Signs and Wonders - Birth

During the doubt and fear, I had no signs for my mind to pull up. There are many, though, that I can think about now. I will share some of them with you, not to place myself above anyone, for I am sure if you search thoroughly enough, you will find signs and wonders in your own life too.

I guess, given the Christmas Season, starting with my birth is the best point. There were no singing angels (at least that I know about) at my birth, there were no shepherds, nor wise men (unless you count the hospital doctors). I was born in a standard hospital delivery room of the 1960's. There was a doctor, a nurse, my mom, and my dad reading the New York Times cover-to-cover in the waiting room - three times! Pretty spectacular, right?

Now I will share a bit more.

The year of my birth was 1969. It was the year humanity first set foot on the moon. It was the summer of Woodstock, a concert that sang of Love and Peace. Woodstock happened in August; the moonwalk was that July. My birthday fell right between the two. Not only was I born that summer; I was born in the same State (New York) that held both Woodstock and the ticker-tape parade for the returned astronauts.

Yeshua started His ministry when He was 30. Obviously, I didn't. I was busy at the time working as an Administrative Assistant in a Pennsylvania factory while taking night classes for my degree in Human Resources.

And yet...

On the morning of my 30th birthday, August 11, 1999, I climbed atop the highest peak in the area just before sunrise. I saw a tiny chip out of the sun as it rose in the distant eastern sky. There was a major solar eclipse that day, that blanketed Europe, Russia, India, Middle-East, northern Africa and more. Most of the those in the Americas could not see that eclipse, except a few at high elevations in the north-easternmost point of the North American continent. We only saw a chip out of the sun that disappeared quickly as it rose; but I saw it!

Big deal, right?

That eclipse was the precursor of a spectacular stellar conjunction, though. The sun, moon and other planets formed a cross with Earth as its center point. (Yes, Pluto was still a planet back then. :P) This happened three (3) to seven (7) days after my birthday; both three and seven are numbers that appear often in the bible.

Again, does this mean I am any more special than others in this world? No. It means there are signs in our lives we CAN find if we look for them. God does understand our need to feel recognized.

The last sign around my birth is that my mother often refers to me as her "miracle baby." Before my birth, my mother lost three pregnancies; after she had no complications and I have three younger siblings.

The fist was an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, and thus she only had one tube connecting the ovary to the uterus thereafter. All her other pregnancies had higher odds of conception as well as other difficulties. The second pregnancy, a son, had died in utero. In those days, there was no ultrasound. They only knew something was wrong when he stopped growing and the doctor could not hear a heartbeat. She had to carry him six more months until her body delivered him naturally - a stillborn birth. The third pregnancy - another son - was healthy and vital right up until birth. During the delivery, however, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the child's throat. He died as he was born. My parents had to bury the child in an unmarked grave separate from holy ground, for the Catholic Church at that time said that un-baptised children went to purgatory, not heaven.

Then, before my conception, my mother was working as a nurse in the maternity ward. A young mother at that time had slipped out of the hospital, purposefully leaving her newborn son behind. My parents adopted the child and had raised him for about a year. Then the birth mother changed her mind and sued for the child. The courts favored the birth mothers the,n and my parents had now lost a third son.

Then I was conceived.

However, things were not doing well during this pregnancy either. There were many complications and my mother nearly lost me during the fourth month. While she was aware DES had issues, she took the drug anyway, saving my life. I am not able to have kids of my own, but I am alive and in this world as a result of this, so I bear no ill will about this decision. Interestingly, though, the drug changed my birth date. I was expected in July - early half of July. I was a month overdue. Yet, had this not happened, I would have been born before they walked on the moon and Woodstock's refrains singing about Love and Peace would not have been just days after my birth.

I would not have seen an eclipse on my 30th birthday.