Our Sweet Zeke

Psalm 127:3 says: Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward!

Oh, how true that rings in my soul. My sweet pumpkin turned 1 just a week ago!

What a gift! God is so good.

I cannot put into words all the joy contained in my heart from this one precious gift. I can express that God has done so much good in A and I's life because of Zeke. Starting from the first moment we saw him up to this very day.

The picture above is Zeke's first hours. I was induced one week early because my blood pressure kept going up. I think it was white coat syndrome! But I had to trust God that the doctors knew what they were doing. I was nervous and had asked many to pray. Zeke is our first baby so of course I had no clue what to expect in child birth! I was so worried that I was going to have an anxiety attack or something! No wonder God asks us to cast all of our anxieties on Him, there is no way we can handle life on our own. The proof is in the pudding as they say, my mom said I was the most calm person she has ever seen in labor-now that is all God!!

Right after Zeke was born they were working on him, he had a good cry but the nurse later explained it was almost as if he had a look on his face like he was drowning! He had swallowed fluid on his way out, so therefore was not able to breathe so well. He was taken to the NICU right away and hooked up too all those tubes you see.

Zeke's full name is Ezekiel Charles Rex. Ezekiel is a biblical name that means "strength of God". Before Zeke was born A and I listened to John Piper talk about how you should really pray about what you name your children. How amazing that God put that talk in our midst! Ezekiel was and is the perfect name for him. We really needed God's strength those first days, and so did Zeke. And once again for the millionth plus time God was faithful!

We still need God's strength daily. Being young parents is a hard task, and definitely one we cannot do on our own. Zeke's name is always a great reminder of this! God has so kindly taught us about His fatherhood and ho much He loves us through Zeke. When I think of how much I love Zeke, I am overwhelmed that God loves us so much more than even that!!

Isn't it crazy how deep our need is to have parental love. How deeply our lives are affected by it-or the lack thereof. Nobody has the "perfect" parent. Nor do A or I think we will attain this status. Some of us don't even have living parents, or ones who are present in our lives. That is why I stand in further amazement of God's Fatherly role in my life and His desires to fufill a maternal role as well. We all have this need and it can truly be met by God alone. Have you rested in your Heavenly Fathers arms lately? Experienced the love He has for you as His child? Did you know He desires to be your Father, a perfect Father?! Ask Him, He will show you His faithful love. Look to the Cross where Jesus hung, stripped and naked, and beaten to bring us to our Heavenly Father.

Oh thank you Lord for all your wondrous gifts.