‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.’ John 15:7
The last time I was here, I was speaking of how God answers our prayers, but only at His time. Here’s a recap of what I said.
Now, what I am going to do is rewind a bit and tell you about how God set the stage for one of the best things that happened to me this year. Let us start with December, the end of 2019.
How 2019 ended for me!
‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’ 1 Peter 5:7
The year of 2019 was good, my gift from God, my first daughter Thia, turned one. I returned to work in April, post my maternity leave. My journey back to work may have been tough, leaving my daughter at barely over 6 months and having just introduced her to a creche, there was a lot that was happening but I had quite a great workplace, very understanding colleagues and a super accommodative manager who let me work from home once a week. But over all this, I had God watching over me through every step.
Thia, from day one at the creche, was one of the easiest babies to manage (as told to me by the creche staff). One small example of this, on the first day at creche, she was to stay for only 2 hours and my husband was to pick her up. The creche staff mentioned that they might call him in early incase she gets very cranky. But to our and to everyone’s surprise, on the very first day of her going to creche she stayed for over 3 hours. They only called Santosh in to pick her up because they didn’t want to keep her any longer as her milk was over, and they didn’t have any to feed her. This is how well our God takes care of us when we have faith. Since then, Thia has been with the creche till March 2020 and she learnt and grew and made some amazing memories there.
I started to actively look for jobs in October and landed a job in PhonePe, where I am working currently. The job came at the right time and with the right offer.
2020: Not just the year of Covid, but also the year of many blessings…
‘And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.’ 2 Corinthians 9:8
How my year began: Work from home, the new normal!
The start of 2020 brought on the start of a new job for me. I settled in quite quickly into a workplace that was one of the most welcoming I have been in. Within a month, I was settling in and feeling like part of the team. Just when I was comfortable and sure of what I was doing, it was March and we were by then very much aware of the rising number of Covid cases and the impending lockdown. In the first week of March, my office announced an indefinite work from home, and we were told that we will be updated as and when the government takes any further decisions.
Meanwhile, on the news and everywhere else, all we heard about is the number of rising cases, and deaths. And me being me, I still didn’t know exactly what Covid was.
God led decisions and God’s answered prayers
In the second week of March, Santosh and I were speaking and one of us opened up the idea of trying to get pregnant again, it may have been me 😛 Ok, it was ME!
So we discussed and decided to consult my doctor who delivered Thia (Dr. Rajnish Samal) and see what he says. My concern was whether we should wait till I lose weight and get healthy. Also, we were initiating our immigration process to Canada, so I didn’t know whether to wait till we got there or to just get pregnant. When I asked him all of these questions, he said I should try for both, to lose weight and to get pregnant as well, pretty solid advice that was and we decided to go with what he said. I am still thankful for the wonderfully practical advice he gave me on that day.
God’s promise of what was to come…
Exactly 4 days later on the 17th of March, which is my dad’s birthday, I had a dream that I was pregnant with a baby boy. The next day when I told Santosh, he was so excited but reminded me that we should wait and see what God has in store for us. Also, one thing that needs to be mentioned now is that I was trying to get myself to wean Thia off breastfeeding but wasn’t able to get myself mentally ready. A week after I had the dream, I noticed that Thia had reduced her feeds and was biting me in frustration. This made me wonder if I wasn’t producing enough milk, and the next most obvious question was, “Could I really be pregnant?”.
The excitement was building, and we waited patiently till the first day of my next cycle to see if I missed it and if I should test. The weirdest part was that my cycles were still so weird, so there was actually absolutely no way to know when was late. But we decided to test on day number 32, which was April 4th.
Santosh bought the test and asked me to wait till I was at least a day late before I tested. But I had no patience, and on the 4th morning I decided to take the test. Thia was playing with her friends in the hall and Santosh was with them. I cannot forget the excitement and nervousness as I took the test (without telling Santosh as he would have only warned me to wait so that I don’t get disappointed). I waited with my heart in my mouth for the line/lines to light up. After what felt like forever, the second pink line was shown nice and dark and there was this oh-so-faint first line, it was as good as invisible but it was there, and I knew in that moment that God changed my dream into a reality, and I was pregnant. I called Santosh in frantically and showed it to him. We took another test, and with this one both lines were dark and so visible. We just stood there and thanked God for giving us the best gift ever, in the midst of our struggle with the pandemic, the lockdown, the new way of life, working from home or hardly working from home, the sleepless nights, and so much more.
All that mattered in that moment was the joy we felt when we knew God had given us the best gift ever. Here is a picture of the test from that day:
‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29:11
So this time again, I will be taking you through my amazing journey with this pregnancy. Today, I’m hardly a week from meeting our baby and I want to get this journey on record before I deliver so that the memories are fresh and I am still free and able to complete it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed living it and penning it down for all of you.