Mary and Joseph find room in the stable. What a relief it must have been to finally find a place to rest and prepare for the delivery of the baby Jesus. Although it was not the perfect setting it was probably such an incredible blessing for them to find even a stable.After a few hours of waiting to move into the delivery room with Amy I was more then ready to finally reach a more comfortable setting. It was definitely more comfortable but...now it was all too real. I will never forget the incredible emotions of that time. I remember it all quite clearly yet what was a long period of time now seems like was so short.
As Amy lay there and the contractions began to occur it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to watch. To see your wife in so much pain was hard to take. Poor Joseph would have had nothing to offer other then his hand and words of support. I too did that but we also had the support of Amy's mom and a wonderful nurse and modern medicine. It still did not take away Amy's pain or mine for that matter watching her suffer. Time progressed...and more time. I watched every contraction on the graph come and go, i watched the heart rate of our child rise and fall. A life was so near to entering the world. Why couldn;t it just happen quick and easy? Why did there have to be such pain and take so much time? I held Amy's hand and whispered I loved her as she continued to work at the delivery.
It was then that the nurse noticed something was not right. Amy was developing a fever and the child inside her was becoming distressed. Every beep from the machines that I heard in the room was like a siren going off in my head.The numbers on the digital screen showing the heart rate rising and going faster and faster as our unborn child began to struggle made my heart pump so hard i could barely breath. Is this supposed to be happening?? I could see the fear on Amy's face as well. Amy's mom helped with her support and prayers and we all just held tight and prayed all was going to be ok.
Things were not improving so it was time to make a move. Suddenly there was a room full of Dr.s and nurses. I felt completely lost, confused and helpless. Why did they need so many people in the room? What could be happening here?? I wasn;t sure if I could handle the thought of anything happening to Amy or our child. I held tighter to Amy and did all I could to be strong and did my best to convince myself everything was going to be fine.
I would look at Amy working so hard, I would look at the monitors, I would look up to the ceiling and do my best to keep my eyes dry and not to worry. Then to add to the problems, our unborn child was not positioned right. I took a deep breath and just listened to the words of the Dr. carefully. She was so calm and instructed Amy so wonderfully. They asked me to count to ten for Amy to push. This helped keep my mind from going crazy. It was funny though as I could not count past 6 as the last four numbers came out as barely audible tearful crackles or I would forget a number...
I just wanted to hear something was going good. I was wanting our little child to be in the room in our arms....my heart was exploding with excitement and pounding in fear all at once. And then it happened....
I am so in awe of Joseph. What courage he must have had to watch helplessly as Mary had to give birth to Jesus without any Dr.s or anyone at all to help. How helpless he must have felt. And of course Mary....there was a reason God chose her. What courage and strength she must have had. Can you imagine a young lady giving birth to her first child with no one with any experience around to talk her through the delivery. Can you believe that this still happens in so many places around the world...and in some cases the woman is entirely alone???
I know how hard it was to experience the challenge of birth in a loving room with plenty of help. I pray for all those who do not have such support that they find strength and that angels will watch over them in their time of need.
See the mural pieces as they fit here
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