The Picture of Submission: A View of the “Other Side” From the Inside – Step 3

One of the most exciting days in the life of a modern mother is the day she gets to have a view of the little baby growing inside her. My daughters and nieces look forward to this day like they used to look forward to Christmas or Disneyland. It’s the day they get to see that everything is proceeding well and it’s the day they will finally know, after all the weeks of waiting, whether to paint the nursery blue of pink.

I’m a little old fashioned myself, a fan of the nine month, “Surprise, it’s a _______!!! But life goes on and technology seems to have the power to bless us with many things we used to have to wait for.

Besides being old fashioned about opening up gifts early I’m also really challenged when it comes to looking at the sonograms. My girls and their husbands come from the doctor’s office with pictures and videos they are so excited to show me. I know I’m a big disappointment to them because I really can’t see what they are telling me I should be able to see. “Can’t you tell mom?” they say. “There’s his eye and one of his arms. See, it’s a side view and this is a view from the top of his head.” Any more I just nod my head and smile, but truth be told, I really don’t know what I’m looking at.

2007/2008 was an unusual season for our family. Between my sister’s daughters and my own we would be blessed with nine new babies within a nineteen month span. This year there would be sonograms a plenty, but there is one I will never ever forget.

I entered my house on a miscellaneous Friday after attending the noon recovery meeting. I found the family room filled with home schooling moms chatting and children having recess together. My niece, Jeanine, had just come from the doctor where the medical worries for her growing baby had become a reality. Her little baby boy would most likely not live for more than a few days or hours. We were all stunned.

Then Jeanine brought out the pictures, just like all the others girls do, to let us have a first look at her little man. As I looked at them I “smiled and nodded” as she explained what I was seeing (or not seeing, in my case). Then she showed me the picture below, a picture of a perfect, celestial little boy in a body just right for his eight-day experience on the earth. To me his little bowed head resting on his prayerful arms and hands was the absolute picture of submission.

Spencer and Jeanine named him Kaden. As the weeks and months before his delivery went by, I thought a lot about his willingness to do the will of his Heavenly Father. And as the sisters and cousins delivered one healthy baby after another I thought even more about the willingness of Kaden’s parents to submit to the will of their Heavenly Father, and I marveled at just how far back in eternity they had all agreed to this arrangement.

Kaden was born on February 15, and went back to Heaven on February 22, 2008. Kaden was and continues to be a great blessing to our family. When I think of this picture today I like to think that Kaden is praying for us, praying that we will never take each other for granted, praying that our faith will not waver but increase and that we will all continue to grow in our desire and capacity to turn our lives and our will over to the tender care of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. For me it’s the picture of submission, a piece of Heaven, a view of the “Other Side” from the Inside.

To learn more about Kaden and his family see: http://kadenmatthewmack.blogspot.com

By Nannette W.
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2008

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