A PRECIOUS DAUGHTER IS BORN IN A FOREIGN BACKGROUND.
    

 It was her sixth confinement; so when my dear Gwenda said , ‘This is real,   I knew she was in good labor.    I rearranged the room so that we all would have room to move, use the light of early dawn; and we prepared for delivery.   

 I prayed with my loved one, holding her hand during intense contractions.

I telephoned Bu Pri, the abbreviation of Bu Pri Hati Marmer, the God-fearing bidan ( midwife) of our hospital.      She assented to come immediately in her dogcart, accompanying Matron Ibu Soelastri, to assist my dear one in the delivery.

Dawn was breaking; steady streams of people silently passed the front of our home in the village of Bajang near Blitar, East Java.   Mercifully, our children were still asleep.     I told   Rukini our helper, who greatly admired Gwenda and the children.    She welcomed the news that Ibu (Gwenda) was in good labour.     She lit the kerosene stoves for hot water for the delivery and nursing care.     

 God’s Presence encircled us ; we enjoyed His peace while Bu Pri  was in complete control, on which Gwenda and I mutually agreed.      Bu Pri delivered 20 girls weekly (only complicated ones) which amounted to 1000 annually.     Gwenda esteemed her highly.    I too, for she brought in many such to our hospital ( House for the sick ) for Caesarian section.    ‘Sir, Is it convenient to operate on this girl?’ was her gentle, urgent request.     Godliness characterized Bu Pri.     

  I prayed in Indonesian for my dear one and for Bu Pri in her delivery of this precious life.     We sang some great hymns- that is, in between contractions, - permitting me to sit with my loved one, holding her hand; massaging her back when the strong contraction had passed.     I recalled the time two years previously when Gwenda and I had been alone with our Lord in the midst of a tropical storm, and our daughter Elisabeth Joy had been marvelously welcomed in to the world.   

 Soon the head was crowned and with several more contractions the whole body appeared.     I injected my dear one to contract the uterus and minimize the loss.       Following the delivery, the placenta was delivered.    Normal Javanese custom is for the placenta to be returned to the home and buried.     We did not follow that procedure.     ‘A little girl.’     Praise the Lord.     ‘Puji Tuhan’   I hugged my dear one, while Bu Pri embraced in the usual Javanese tradition, the matron also.     With tears streaming, and holding my loved ones in my arms, I thanked the Lord in English and Indonesian for the miracle of a perfectly formed daughter and strength given to my dear one to carry and deliver the babe in a tropical environment.    .

Somehow, our children awakened, rushing to hug their Mother, and see the beautiful new babe.     A girl!   They were delighted.    Mother recalled John claimed ‘something beautiful has happened.’    When the younger ones asked, he replied, ‘Come and see.’    I think John may have wondered if God would send a young brother for him to teach some soccer,   badminton, volleyball and ultimately cricket, but he delighted in the arrival of this little girl.      ‘What’s the baby’s name?’ they echoed as one voice.     Mother and I had agreed on Priscilla Grace, which resounded from our Indonesian friends as ‘Priskilla Anugerah.’   So beautiful.     

 Seventy of   our hospital staff honored my dear one with that afternoon visit, lining the front of our home with pony carts to pay their respects.     Home schooling was suspended for a time; and then a courageous Mother resumed her teaching; supervising; breast-feeding four hourly this beautiful new comer, ( with wondering childish eyes admiring ); the recipient of much sibling cuddling and chortling: and maintaining the smooth flow of our home, as she had done with Elisabeth 2 years prior to Priscilla’s arrival.   

 While a half century has passed, the wholesome fragrance of that hour lingers.   

 ‘Children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward.’

 I never cease to wonder at the divine orderliness, intelligent design and medical mystery from conception to birth of each babe- and the unlimited potential of each life.