It's A Boy!

Yesterday I received a call from my son Chet. Earlier that day, he received the call that he and his wife, Phyllis, have anxiously anticipated for some time. China approved his and his wife's application for a child, and if all goes well they will go to China on December 1 to pick him up.

And we are all so excited! Chet and Phyllis have been married 12 1/2 years. They love children. She teaches junior high school at a local Christian School. Chet is associate pastor of the church where we are members and they head up the King's Kids Program on Wednesday nights. They also do children's church on Sunday mornings.

For years we have all prayed that God would bless them with a baby. But sometimes God opens doors in ways that we do not expect.

Back in July they received a message about a little boy who had a cleft lip and a cleft palate. The lip had been repaired, but he would probably need two more surgeries to correct the palate. Chet and Phyllis were on it right away and they were locked in to get this little boy, once China approved them.

When they filed the papers in July, they were told that it would take four to six months to get approval from China, and then it would be two to three more months before they could go and get him. So they figured it would be around March before they got their new son.

Enter God--an amazing, awesome God and His answer to our prayers.

Our family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. My husband and I were both reared in families who observed Christmas at this time, and we carried on the tradition with our own family. Chet and Phyllis always come armed with presents for their nephews and nieces. They smile and they are happy to celebrate Jesus' birth, but I could always tell by the emptiness in their eyes that there was a longing in their hearts to have a child of their own. After last Christmas, I began to pray that God would give them a child by this Christmas. Don began to join me in that particular prayer. We knew it would take little short of a miracle for them to get a child that quickly. But we prayed...and prayed...and prayed. During this time, Phyllis told me that her mother was praying that they would get their child by Christmas. I was so surprised to hear that she, too, was praying the same way we were. And God listened to three longing grandparents!

I asked God that China would approve them by the end of October. Prayer answered! I still continued to pray that they would have him by Christmas. If nothing else, they could spend Christmas with him in China and then when they got back, we could all celebrate a late Christmas.

But God is so good! He completely and amazingly answered our prayer. Little Matthew (or Phillip) or whatever name they have settled on, will be in his new home by the middle of December.

This Christmas Eve I look forward to seeing Chet and Phyllis walk though the door of our home with their child. I can see them now, their faces all aglow and their hearts overflowing with love. Thank you Jesus for this wonderful gift!