the thin blue line

A thin blue line. Positive result.

Thank you Father for blessing my husband and I with a second child. The gender of the child does not bother me...am I kidding myself? It does matter –it matters a lot. Not that I favor one sex to the other, I will love my child regardless, but the situation I am in demands it. My in-laws have such a traditional mindset - a grandson is needed to carry on the Lin family line. Father, you can see into their hearts, you know their disappointment when our first child was born three years ago. Although they have come to love and care for her, they do still long for a grandson. But above all, Lord, may your will be done.

She stood up, pulled up her pants and walked over to the sink. As she stared into the mirror, a single teardrop mustered at the corner of her pale coffee eyes. She tried desperately to blink it away, but it was just too obstinate. Unsurprisingly, little time ticked by before the tear garnered enough strength to stage its revolt. The woman hurriedly wiped it away from her sunken cheek, almost as if she was afraid that someone would spy upon it.

Father, I am treading in the path of Hannah. Lord, you remembered her faithfulness and rewarded her with a son. Likewise, do not forget your humble servant and grant me a boy too. I will offer him to the Lord for all the days of his life.
Every sunrise thereafter was accompanied by the prayer of the woman. The words were never repeated, but the gist was unchanged. Lord, please grant me a son; I will dedicate him to your purpose. In addition, her prayer was always accompanied with a fervent belief that God would answer her favorably. Day by day, her conviction grew.

Married to the only son of a traditional Hainanese family, she was burdened with the task of bearing a son. Though they did not express it outwardly, when mother and daughter first emerged from the operation theatre, the elderly couple was, for a moment, disappointed. A moment only, for they soon found their granddaughter to be a bundle of joy. They doted on her, almost to the point of spoiling her. For three years, the baby girl remained the sole joy and comfort to her grandparents.

But now, their hopes were inevitably raised once more. The woman sensed their heightened anticipation and grew increasingly worried – worried that her in-laws had to face another bout of disappointment. Whoever thought that the baby would be a paradox? The bigger her tummy grew, the higher their hopes soared and the greater her worry amassed.

Their quiet disappointment when she presented her baby girl years ago was a torture – it had threatened to rip her apart. How she wished that they would verbally lash out, bear a grudge, anything! Anything would do to ease that pain. All she wanted was to let her in-laws fulfill their wish. A couple of painful months would slowly tread by before the truth was born – she did not want to know the results of the ultrascan; God was in control.

Hannah from the Old Testament gave the name Samuel to her son and proclaimed, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.” Why Samuel? Because it sounds like the Hebrew for “heard of God”. On 2nd July 1985 in a ward in Kandang Kerbau Women’s and Children’s Hospital; like his predecessor thousands of years ago, a baby boy was christened Samuel.

In pain she conceived, and in bliss she presented him.

God does answer prayers. He rewards those who seek Him earnestly. Thank you dear Lord for being real. Amen.