The Two Phone Calls

Several months ago my baby sister Emily called me to give me some news. This news was hard and for a long time was a secret that burdened my heart. I remember clearly the day my mom gave me my little sister. (Seriously I thought she was a present for me) I got all dressed up so I could meet her. She was so tiny and I was so proud. I tried to teach her everything I knew from the alphabet and forward rolls. All before she was ready. We shared a room and I loved it. We grew up. Emily was joyful and like me she was sensitive. Like all sisters we hit some bumps in the road. But I took my responsibility of being the big sister seriously. God hears my prayers for her. I'm sure He finds humor in how I think I know what is best for my baby sister.

This phone call was no different. She called to tell me she was pregnant. I had to process this news before I could respond to her in love. Panic hit me hard. I worried she wasn't healthy enough. I worried about what people would think of this young unmarried mother. I was worried about what people would say to her and how rude people would treat her. I worried about her finishing school. I worried about her getting sick like me and not having an "Adam" to care for her. My heart broke that she wouldn't experience the joy of becoming a mother in the same way that I did. It will be more stressful and more painful and I was worried how she would handle it.

In the months since that phone call I have struggled over how to support Emy in the way that she needs. I gave up "some" of my worries. But I continue ask for God's guidance to know when and how to defend her in the face of the rudeness of others, how to support her as she struggles of the consequences of her choices and how to celebrate this new life she is gifting us with. I have asked God to help me fall in love with this little gift from my sweet baby sister. She and I haven't always done things in the same way but we have always loved each other. And I want to extend that to her child. I have tried really hard to get excited but I found myself still struggling with the heaviness of the situation.

That changed today. Emily called me this morning. Her joy was vibrating through the phone and it was totally contagious. Her little baby is a boy. He is Alexander Cole Key. And he is healthy. And immediately this little baby I was so worried about became a boy pushing trucks and buses down my mom's hall with Noah, a boy playing catch in the yard and wrestling with Charlie. And then I saw him in my arms and I felt the love I have been longing to feel. I love Xander and I can't wait to meet him. And feed him sugar behind his mom's back like Jenny does with Noah. And change his stinky diapers like Emy does for Noah. I'm already getting things monogrammed!!

Please keep Emily in your prayers. She has a cyst on her temporal lobe that causes seizures (not the body shaking kind but the kind where her brain sends mixed signals and she can't communicate) that are followed by terrible headaches. She can't take her medicine right now, they are trying to figure out some treatment that will be okay for Xander.

A prayer for Xander and Emy:
I am so excited for this new life! Thank you Father for giving me the love I needed for the baby and for Emily. Thank you that my tears today are tears of joy! She has a hard road ahead but I am thankful You are there to guide her. Thank you for all the qualities in Emily that will make her an amazing mother. She has always had a mommy's heart. Thank you for a healthy boy. Continue to form him in your image. Remind us all what a miracle life is. Help us all model your love for Xander and Emily! Amen!