Our Easter!

Our "Easter" is 15 weeks old today, and we are all in love with our miracle, our third Phelan munchkin - Virginia Grace. We're bringing the Southern tradition of double names to So Cal. We named her "Virginia" because we love Virginia the state and the University and because we long for her to be "pure" as her name means. We named her "Grace" because we pray she will know the grace of Jesus all the days of her life and be a lady of grace. Also, my best childhood friend, Kate, has "Grace" as her middle name, so we hope our VG takes after her. Virginia Grace has been such a peaceful, laid back baby and a great source of joy for all of us that love her, especially Protective Big Brother Ford and Proud, Not-always-gentle Sister Milly.

It has been quite a while since my last post. There are many reasons for that:

• Two little tornadoes tearing through our house, leaving trails of dirt and sand and crayon tips and hairy Play Doh and Lincoln logs that feel great on your bare feet
• My big belly filled with "Easter" that made it difficult for me to even reach the keyboard
• The busyness and excitement of our "other baby," a.k.a Harbor Church
• But mostly, the dark season of depression that I walked through for the last 5 months of my pregnancy. It was a valley, to say the least, but He "was WITH me" and brought me "THROUGH the valley." ~ Psalm 23 It sure is great to be on the other side of the valley; but I can truly say that I am thankful for all that God so tenderly gave me in the valley, for all that He did in me and in our marriage in the valley, and for His power displayed in His deliverance from the valley.

Deliverance always follows the pain, just as a precious child is delivered after the intense labor of childbirth. It's so worth it, yet so hard. Our "Easter" was delivered on January 2, 2010. What a glorious moment. I decided to go for "natural childbirth", and I am so glad that I did. Sounds crazy, but the natural labor pains made the delivery all the more glorious in a strange way, just as my depression has made the miraculous gift of our "Easter" more gracious to me. I was so worried during my depression that I was going to cause "Easter" to be a sad baby in some way. She is quite the opposite. She is JOY all over. What a picture of God's abundant, undeserved grace. Soon after I came through the depression, I was put on bed rest for high blood pressure, about 3 weeks before my due date. That actually was quite a precious time that the Lord provided for me to rest in His care and in the care of my dear husband and sweet mom, a time for me to learn to receive from my amazing friends while not being able to give anything back in return, and a time for me to ponder the season of Advent. The word Advent means "coming." I saw God "coming" to me in so many ways:

• He CAME to me in early December and lifted me miraculously from the pit of depression. Psalm 61:2 captures the desperation I felt. "From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." God showed up, as always, and He used weekly counseling; crying out in anguish; weeping with my amazing husband; giving up on my own self-effort and giving in to His good arms; relying on faithful friends; admitting my great weakness and my real fears; others' prayers for me; the solid, reliable Word of God; friends cooking for me and taking me to Old Navy to buy staple clothes for Ford and Milly; and many other avenues, to heal me and to "lift me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." ~Psalm 40:2
  
• He CAME to me in the bed rest and whispered tender words of His care for me. He gently fathered me and nurtured my weary soul, preparing me to climb the mountain of childbirth. I had the gift of much-needed time to ponder, as Mary did. Bed rest was like the schooling I needed to better learn the skill of receiving and resting. I'm grateful that I got to be a student at that school.
  
• Most amazingly, He CAME to me in the form of a helpless baby in order to set me free and to give me life. As Tim Keller says, "God became SOFT at Christmas." Our Virginia Grace is so soft, and she points me to Jesus, who loved me enough to become a lowly, soft infant so that I might live FOREVER with Him in my rich, true Home.
  
• He CAME to the Phelan Phamily through the astounding gift of our Easter's "wonderfully made" life. Our Easter holiday was one to remember. What a picture of new life and grace our little "Easter" gave us.
  
• He COMES to us daily with grace upon grace.
• And, He IS COMING again one day to make all things right!

I long for that glorious Day.