Valerie Rae Hanneman
Luke 2:7 a "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger" (NIV)
Because of my insurance, Fresno Community Hospital was the only place that Fawn could be born even though I lived in Madera Ranchos at the time. Knowing that I was looking at a long drive before I ever got to the hospital I did everything that I could do to be prepared for my big day. I went into Community and got all the necessary forms. I went over them with the admissions office to ensure that I had them all and that they were filled out correctly . When I left it was with the admissions office assurance that I was good to go. As my due date got closer I made sure that the nursery was clean, that I had all the little clothes my baby would need, plenty of diapers, all the paraphernalia that accompanies the birth of a child. I had my bag for the hospital packed, the car was kept full of gas. I even called the hospital to double-check that everything had been taken care of. Finally the big day arrived and I learned the meaning of the saying "best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray." Labor pains woke me up in the morning. We timed the pains and found that they were just over two minutes apart. I called my doctor’s office and was told that he was delivering another baby so they would call Community and notify him. I was to relax, walk around - and call them back with the labor pains were 5 minutes apart. "W-e-el-l-l-l". I said, "my pains are already two minutes apart." There was a bit of silence then the nurse asked, "And you are out there in the Ranchos?" When I confirmed that I was indeed in the Ranchos her urgent suggestion was that we get going to the hospital and we had better hurry. We arrived at the emergency room, expecting to be taken right up to the maternity ward, only there were two forms that had not been given to me and they weren’t admitting me until they were filled out. I sat in a wheelchair with a death grip on the handles, tensing up out of the chair every time a labor pain came while my partner worked on the forms. This little old grand motherly lady, either sensing my discomfort or getting tired of my contortions in the chair, leaned over, patted my knee and gave me her advice. "Honey, if you want to get upstairs - scream." So I did - loudly. And that lady was right, they had me in that elevator and upstairs in record time. They examined me and immediately rushed me into the delivery room. My doctor had not gotten his office’s message and he was not in the hospital. It was already too late for me to be given any pain medication- so like it or not - this was going to be a totally natural birth. (I was not thrilled). The nurses kept telling me not to push until they could get a doctor up there. (Yeah right!) Finally my doctor came rushing in and about 10 minutes later Fawn was born. After they took Fawn to the nursery they told me that, because I had been so fast, my room wasn’t ready so they were going to wheel me into a spare room until my room was ready. They left me in the room, still on that hard stretcher. An hour & a half later my partner went out to find out what was going on. He came back with an embarrassed and upset nurse. They had forgotten about me! I will tell you flat out that this day had NOT gone like I planned! But once I was in my room with my daughter in my arms - it just ceased to matter.
The birth of Jesus didn’t exactly go like Mary had planned either. In Nazareth she had all the little clothes she had hand sewn. The cradle that Joseph had built was full of soft and warm blankets to receive the Son of God. The house was kept spotlessly clean. Joseph had gotten extra water jars and they were kept filled in preparation for the birth. The midwife had been over several times to discuss the birth plans and to make sure that there were enough towels and bedding. Everything was ready in Nazareth.
Only when Mary went into labor she wasn’t in Nazareth, she was in Bethlehem - in a stable. There were no little clothes, no cradle. Just some swaddling cloths and a beat up manger that Joseph had filled with clean straw. There was no spotless house - not even a room in an inn - just this dirty little stable with the smell of manure and the buzzing of flies. The water was fresh drawn from the well in the courtyard, but there was no way to warm it up in time. There was no midwife - just animals and a husband as frightened as she was.. This was not what she had planned.
I think Mary was anxious as the birth drew closer and closer - as anxious as any first time mother is. But I don’t think she was in a panic. Mary knew that what she carried within her body was God’s child - His Son - and although things weren’t going the way she planned, she knew that she could trust God to keep things going the way that He had planned. Although she could not see what God’s plan for her and this birth was she knew that the safest place for her to be at that time was in that stable because that was where God wanted her to be.
God has the big picture of my life. He had it as he watched me grow within my mother’s womb. He knows my comings and my goings for today, for tomorrow, for 20 years from now. He doesn’t let me see to much of it in advance - probably because He knows it would scare me to death. Sometimes He doesn’t show me any of the plan even as it seems my life and my plans are going south fast. That is when I have to be like Mary and have faith in Him and His plan for me. Even as the world seems to be crumbling around me, I have to believe that I am in the safest place I can possibly be - because I am where He wants me to be.
All of us have had times like this - when things seem to be out of kilter - and God’s plan is not readily visible. The great thing about God though, is that He knows the plans He has for our lives and the plans are to prosper us and not to harm us. Trust God to know the big picture of your life. We can trust Him, even when we cannot see the plan He has.
Lord God, my life often seems to be in chaos with no plan to make it right. When I am fearful, remind me of Mary and her acceptance of Your plan for her life - even though Your plan was a stable and a manger.