{"id":3376,"date":"2012-12-24T01:40:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-24T06:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3376"},"modified":"2012-12-24T11:00:20","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T16:00:20","slug":"the-new-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/the-new-mother.html","title":{"rendered":"The new mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"going<\/a>I remember my husband, Frank, and I rushing to the hosptial. \u00a0It was Christmas eve. \u00a0I’d farmed out the other two children to willing neighbors in a pitch of fervor. \u00a0 Frank had refused to pick the name for a girl because he was convinced that this unplanned little one would be a boy. \u00a0I pressed him as he pressed the gas pedal.<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/a>Finally, we settled on Carol Christa because Carol was my middle name and she was coming on Christmas eve. \u00a0She came quickly. \u00a0I’d convinced my uneducated doctor that natural child birth would work for me, since I’d had our son using natural methods.<\/p>\n

When the doctor anounced that I’d had a girl, I asked what he said, thinking he had made a mistake. \u00a0Our new babe was to be a boy, born the end of January. \u00a0Carol Christa, our Christmas baby was a total surprise. \u00a0Over the years, everything about her has been joyfully surprising.<\/p>\n

\"traveling\"<\/a>In some ways, I understand Mary. \u00a0As thrilled as she was to be the mother of Jesus, his birth was a bit inconvenient. \u00a0Later, he showed a love for His Father early. \u00a0Then he didn’t follow the regulated rules put forth by the temple experts. \u00a0Mary didn’t fully understand or consider the gifts of her son appropriate at times. \u00a0They didn’t always agree, Yet, he was gracious regarding her feelings and instructions. \u00a0She loved him dearly.<\/p>\n

Each Christmas eve holds a double blessing for me as I remember the birth of our third child and join into Mary’s joy and the confusion that would follow as her heavenly blessing was born.<\/p>\n

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I remember my husband, Frank, and I rushing to the hosptial. \u00a0It was Christmas eve. \u00a0I’d farmed out the other two children to willing neighbors in a pitch of fervor. \u00a0 Frank had refused to pick the name for a girl because he was convinced that this unplanned little one would be a boy. \u00a0I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[630,5,334,20,3,40,186,49,16,215,4,41],"tags":[756,632,21,688,633,631,696,7,699,262,715,701,6,687,700],"class_list":["post-3376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-carol-merritt-howard","category-christianity","category-christmas","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-love","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-carol-merritt-howard","tag-childbirth","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-christmas-baby","tag-christmas-surprise","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-gods-grace","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-simple-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe new mother - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/the-new-mother.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The new mother - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember my husband, Frank, and I rushing to the hosptial. \u00a0It was Christmas eve. \u00a0I’d farmed out the other two children to willing neighbors in a pitch of fervor. \u00a0 Frank had refused to pick the name for a girl because he was convinced that this unplanned little one would be a boy. \u00a0I…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/12\/the-new-mother.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-24T06:40:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-24T16:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/going-to-hosptial.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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