Busy, Blessed Week

These little guys (from l to r.....Ismael, Leo, Bruno and Diego) spent three days living with us this week. Why?

Because Daiana had her little girl.Last Friday night Benay called me while I was in our accountability group with the guys from the chácara. She told me Daiana thought she was going into labor. Daiana had no way to get to the hospital (no car, no money for taxi or bus) and so Benay had told her a few months ago that when it was time then she was to call Benay no matter the hour. After the call Benay and Bronwyn took Daiana to the hospital, and Paulo Renato and I left our group to go to the chácara to tell Everton that his baby girl was about to be born. It was a very humbling and special thing for me to be able to see the excitement on his face while knowing that he couldn't be with his wife.

We called Isaias (our brother who runs the day to day things at the recovery center) to see if he would allow Everton to leave the next day and go to the hospital to see his new baby. He agreed and I told Everton that I would pick him up the next morning between 6:00-7:00. I went home and about an hour later Benay arrived. False alarm. Daiana went home.

The weekend was a waiting game.

Monday came and Daiana called saying her contractions were stronger. Benay and I went to pick her up and take her to the hospital. This time they kept her and told her it was time. I dropped them off and headed out to the chácara to pick up Everton. I prayed that God would allow me to get him back to the hospital so that he could see the birth of his child.

When I got to the chácara Everton greeted me with a smile. I told him it was time and we were off.

God blessed my prayer request even as we fought through lots of slow traffic and other obstacles on the way. I hate slow traffic, always have. I found myself feeling anxious in the traffic as I really wanted to get Everton there in time. Everton seemed more in tune with my prayer request than I was. I looked at him and he was very calm and sharing some really deep things about his life. It was like he knew God was blessing our drive and we would make it on time.

He was right. Everton got there about 2 hours before his little girl was born. He was in awe of the miracle that he was able to see. About 10:15 that night we began the journey back to the chácara. All he could do was praise God for allowing him to be a part of the birth.

Daiana came home Wednesday. She and the baby are doing great.

We were happy to open our home to Leo, Diego, Bruno and Ismael. They are really good boys and we had lots of good helpers while they were here. Even Giovanni helped. Our kids, as always, were great babysitters. Our sister, Leni, came over one day and made lunch and supper, colored with the boys, prayed with them, cleaned our house and was an incredible blessing to us. I think you can tell how much Anderson loves Leni. Our time this week also reminded us that we aren't quite ready to have 10 kids.

By the way, we are also blessed by the name of this new little girl. When Benay was pregnant with Giovanni and before we knew he was a boy, we both just KNEW he was a girl. We had a name picked out that we both quickly agreed on. I even came across that name in the Bible one day. Who needs more confirmation than that? Okay, so we were wrong.

But before we realized we were wrong we chose the name Cássia. We loved it and the kids loved it. It was perfect.

Daiana had only had boys and so when she found out she was having a girl she told Benay she was having trouble thinking of girls' names. She asked if Benay had any suggestions. Benay told her if Giovanni had been a girl he....okay, she.....would have been called Cássia. Next thing we know Daiana is telling everyone her baby will be called Cássia. So we get to use the name we loved on a regular basis anyway.

I guess in His way God actually was confirming this name with our family. He was just delivering it for Daiana and Everton.

Please keep praying for this family and this new little girl.