an unexpected answered prayer

While I was pregnant, I would read to Reagan each week about how our baby was developing & we would pray for that body part. I remember specifically praying during the week of hands & feet that our baby's hands & feet would serve others. When our baby was born with hand & feet differences, I really struggled knowing we had specifically prayed over their hands & feet & I just felt like God had ignored us & that prayer.

And then it hit me... while I was feeding Will late last Saturday night. (By the way, I know I'm exhausted & probably complain too much about the lack of sleep, the exhausting feeding process, etc., but I must admit, there is something so intimate about the middle of the night feeding... I really cherish the peace & intimacy of it...)

Ok - so it hit me while feeding Will that maybe God did, in fact, answer our prayer- just in a completely unexpected way.

I think I'd forgotten how we'd prayed... we prayed for the purpose of his or her hands & feet - not the image. We prayed that our baby's hands & feet would serve others to bring others closer to knowng God.

Will's hands & feet are serving others. He is inspiring people to donate money to Scottish Rite which will serve thousands of Texas children & their families. He is inspiring families to pray together who might not have before. He inspires me daily & amazes me when I watch him overcome something I perceive to be a challenge. He is teaching me so much already about life, God, & how to serve others. He is teaching all of those around him how to be sensitive to those with differences. I realize he is not yet at an age to choose to serve Christ & someday, that will have to be his choice. However, for now, in his own little way, I do believe he is serving his Maker with his hands & feet. 11 weeks old & what an impact he is already making- far more than we ever imagined when praying for him months ago!

While of course I wish for his sake that maybe there was another way to have that prayer answered... there is purpose & God did answer our prayer... in an unexpected yet somehow amazing way. God has always been faithful to us.

Read Psalm 13 - I love how David struggles with God & then claims God's promises & answered prayers at the end of the Psalm. By the way, David adopted one of Jonathan's sons who had a limb difference & had him eat at the king's table (big deal in those days!) He had a heart for that young man. It's one of the few references I can find in the Bible for a person with a limb difference. We named our son William David because there is so much about the psalmist that we have cherished throughout the pregnancy... his honesty with God, his vulnerablility, his heart for others, his heart for God, & of course, his authorship of Psalm 139.