Submission

After my post about a week ago about the book "Feminine Appeal" and discussing what it says about the beauty of submission, God allowed me to experience this first hand.

A very, very dear friend of mine gave birth to her 5th child last Saturday. It was at that time that they found out that this sweet baby has downes syndrome. While they welcome and adore him, there was naturally a time of adjustment to this news. She called me to share this with me 3 hours after his birth and was, of course, very emotional. My first instinct - let's go see her. (She lives about an hour and a half away.) My husband told me that he thought we should give them a day to adjust to the idea by themselves and then, if it's a blessing to them, go the next day. To be honest, I was very frustrated by his advice. My friend was hurting and I wanted to hug her. (Notice the focus on me - not what's best for her but what I want to do that will make me feel better.) I literally spent half the day in a daze, pacing my house, crying - not sure what I should be doing - but in lots of prayer the whole time. Finally I was able to talk with her on Sunday and found out that my husbands advice was really the best thing to do. (She was doing better and praising God that the baby had no heart defects, as some downes babies do.) My friend, of course, really wanted prayer but the baby ended up in NICU Saturday (having a hard time stabalizing his temp and eating). She was very emotional, tired, and pumping all day Saturday and, while she was thankful for the thought and prayers of those who visited, really wanted some down time to rest, pray, adjust. It turns out that listening to my husband's advice truly was the best course of action. (I'm so thankful that, while I'm very influenced by my emotions, he's steady as a rock and thinks things through.)

Update on my dear friend and her newest little one - he's still in NICU but was eating better yesterday - praise the Lord.