perfect baby on D-day is the goal of every mommy, but of course logic tells us there’s no such thing. Even if some babies appear perfect, we know all human beings have imperfections built into them, and all children eventually bring problems to their parents.

Birgitta has wisely turned down her opportunities to be invasively tested for some of the more serious troubles babies can have, knowing beyond doubt she would never terminate her pregnancy regardless. “So why worry about test results that might be inaccurate anyway?” she said.

I’m with her.

If we truly believe God is the creator of all life and of this child in particular, then isn’t it best to trust him to deliver the specific baby that’s right for Birgitta? And won’t he make sure we’re prepared to receive the one he sends?

All of us are rife with flaws, and to expect anything different from this baby is unrealistic. There’s only one way any of us can ever reach perfection, and that’s through Christ. We hope our little one will one day realize this, and I’m praying about that now. But in the mean time, we’re expecting God to do a perfect job of putting together this new little family in exactly the way he wants.

[Jesus Christ] “offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins. By that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:12,14)

Real Royalty

We couldn’t believe we were about to see a bona fide princess up close. Lady Diana was making her way out of London’s royal performance of “Romeo and Juliet” when we found ourselves planted ten feet from where she would walk.

Daughters Julia and Linnea, desperate to meet her, were listening carefully to a bobby’s instructions: “If you shout at Her Royal Highness,” he said, “don’t use her name. You must address her as ‘ma’m’. Nothing else is acceptable.”

Wanting to be accepted, the girls were rehearsing their shout-out when Diana suddenly appeared. For an instant they were speechless as hundreds of flashbulbs popped, making her sparkle like the star she was.

As the bobby predicted, she scanned the barricaded crowd, including two adorable little girls within six feet of her. But when her gaze swept toward us, our daughters wildly waved their bouquet like a road crew flagging down traffic. “Ma’m! Ma’m!” they screamed. “Over here! We’re from America! We love you!”

Diana graciously acknowledged the crowd’s applause and then abruptly made a beeline for us. As she arrived in her sparkling black evening gown, our girls reached out to touch her, and she reciprocated. Linnea put a camera directly in Diana’s face (taking this photo) as Julia presented their bouquet.

The princess talked with them for several minutes as if they’d been the only ones waiting for her, after which she wished them well and said goodbye, heading for her Jaguar. She talked to no one else. As she slid into the back seat, she gently placed our wilting flowers next to her.

Mary leaned over and said, “Our humble bouquet is going to Buckingham Palace.”

As soon as the princess had pulled away, the crowd dispersed, and bobbies disassembled the barricades. But though the moment had passed, our girls held tightly to their celebrity high. Literally skipping toward our hotel, Linnea agreed with Julia who said: “If God killed me right now, I’d feel like my life was complete!”

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Another globally-known “celebrity” who even trumps Diana is Jesus. As he performed miracles, his disciples wondered why he shunned recognition by cautioning everyone to keep quiet about him. “Why don’t you pursue fame?” they said. “Show the world what you can do!”

But Jesus refused, saying his time to be famous hadn’t yet come.

He meant that it wasn’t quite time for him to die for mankind’s sins. After his death he would, indeed, become globally famous, and he was eager for that because it would help his plan of salvation become available to everyone.

Occasionally we all brush up against fame as our girls did with Diana. Both Julia and Linnea, now deeply rooted in love for the Lord, look back and laugh at going gaga over the princess. They know, as all of us should, there’s only one Person who deserves such hero-worship, and that’s our Lord. Putting anyone else on a pedestal of adoration only leads to disappointment.

In the long run, Jesus will be the only royalty that really matters.

Jesus said, “It is the one who is least among you all, who is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48)