Our youngest Ellery will be five this summer. Her birthday is not only a celebration of her life but it also triggers so many memories and reminders of God’s faithfulness to our family. On June 29, 2017 our family rushed to pack up the rest of our house in Monee, Illinois and drive back home to Michigan for the last time. Time had run out on our original plan of having a home birth in Illinois so plan C was quickly created and in process. We drove away from our house that night in our minivan stuffed with as much as we could fit. I said my last goodbye and a weight literally lifted from my body.
Living and serving in Illinois was a huge growing pain. We had never lived far from family and friends or in a completely unfamiliar place before. It really stretched us and at the same time brought our little family unit of four closer together.
While in Illinois, God was so good to shape and mold us into image bearers that submitted to authority while leading from a place of humility and not entitlement. Dan and I have said o v e r and o v e r again that we would not be who we are today nor would we have been ready to serve at Connection Church had we not first served in Illinois. Thank you Lord.
After about a year, it was mutually decided that the best way to more forward would be to do so separately. When Dan came home to my 6 month pregnant self and told me we were jobless I was feeling all the feelings. It did not take us long to get a grip and really believe that this was truly for the best. Don’t get me wrong, our hearts were broken, really, really broken. We felt rejected, not good enough and very lost; all things that were NOT true but we allowed ourselves to feel them. We went to the Lord in complete honesty and grieved together with God.
The period of waiting for our baby to be born was strenuous but such a gift. We found a new church and crashed into the presence of the Holy Spirit so hard. He wrecked us every time. God showered us with His affection there and His presence was a healing salve to our souls. God beckoned us with tender love and we were being crushed. He was pressing out the new wine that was ready to come forth now in this hiding place. We had been ripened enough and it was time.
After 14 weeks of waiting we packed up as much as we could and left for Michigan. We were on the road in the middle of a thunderstorm, in traffic and construction without fully functioning windshield wipers! It seriously was one of the scariest experiences ever but we made it home after 1am and went to bed. The next morning at 7 a.m. my contractions started. A couple hours after dinner I decided I should see how far apart my contractions were but before I got the chance, POP. My water broke and our baby was coming so we got in the van with my mother in-love and rushed to the ABC unit in Southfield (45 minutes from Howell). We made it as far as Providence Park in Novi and 45 minutes later, after the most painful delivery I’ve ever had, all 10 lbs., 4 oz. and 22 inches of our beautiful Ellery Rhodes was born. I guess she was determined to be a Michigan baby and held out until the day we came home. We were thankful, we were relieved.
Rushing to Michigan the way we did was a huge act of faith and God was so sweet to confirm we had heard right. One of our doctors that came in to check on me the next morning was named Dr. Rhoda. Why is this significant? One of my favorite sermons we heard in Illinois during our waiting period had been on a story about Peter from Acts 12. During one of Peter's imprisonments, a group of Christians were gathered in a home praying for his release. They were interceding and asking God for a miracle. Well, a miracle is just what they got. Peter was released by an angel and his first stop was to this house where his friends were praying. When Peter knocked on the door a servant named Rhoda merely heard his voice and was overjoyed, celebrating God’s miracle. She ran to tell everyone in the home to come because Peter was at the door! Here’s the thing though, no one believed her. They brushed her off, called her crazy and told her it must just be his angel. I mean come on! The very thing they are gathered to intercede for had been answered but they DID NOT BELIEVE! The knocking at the door persisted so finally the group got up to answer and that’s when they saw, that yes, it was really Peter and FINALLY, they believed!
When Dr. Rhoda walked though our door and introduced herself to us the morning after Ellery was born I knew we had made the right decision. I knew that we had heard right and believed, even before seeing and knowing that it would all work out the way it needed to. Guys, God is so sweet to give us little or big gifts like this. It meant the world to me and I’m thankful I was paying attention enough to notice what Jesus was communicating to us.