Saturday, October 16, 2021

Wishin' And Hopin'

 Wishin' And Hopin'


My Bible classes at school always start with a couple of great stories about children being born. I like baby stories, especially about the child born in Bethlehem a long time ago. Here is another one of my favorite baby tales, this one from September 5, 2007.

I don't know much about babies except for being one at some point in my life but I spend enough time with kids to know they have influence beyond their size and years. Did you catch the story in Florida last week? A four year old girl named Zoe Byler was an only child and told her parents of her wish to have a brother or sister. Zoe's folks, Karoline and Ben, deemed it a reasonable request. Karoline, facing some medical issues, took fertility drugs and got pregnant, really pregnant. Last week, the twenty-nine year old gave birth to sextuplets, five boys and one girl, delivered at twenty-nine weeks. The sextuplets are the first recorded case in Florida history and each baby appears to have an excellent chance for survival. Wow: some wishes do come true! And you can trace it all back to a four year old.

 My classes have been discussing the miraculous births of John the Baptist and Jesus. We talked about the reaction of the mothers, one too old and one too single according to the norms of nature and the culture. Elizabeth rejoiced when pregnant with John the Baptist, elated that her barren condition and her disgrace had been removed. Mary, alarmed at the sight of the angel Gabriel, was terrified at first and then wondered how a virgin could have a child. I brought up some issues the Bylers will face with six premature babies arriving in one delivery, primarily the unbelievable costs that will be incurred over the next several decades. I asked whether those issues disappeared when that mother held those precious babies in her arms. My guess is she saw her DNA and not dollar signs, her future generations and not the worry of affordability. Babies change families and babies change history. What would the world be without John the Baptist and his cousin, the Prince of Peace? And six little ones in Florida owe their lives to their not-yet-big sister. Oh, baby!

Applicable quote of the day:
"Babies are always more trouble than you thought- and more wonderful."
Charles Osgood
 


To listen to one of the greatest pop songs ever, Dusty Springfield sing Wishin' and Hopin' click below!
http://youtu.be/gAdTsAKvVTU

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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