Every Moment Holy
“Take off your sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground.”
Exodus 3:5 (NIV)
Last January I had the privilege of leading a Red Sea Rules women’s retreat in another city. Prior to our opening session my host sent a young mom into the conference room to assist with the sound and technology setup. As we worked together, we chatted, and she asked how I was doing after James Bruce’s death. We talked about grief and how it comes in waves, but never really leaves you. Some days, nights, and seasons are easier than others. February is my hardest month since James Bruce was both born and died in February.
At one point the young mom stated, “There are different kinds of grief.” As we talked it was obvious that hers was the grief of infertility and a long adoption wait.
“I want to tell you about my two miracles,” she said.
By then women were filing into the conference room for the opening session. Over the course of the weekend “M” shared her adoption story by saying, “God dropped both my boys into my lap.”
A Christian Labor & Delivery nurse at a local hospital, aware of the young couple’s plight, assisted a new birth mom, who at the last minute, decided to place her newborn child up for adoption. The nurse told her patient about the young couple who had been waiting for a baby and were current with their adoption agency’s home studies, case files, and paperwork. They were just waiting for God to provide a child for them to love and care for. God graciously used this kind nurse to providentially provide, not one, but two sons in the exact same manner.
“I am going to pray for you and your family that God gives your son and his wife a child.”
I thanked and hugged her, touched by her kindness. The women’s conference ended and I returned home.
About a week later a package arrived in the mail. I didn’t recall ordering anything, but when I opened the package, a beautiful book, Every Moment Holy, Volume II was nestled inside the box. Page 175 was marked with a red ribbon. It was a liturgical prayer for the loss of a child. The prayer begins and ends with “sometimes there are no words.” I skimmed the prayer but was mainly struck by the book’s title and my new friend’s kindness.
Six weeks later my son and his wife matched to our granddaughter. Eight weeks later Birdie James was born and our grief turned to joy! Her adoption was finalized in August.
Last week as our family gathered to exchange Christmas gifts, we formed a circle to pray. My eyes suddenly fell on the Every Moment Holy book lying on my coffee table. This moment was holy as 13-year-old Julia read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and we lit our Advent candles.
I asked each family member to share one thing that he or she were thankful for from this last year. Birdie James represented our family’s collective “Thank you!” But there were a couple of others that stood out as six-year-old Mary Clayton was grateful for her new eyeglasses exclaiming, “I can see!” And our youngest son totally unglued me when he quickly responded, “a baby boy!” He and his wife are expecting our first grandson in early June.
Every Moment Holy, adoption into a family, and a baby boy were my big takeaways from this Christmas season. Just because a moment is holy doesn’t mean it can’t also be hard. Mary’s labor in a barn was anything but a silent night. Infertility and the loss of a beloved child are also hard things. But for years I have prayed Hebrews 13:21 “that he (God) would work in us that which is pleasing to him” as our family’s life prayer. I have no right to pray that prayer and then tell God how to work in my children’s lives. Or more importantly, how to work in me!
All those in Christ have been adopted into God’s family because a baby boy was born to live a perfect life and die a sinner’s death on a cross. Writing to the Galatians Paul says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
(Galatians 4:4-5).
Every moment holy is only possible because Immanuel, God, is with us!