The Beginning

We had to tell our moms first. This is the first grandchild for both sides, and both had been waiting more than 30 years for this event. Needless to say, they were both pumped and ready for the reveal party that night.

We first drove to my mother’s house, figuring she would be home at that time of the day. My dad was at work, so it was just the two of us and my mom. We had made a list of the four main things the specialist had mentioned, so when my mom asked through a big smile how it went with the doctor, we showed her that list. “Well, here are our prayer requests for Baby J.”

My mom has been an RN for longer than I’ve been alive, and even was a pediatric nurse for a few years around the time she was pregnant with me, so she knew all too well what the terms in front of her face meant. Without wasting another second, she pulled both of us in towards her and prayed over us. My mom’s tears are extremely contagious, so there wasn’t a dry eye between the three of us.

After a long chat with my mom, a phone call with my sister who lives out of state, and more tears with both of them we headed over to Jacky’s mom’s house. Jacky shared with her mother and sister the same news, and it was followed with the same prayer and the same tears.

After both dads got off work, we all got together and had the first prayer meeting we’ve had in the six years we’ve been married where both sides came together for the sole purpose of lifting our voice as one to the Lord. To this day, it has been one of the single most important events in my entire life.

Within the course of only a few hours, our world was turned upside down then right-side up. Before our shock could even wear off into worry and pain, the peace and joy of the Lord filled us up in the most inexplicable way. We didn’t know any better what to do next or what was in store for Baby J, but we were moving forward knowing that God had things under control and that we just had to trust Him. We knew we had the support of our family to help us stand up when we felt like falling down. We felt so blessed to be in a family that all knew the Lord and understood His power and His might and His love.

That was May 14, 2013, the first day of the rest of our journey.