"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3-5

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Introducing Noah





Noah is the first of our two little miracle boys, and is simply the sweetest four year old boy in the whole world (completely unbiased opinion of course!)  God’s fingerprints are all over Noah’s life, right from the very beginning, defying the doctors’ assessment that I would never be able to have any more children.  He came after the hardest, most painful, but most beautifully profound time in our marriage—a precious gift to remind us of what God’s vision is for our relationship, with each other and with Him.  In many ways, we felt like we were starting all over, even though he is our fourth child.  We had given away all of our baby and toddler gear, and we were no longer in the “little” years with our older three children.  Everyone was out of diapers, sleeping through the night, walking, talking, reading, feeding themselves, etc.  But we knew how quickly those little years had flown by, how precious they were, and we were overjoyed with the chance to experience that again with our little miracle baby.  Addison was especially excited to have a little sibling, a real life little baby doll to love. 

As we mentioned in our previous updates, we had originally thought that Noah was going to be a girl.  We had so clearly heard the Lord speak of a daughter whose name was to be Rose, and so we were lost as to what this sweet little boy’s name was to be.  We began praying, asking God to reveal his name to us in some clear and definite way.  Noah was the first of many names that came to us, but we never felt certain any of them were “the one”.  We were still completely unsure of his name as we drove to the hospital for delivery, and during the 24 hours of active labor it took to get him here.  But once he was born, we immediately knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that his name was Noah.  In the last trimester of my pregnancy, I was diagnosed with polyhydramnios, which means there was a lot of excess amniotic fluid in his sac.  As he was born, a nurse exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, he came with a flood!”  And thus sayeth the Lord, his name shall be Noah. 😊

Shortly after he was born, God used Noah to defy medical science once again.  The doctor told us that his cord had been tied in four separate knots, one of them being a double knot.  Every single nurse on the floor had to come by our room to see it, and to meet the little boy that was born perfectly healthy despite having four separate chances of being deprived of all oxygen and nutrients in utero.  Everyone told us how fortunate we were, and that he truly was a miracle.  Once nurse said, “God must have great plans for this little boy!”  We couldn’t agree more!


The name Noah comes from a Hebrew word meaning comfort and rest.  The sense of pure joy and comfort that Noah brings is indescribable.  I can’t say that I have ever felt more at peace than I did during those first precious days with him as a tiny little baby resting on my chest.  He brings a smile to everyone he meets.  There is just something about him—he’s magnetic, inviting, and so incredibly lovable.  From day one, he has been extremely expressive; it has never been hard to know exactly how he is feeling.  We used to have so much fun coming up with captions for all his little expressions when he was a baby, before he could talk and put words to them for himself (which he is quite adept at, sometimes too adept!!)  He was slow to speak, which was concerning initially.  But we soon realized that the reason he was slow to speak was because his mind was going so fast, observing all that was going on around him and absorbing every last drop of it.  His mouth couldn’t get the words out fast enough to keep up with his mind.  That is still the case even now.  Sometimes it takes him a little while to get a sentence out, because his mind is thinking ten steps ahead of the where the words are in his mouth.  Nothing gets past this kid--including things like Mommy's chipped nail polish on one measly little toe for example!😆  He is so smart, so observant, and incredibly attuned to other people’s emotions.  He is relational to his very core.  He loves big, thinks big, feels big, and expresses big.  We are just so blessed to get to be Noah's Momma and Daddy.



His little years have indeed flown by, faster than ever.  But this time around we knew to cherish every single second of it.  We treasured every single baby snuggle, even the ones that came in the middle of those unending sleepless nights.  We would be absolutely exhausted, but we knew that that phase would pass, and that all those countless midnight snuggles were nothing less than an opportunity to spend one more moment with our sweet baby.  Now that those moments are behind us, we are so very glad that we had them.  We delight in him every single day, and we absolutely cannot wait to see what God has in store for his life.  No matter what he grows up to be, we know one thing for sure—Noah will greatly impact all those around him with the bright reflection of God that radiates from deep within him. 



Noah has the same gift with horses that Addison does.  They all gravitate towards him, and seem to be at such ease in his presence.  He loves with such a pure heart, and I firmly believe that animals can sense that.  They know they are safe with him.  They know they can trust him.  It’s amazing to watch this little guy move in that gifting from such a young age.




With much love, and a very grateful Momma's heart,
Ashley

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