In November 2000, I was 7 months  pregnant with my second child, Eliana. I had been going to a midwife, planning to deliver at a birthing center. Because my spine is fused, I can’t get an epidural. I chose a midwife because they offer some alternative pain management that doctors don’t. However, midwives don’t deliver babies that are in breech position – head up. And Eliana was in breech position. So, two months before my due date, I had to find a doctor. Who would take me at 7 months. With a fused spine. And a breech baby.

November 2000

But it “just so happened” that my Bible Study Fellowship small group leader was married to an Obstetrician. A Christian OB who specialized in high-risk pregnancies and who was willing to take a late term patient with a fused spine.

I went to this doctor – and I was pretty nervous. This was not my plan! The first thing Dr. Blair did was put a hand on my shoulder and say, “You know what, God isn’t looking down saying, ‘Oh no! That baby is breech? What do I do?’ No way. He already knows that baby, He knows you, and He’s going to tell us what to do.”

So we talked about plans – turning the baby (ouch!), delivering feet first (ouch, ouch!), C-Section (I’d be put completely to sleep and wake up with a baby…yes, please!!). We agreed to spend a week praying, and then make a decision at the next appointment.

When I went back the next week, Dr. Blair put a hand on my stomach and just laughed. Eliana had turned. And she wasn’t a small baby. At delivery (Jan. 8), she weighed almost 9 lbs. And I had no idea she turned a complete flip that week. It shouldn’t have happened…I was too late, she was too big, there was no room. But there it was.

I didn’t get to go to sleep and wake up with a baby. But I  did learn a great lesson: Nothing surprises God. I knew that, intellectually. But I didn’t know it, experientially.

God always has a plan. And it is rarely the same as mine.

In the years since, I have learned this lesson in more ways. Sometimes – several times – the ending wasn’t nearly as happy as Eliana’s delivery. But every time, God got us through whatever unexpected situation occurred. And He taught us through it. He increased our faith and drew us closer to Him. In fact, “unhappy endings” were often the times that grew my faith the most.

God uses the unexpected events in our lives to remind us He is in control and He is never surprised. We can trust Him. No matter what.