Before I knew your name

I was getting ready to pick my children up from school when the phone rang. "Mrs. Jones, we're sorry to tell you this, but the tests show a problem with your baby."

It was my sixth pregnancy. I had three children, two children had died. The news made my heart ache. I dropped to my knees and prayed using Psalm 139, "All the days of my baby's life have been written in your book before any of them came to be. Lord, you give and take away. I choose to trust you." I knew what it was like loose a baby. I had been bleeding for days and now the tests showed a problem.

I got into the car and mindlessly shoved the cassette tape into the player. My car was filled with the voice of Sandi Patty singing, "Masterpiece.” The song was being sung to an unborn child who didn't even have a name. She spoke of the baby being formed in seclusion, in God's safe and hidden place. After she finished singing she quoted from Psalm 139, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

I lost count of how many times I listened to that song. My children complained because it was their tape,"The Friendship Company.” However, I felt I needed it more than they did and I promised to give it back after the baby was born.

I had picked out the name Stephen Christopher for my baby yet by the time I got to my ninth month I decided it might be a good idea to have a girl's name as well. I began making lists but nothing sounded right so I enlisted the aid of my two prayer partners. On Father's day I was at my parent's home and my mother asked, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine? It is a family name," The next day one of my prayer partners called and said, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine? My husband was preaching about Abigail in the Bible. The name means the delight of the father. Abigail Divine would mean the delight of the Heavenly Father.” On Tuesday my second prayer partner called, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine?" I din't need an ultra sound. I knew I was going to have a little girl and name her Abigail Divine.

When I came to the last week of my pregnancy I found it hard to sleep. I kept hearing the doctor's warning, "The baby could die at birth or be born with profound birth defects." I wanted to hear the song "Masterpiece" again so I put the cassette in and found that I had broken it by playing it so often. I was desperate. I pulled it out of the player lifted it up and prayed, "Lord, you are the Healer, please let me hear this song again!" I put the cassette back in the player and heard, "Miracles still happen for those who love the Lord! Trust in the Lord with all your heart His miracles you'll behold."  The next song was "Masterpiece.” That week a healthy baby girl was born. I named her Abigail Divine.

Lord Jesus, thank you for you tender mercies. Thank you for lavishing your love and grace on me. Oh yes, and thank you for giving me Abigail. May she always be the masterpiece you created her to be.