Stubbornness runs in my family–even my in-laws are hardheaded. But I thought I was the most stubborn of all of us until Stacy, my son Brett’s wife, was pregnant with their fourth child.
Everything went smoothly for the first few months. Then Stacy learned the baby was in the breech position–upside down.
“That means I’ll need a C-section,” Stacy told me. “With three other children to take care of, plus the new baby, I can’t afford the recovery time of surgery.”
The whole family got down to praying for the baby to flip over. But wouldn’t you know, my new grandson was just as stubborn as we were. He remained upside down no matter what Stacy did.
“I’ve tried everything,” she told me as her due date drew near. “I had acupuncture–that made the baby wiggle, but not turn. I did handstands in the pool at the health club–I wish you’d been there to see that! Two doctors spent an hour pushing on my belly, trying to turn him. But he’s just not moving.”
Time was running out. My daily prayers of Lord, flip that baby! weren’t doing any good. Even my stubborn nature had its limits.
So a couple of days before Stacy was scheduled for surgery, I stopped praying for the baby to turn and started praying for Stacy to have an easy recovery from her Cesarean section.
“Are you ready for your surgery?” I asked Stacy the night before she was scheduled to go to the hospital.
“No,” she admitted. “I’m still praying the baby will turn around.”
Stubborn, I thought. Guess I’ll have to pray for the C-section by myself. Which I did all the next day while Stacy was at the hospital. That afternoon Brett called.
“Is the surgery over? Did it go well?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “The baby turned. Now we’re waiting for Stacy’s labor to start!”
It looked like Stacy got the prize for the most stubborn in the family. But stubborn faith is the best faith of all.
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