“We don’t know what’s wrong with her. All we know is that she has a low blood count.” That was the statement of my newborn baby girl’s pediatrician.

I thought back to her birth a few hours earlier. The labor was extremely painful and quick. More concerning, she didn’t cry out after entering the world. The delivery room was silent. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I knew the doctor–who had actually missed the delivery–and the attending nurse were working valiantly on my baby. All I could do was wait. I had to trust the medical community to care for my babe.

I had just been up the mountain of a rapid and painful labor. I wondered as I labored how long I could take the pain. But of course, just like other mothers, we endure. We get through it. Now I needed a different strength. That of waiting. To sit still. And pray. The labor had used all of my strength, and now, I needed to wait for God’s strength, The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory (Exodus 15:2 NLT). 

Finally, after twelve hours or so, they figured out why she didn’t breathe upon birth. She’d lost a huge amount of blood. Once they gave her a hefty blood transfusion, she was better. “We’re not sure if there will be brain damage, but her Apgar (a test to assess the health of a newborn) score is good,” they told me. She was born on an early Tuesday morning and it was Thursday evening before I got to hold my baby girl. What a precious time that was! The time of waiting was over. She was in my arms, safe.

They called her a miracle baby.

I am so grateful those fifty-one years ago, yesterday, June 27, when my baby was saved from certain death, to life with us.

Home at last! Erika Ann, six days old.

She’s all grown up now. Competent. A mother of four who are all nearly grown up and out of the home. A director of a learning center, podcaster, wife extraordinaire.

Erika with daughter Emily at Emily’s graduation, June, 2024.

But I’ll not forget that frightening time where all I could do was wait. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God (2 Corinthians 3:5).

Sometimes we have to wait. It might be easier to do something instead of waiting. Yet, that’s all we can do.

What are you waiting for today? For your health to improve? A medical test result? A job to open up? A child who is very sick and you’re not sure they’ll be alright? Or, has your child rejected your faith and trust in God? It often takes more strength to wait than to do something.

There have been other days where all I could do was wait. Wait for a husband to get better. A job that I needed desperately. A wayward child to come home. It takes strength to wait. Don’t do it by yourself. Ask the Savior, Jesus, to help you wait. He’s there, right beside you, even though sometimes it doesn’t feel like he is.

Please take the time to listen to this song.

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