perfect Timing.

Way back when I wrote out Mistletoe's birth story I alluded to a post about God's perfect timing when it came to her birth and how His plans are - no surprise - better than mine. Here was my dream for labor and delivery: -Feast of the Immaculate Conception or the Nativity (Monkey was born on the feast of the Annunciation, we got married on the Visitation...come on third joyful mystery!) -Go into labor in the morning so I would have energy to labor -Give birth before the rest of our team left for Christmas so that they could watch Monkey for us In reality I only got one out of the three for my 'dream' labor and delivery. It wasn't until after Mistletoe was born that I reflected on how much better God's timing was for the birth. I went into labor at dinner time, but that meant that I got to have one more dinner with Monkey before giving birth. I got to talk to her and tell her about being a big sister, about how great I knew she'd be at it. I got to love on her and give her tons of hugs and kisses. At one point in my motherly moment, I got particularly misty-eyed and she just looked at me and said, "it okay, Mama. Love you." cue all the water works I got to tuck her in and snuggle her one last time as my only child, rock her and sing her to sleep. I knew she was fast asleep when we left for the hospital so I had no worries about her whatsoever. I knew she was being taken care of and would be loved the second she woke up, even if Anthony and I weren't there. What is more is that even though I went into labor later in the day, the labor was fast enough that I had enough energy to endure it. In fact, it was crazy fast and the fact that I arrived at the hospital already 7cm dilated gave me more energy than I already had! A few days after the birth my mom sent me an email about how December 10th was the feast of Our Lady of Loreto. It turns out that, even though Mistletoe wasn't born on the Nativity, she was still born on a Marian feast day. (I am kind of a Marian feast day junkie!) The first parish I ever worked at is named Our Lady of Loreto, still, I knew nothing of this feast or title for Mary. It turns out that Our Lady of Loreto refers to the house where Mary was born and where the Annunciation happened. Monkey was born on the Annunciation and our second daughter was born on the feast honoring the place where the Annunciation happened. Mary certainly has her eyes on our sweet girls! (You can read more about Loreto and miracles that have taken place there here.) I still get chills thinking about the feast day Mistletoe was born on - it was no accident, no coincidence. It is certainly the day that God intended for her to be born and to see the link between her and the Blessed Mother is incredible. As it happened, our team was still in town when I went into labor. Granted, they were two hours away on retreat and I stubbornly told them not to come back until Anthony convinced me otherwise. Luckily there was a student in town who was willing to watch Monkey until our teammates arrived. There was no lapse in coverage for Monkey, no shortage of love for her, or for our growing family. Dear, sweet Blessed Mother, continue to watch over and guide our family, especially our sweet daughters. Thank you for your intercession and guidance in their lives and in our marriage. May the fact that our daughters have both been born on feasts of yours draw them ever closer to you and, ultimately, to your Son.