In early 1998 I stood at the window of our little kitchen in Chernigov and prayed that the Lord would give us a little girl. We already had the boys and they were perfect but I had had two miscarriages and felt a lingering loss within my heart. I longed for a daughter. It was not long before I fell pregnant with Katelyn. We were overjoyed but after a couple of weeks I started bleeding just like the previous miscarriages. I remember Riekert and I sitting side by side on the lounge couch and begging the Lord to save our child’s life. There were no doctors or hospitals we could go to. We were alone and afraid. Jesus was our only hope. The bleeding stopped immediately! What joy filled our hearts!
When I was about 6 months pregnant I was walking in the marketplace with the boys. A woman stopped me and demanded that I abort this baby because I already had enough children. The pain caused by her words was like a punch. How could she say this? How could she be so heartless? So cruel?
Katelyn grew quietly within me until 7 months when I went to a hospital for a scan. Her head circumference showed 4 weeks retarded growth. Again we prayed and begged the Lord to intervene. Many people in South Africa prayed with us and at the time of her birth Katelyn was normal in every way!
With L’Abri we have felt the drama and pain of that pregnancy. First the expectation and conviction of a dream. Then the threat of losing what God has given. The hope of last minute interventions, the horror of indiscriminate words and judgements and eventually the risk of a disappointed reality!
Today I remember where we come from and Who has brought us here. Today I hold fast to the truths of my past even when my future screams another reality. Today I hope and pray and believe that God will make a way for us!