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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

God meant it for good--Clark's birth



10:51 p.m. Today's project was to congratulate our son Kriss and his wife Marisela on the birth of their first son, Clark Alexander, a strapping 8 lbs 11 oz., born 9 p.m. in Long Beach!

Ironically, I didn't have my phone on me when I left to lead the Heart to Home class for the evening at church. (That never happens)! When I arrived home about 8:30 p.m. and picked up the text message from 2 hours earlier, that Marisela's water broke and she was already at 6 centimeters, I replied that I'd need to wait for a caregiver and come on down. But by 9 p.m, Clark was born! With all the after-birth treatments and procedures, even her mom, who lives locally to them, had to wait to get see the baby.

So I'll go tomorrow early afternoon, with my daughter Heather who also, if you can believe it, left HER phone at home! We both had planned to be present for the birth...

More interesting irony tonight, or what I like to call "God-things." I am reminded of Genesis Chapter 45 and how Joseph, now ruler in Egypt and the one who saved his people from famine, had revealed himself to the older brothers who sold him into slavery as a teenager. After the death of Jacob their father, there was fear that powerful Joseph would take revenge.  But Genesis 50:20 contains some of the sweetest words in scripture:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good...

What's the connection?

Kriss had asked for the day before Clark's due date (March 31) and the week after, off  work, so he could be home with his wife and baby. But mistakenly, the scheduler had him off this week! So they've been walking and walking Marisela, hoping to start her in labor this week. And bless God, Clark arrived at the beginning of the week, with plenty of vacation week left for Kriss!

So God worked a careless scheduling "mistake" into His perfect plan for Kriss, Marisela and Clark. There are no mistakes, no scrambling for solutions with God--He never says, "Oops! What'll I do now?" 

Known only to Jesus, this was Clark's day to be born. And let us declare above all, when we think of March 27, 2012:

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE; LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.  




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