the lost coin, sheep, daughter...

At church on Sunday we were asked for prayer requests and praise reports. Hmm...I wondered if Ethan was a praise item. I said, “Well, I think this is a blessing”. And I proceeded to tell them about my first grandchild. The reason I said “I think” is because of the situation the baby comes into. Not having a father is bad enough, but he also doesn’t have grandparents (except for 1 in Maine). But each baby is a blessing from God. Some come into better homes and circumstances than others, but that’s not the baby’s fault. I will try not to be judgmental as to having a child deliberately without the Dad, but it’s hard to hold my thoughts inside. I might not have been the greatest role model when I was younger, but I was a single mom, alone!! I worked full time at any job I could get just so I could afford to buy spaghetti-o’s and hot dogs!! I never owned a home, and struggled to have a car and an appt. When I was in my 30’s I still lived in a dumpy 1 bedroom apartment when I wasn't living with my parents. Why on earth would the child I raised as a single mom do the exact same thing to her child? Isn’t my life enough of a reason not to?!

Since I made the analogy of the prodigal son, my pastor brought to my attention that there are other parables I could take wisdom from. How about the one with the woman who swept out her house looking for the 1 lost coin? Why? Because it was precious. Or the one where the shepherd goes out and looks for his 1 lost sheep? Why? Because it was also precious. OK, so I wasn’t thinking about those, because seriously, I didn’t want to have to make another move in that direction. I suppose it would be more Christ-like to be loving and be rejected than to not do anything. Thanks, Karl.

So I am on my way out to get a card to congratulate her on the baby. I don’t think they make any that say, “Hey congrats on having a baby out of wedlock and keeping the birth a secret from me.”

Yeah, that would go over great, huh? Wish me luck on finding something I can put my heart into.

Psalm 139:¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.