Changes on the Homefront

The due date countdown: 43 days!  Baby Susannah will be here before we know it, which means the following things are going on in the Acker house:

• Extreme deep cleaning
• Waddling, lots of waddling
• Installation of safety outlets - 43, to be exact... apparently the previous owners never wanted to use extension cords.  We would have gladly just bought those el cheapo outlet plugs, but ALL outlet and light switch covers had been painted over, so poor Pete has been replacing ALL of them.
• Baby furniture painting and assembly, along with multiple rearrangements
• Pete having to help heave me up from sitting, lying, squatting, kneeling, etc.  
• Crying at the drop of a hat (me, not Pete... that I know of anyway)

...Among other things.  It becomes more of a reality everyday that we will have a third body to care for very soon - a month and a half, give or take a few days, Lord willing.  I have been holding Matthew 6:34 close to my heart as we draw near to the big day with great anticipation: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself."  The enemy would love for me to dwell on all the things that could potentially go wrong over the next few days, months, and years.  I could very easily give into all those anxious concerns about what life will hold for us as parents or, more importantly, what life will hold for our sweet baby girl.  Nobody wants that, but all - yes, all - pregnancy books address these concerns because it is SUCH a common thing for expectant mothers.

Thankfully, the Lord has reminded me over and over again that He has every detail of our future already worked out, so there's no need for my worrying.  One recent reminder came last Sunday at church.  We sang the well-known hymn "Because He Lives" just before the sermon, and I could hardly sing because of the emotion that was overtaking me.  I know verse 1 and the chorus like the back of my hand because this was a benediction favorite of my parents' church, where I grew up going.  But verse 2...oh my.  I don't believe I ever remember singing it before:

How sweet to hold

A newborn baby,

And feel the pride

And joy he gives.

But greater still

The calm assurance:

This child can face

Uncertain days

Because He lives!

Granted, any song, story, or sentence that has the word "baby" or "Jesus" (or "it," or "the"...) in it makes me cry these days, but what truth!  Praise the Lord: I can rest assured that Susannah is under the protection of Jesus - a protection much stronger and more reliable than what Pete or I could ever give her - as she faces each and every new day.  We will still change our electrical outlets, buy a crib and carseat that meets safety regulations, not leave knives laying around on the floor... and all that other stuff that's probably in her best interest; our prayer, though, is that we can cling to the truth of God's sovereignty, knowing that we are just vessels of His protection for her and that she is ours on loan from the Father.  Praise Him for entrusting us with that responsibility, and we can ALL face uncertain days because He lives!