A Masterpiece!

Twenty-eight years.  How could it possibly be so long ago? 

She’d been trying for two and a half years to have a baby.  Every time she was late she got all excited and went in for a pregnancy test – these were the days before you could get one of those do-it-yourself tests from the drug store.  Each time she called the doctor’s office at the appointed time, and each time the results were negative.  And every time, she cried.

But one brisk day, a rainbow of fallen leaves crunching underfoot, there was a call from her doctor’s office.  “Your test was positive!  You’re going to be a Mommy!”

Joshie1

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Shock.  Awe.  That over-the-moon turning cartwheels kind of joy she’d waited so long to feel was really happening!  Oh my God, she breathed in a silent prayer, thank you.  Thank you thank you!

He was born on a picture perfect spring day in May, 1979.  Under a sparkling clear blue sky, the sun shining down to kiss the earth with its warmth.  He’d been a little stubborn…they’d had to do a Cesarean section.  But there he was, all ten perfect tiny fingers and ten perfect adorable tiny toes.   Weighing in at eight pounds four ounces, he was not at all sure he liked it outside of the warm cocoon in which he’d been sheltered for so long.

His new Mom remembered a time several years earlier when she’d been visiting a girlfriend who was living in the dorms at college.  As they’d walked across the campus, a tall, handsome guy ran by and waved hello.  When asked “Who was THAT!?” her friend told her “His name is Joshua”.  “Wow, he’s cute!  I’ve got dibs on that name if I have a boy before you!”

And so, when the nurses brought her the paperwork they needed for his birth certificate, she called him “Joshua David”.  At the time she just liked the way it sounded (AND she remembered that cute guy!)  Later she would discover the true meanings of the names she’d chosen for him.

He was named Joshua: (Hebrew) - Exodus 17:9 - a savior; a deliverer.  His Mom discovered later that Joshua and Yeshua are from the same root word in Hebrew.  Yeshua means Jesus in Hebrew.  Her baby’s middle name was David (Hebrew) - 1 Sam. 16:13 - well-beloved, dear.  Jesus Christ’s lineage was from King David, in the Old Testament.  Josh’s parents had no idea what those names meant when they chose them.  But God did.

Cousins1

Josh was the cutest little boy EVER!  Of course, every Mother thinks that about her child. She wanted him to have a wonderful, happy childhood.  But when he was five years old, his Mom and Dad got a divorce.  Josh stayed with his Mom and went to see his Dad on weekends.  Sometimes.  But sometimes Dad didn’t show up.  It was very hard for a small boy to understand.

When Josh was nine years old, his Mom and Dad remarried.  His Mom said something about God hating divorce and that Daddy had changed.  It was all pretty confusing, but Daddy took him shopping and Josh got his first real suit!  It was just like his Dad’s!  The week before Christmas there was a wedding, and his family was back together again.

But it didn’t last.

Fourteen months later Josh’s Mom decided that his Daddy hadn’t really changed.  And his parents got divorced again. 

From that time on, Josh decided that he needed to be the man of the house.  He helped his Mom with chores  – when he became a teenager he even learned how to do his own laundry and to cook a little.   He thought it was stupid to have to learn that stuff, but his Mom insisted that one day he would need to know how to take care of himself.  And that being able to do all that would impress the girls!

His mom loved to sing, and was the music director for a couple of brand new “start-up” churches over the years.  Mom would lead the music, and Josh learned how to run the sound board.  They were a team.  Josh worked just as hard as his Mom did in those little churches.  He helped set up and take down chairs, the sound equipment, everything!

She was always looking for new songs to sing at church.  Mother’s Day was coming up and she wanted to find something special.    She’d just purchased a new cassette tape by her favorite Christian artist, Sandi Patty.  And while listening to that tape she found the song that she knew she was meant to sing.  The song even had a very short speaking part at the very beginning and at the end.  She begged Josh to do it with her…since it was for Mother’s Day it would be really special and she told him all the ladies would cry.  So, from about age ten to fifteen, every Mother’s Day they did this song together, always in a different church.

Josh’s part was to read from Psalm 139, in the Old Testament.  He stood up in front at the microphone and read:

V 13 “For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb, v 15 My frame was not hidden from you. When I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, v 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body..”

Then it was his Mom’s turn to sing the song, called “Masterpiece.”  When she sang it, she sang it to Josh, as well as the congregation:

Before you had a name, or opened up your eyes
or anyone could recognize your face.
You were being formed, so delicate in size
Secluded in Gods safe and hidden place.

baby's hand with father

With your little tiny hands, and little tiny feet
And little eyes that shimmer like a pearl.
He breathed in you a song, and to make it all complete
He brought the masterpiece into the world.

CHORUS :
You are a masterpiece, a new creation He has formed
And you're as soft and fresh, as a snowy winter morn,
And I'm so glad that God has given you to me,
Little Lamb of God, you are a masterpiece.

And now you're growing up, your life's a miracle,
Every time I look at you I stand in awe,
Because I see in you, a reflection of me
And you'll always be my little lamb from God

And as your life goes on each day,
how I pray that you will see

Cincodejosho1

Just how much your life has meant to me
And I'm so proud of you, what else is there to say
Just be the masterpiece He created you to be

REPEAT CHORUS

And at the end of the song, Josh stepped to the microphone again and read:

V 16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. V14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful,  I know this very well.”

And yes, all the ladies cried.  Some Daddy’s too!

Joshua David

Josh is a grown man now with his own business, car and condo.  He has tons of great friends and a girlfriend too!  His business is flourishing, and he's worked as a consultant on projects for Microsoft.

But things have changed since those days so long ago.  Josh takes care of his Mom now.  She has a chronic crippling disease and her body won’t do the things it once did.  Now it’s Josh that comes over to visit his Mom in her little studio apartment.  It's Josh who runs the vacuum and takes out the trash .  It’s he that worries about her, always trying to find a way to help her improve her quality of life.  Soon he’ll help her move into a nicer apartment, a cheery, modern place with her own washer, dryer, and dishwasher, so she won’t feel so dependent on others. 

Their roles have reversed, as they tend to do as we age.  But Josh’s Mom is only fifty years old.  This season of their lives has blossomed too soon.

But when she looks into his eyes, she still sees that sweet blonde, curly haired, blue-eyed boy.  The one that ran across the grass as fast as his little legs would carry him, but always checking that she was behind him.  She'll always be behind him. Funny, sweet, wicked-smart, silly, serious, loving Josh.  And every year, one week after his birthday, they celebrate Mother's Day.  She says that Josh is the BEST Mother’s Day gift any Mom could ever wish for.