This article was originally published in November of 2015 as part of my Autobiography With Purpose series. I wanted to reprise it today in celebration of my birthday. May it cause you to praise God for His grace and sovereignty.
She suffered two miscarriages, and then her son was stillborn. As soon as she knew she was pregnant with me, Mom obeyed the doctor’s orders by staying in bed–flat on her back–during the entire pregnancy.
When I still hadn’t arrived by the tenth month, Mom found little humor in a friend’s comment: “I thought only elephants gestated this long!” My mother, usually a stickler for proper etiquette, retorted, “Oh shut up!” as she slammed down the phone. She felt frustrated and undoubtedly fearful. At age 37, she had little time left for her dream of being a mother to come true.
But my September 30, 1953 arrival, a full month after the due-date, failed to be the joyous occasion my parents had expected. Because I weighed only five pounds and had extreme jaundice, the doctors immediately whisked me away to an incubator. I remained in the incubator for a month, during which time the doctors urged my mom to put me in an institution and forget she ever had me. They explained that I’d be little more than a vegetable, and faced a life of severe physical and intellectual disability.
My parents brought me home.
As I look back on the history of my birth, I admire the courage and determination of both my parents, and especially my mom. They were both from Christian Science backgrounds (and attended a liberal Presbyterian church once my little sister came to complete our family), so I suppose their faith was in their love for me. And I certainly praise the Lord for blessing me with parents (particularly a mom) who refused to accept the predictions and advice of medical “experts.”
Obviously, even at my conception, God worked sovereignly in my life, showing that He had His plans and purposes to glorify Himself through me. Of course He won’t change the world through me, but He has use for me in His kingdom that I’ll understand one day. Meanwhile, His protection of me during Mom’s pregnancy and the first month of my life reminds me of Psalm 139:13-16:
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. (ESV)
The Lord blessed me with parents who wanted me. He used their tenacity in the face of hopelessness to make sure I had a life that would lead me to Him.
The Outspoken TULIP 
Sister, do you mind if I share that series as my Wednesday Testimony this week? I think it will greatly bless my readers.
Also, happy birthday dear sister!
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As long as you link to my blog, I’d be delighted. Thank you For thinking of me.
And yes, it was a wonderful day in Boston. We stumbled on an apartment building built on a site of Boston’s second Puritan church. Both Cotton and Increase Mathers preach there! Talk about exciting!
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What? Wow! That’s amazing! I can’t believe those kind of buildings are still standing. I’m surprised it wasn’t a museum.
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The original building was razed during the Revolutionary War. The current building was built much later, so there’s just as a plaque on it explaining the history. But Paul Revere’s house is steps away, and it dates back to the mid 1600s. It’s the oldest house in Boston.
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Debbie, what a blessing you are! Soli Deo Gloria!
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Happy Birthday🎂. Hope you had a blessed one! I will read your article in a little bit. I’m just going to my consumers now, thank you😘😊. I had sent a happy birthday to John and was wondering if he got it. God bless you both❤️❤️
Sent from my iPhone
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He did. Thanks.
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