Tomorrow is March 15th. A pretty regular day for most of the world. However, 18 years ago, something happened in our lives that has proved to be an amazing blessing. Our youngest daughter, Abigail, was born.
We lived in a small Northeast Iowa town at the time. It has been a while, but I remember that it was cold and there was a freezing rain or ice storm hanging around. That proved to be a complication in and of itself, because after many hours of labor, the Dr. told us that if the baby did not come, they would have to transport Pam to a nearby city. That was very unattractive to us because of the ice. So we prayed, and Pam worked double hard, and Abigail was born!
I recall that Joel had prayed for most of the time that Pam was pregnant for "his little brother." So on the 15th, I had to break the bad news to him. " Mommy had the baby... and it was a girl." All Joel could say was "Oh, bummer!"
Abigail has been anything but a bummer. She has been such a joy to our families . She demonstrates a wonderful love for people. She loves God and shows it in how she helps people and cares for them. She is fun! It seems like her friends, ( Whitney, Chelci, Erika, and others), love coming to Abigail's house to hang out. We have always been blessed with our kid's friends being here...What fun!
Abigail plans to go to Ozark Christian College in the fall. She wants to be a History Teacher, and serve God in her life. She has wanted to go to Ozark for as long as I can remember. But secretly, if she would have gotten an offer from Duke... it might have been close. She has always been a Blue Devil fan! ( I am kind of glad it came to Ozark...something about the $40,000 tuition was intimidating to me.)
Some people criticized us when we had a fourth child. We were one of the very blessed and fortunate couples who planned for our kids and were allowed to have them in our lives. But it seems like when we told people that our 4th child was coming, we got alot of looks and comments like, "Can you afford it?, Do you know what you are doing?, Have you figured out how this happens yet?"
"Large" families are looked upon in a negative light today. I don't consider our family large. I consider it to be just right. Pam always wanted 4 kids, and it has been right for us.
Let me tell you something ( in love).... "We couldn't have afforded to NOT have that child. ." I can not imagine what our lives would have been like without that bright smile, that chuckle like laugh, , and loving spirit. I am so glad that we were able to have her in our lives, and I fully believe that she will make a huge difference in many lives. She lives for God and wants to be used for Him.
Sometimes 4th kids tend to get "swallowed up" by high achieving siblings. They each cast a shadow at school, church and even in the home. But just as it happened with Joel and Lydia, when the child immediately above them moved out to go to college, the next child blossomed. This is certainly true of Abigail. What a young lady she is !
18 years... boy is that hard to believe. Just seems like yesterday that I was sitting on those steps breaking the bad news to Joel. It turned out to be the best news of the day.
Happy Birthday Abigail!
Dad
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