We probably should have named him Isaac (the Hebrew name Isaac means "laughter") because the first flip he turned in my womb was apparently accompanied by laughing gas and jazz hands. For nearly 10 months, that child used my bladder for a trampoline. I found out I was (unexpectedly) pregnant for the third time when we bought a distressed property that was half-built and head-high in weeds. With two wild-man toddlers under the age of three in tow, we moved into a friend's basement apartment and proceeded to finish that giant 5-bedroom house. This was the most challenging project I ever took on, given the ages of our babies and the state of my body. I took to wearing Ken's coveralls, since there was nothing else that fit. We moved into the house a month before Jesse Caleb was born and I think I immediately went into a coma, surfacing just long enough to birth that 11-pound, 2-ounce behemoth.
My hands were so full it was scary. Three precocious boys under the age of four. I was nine weeks pregnant before I realized it, and we had not planned this pregnancy. But God did. After the joy of this child, we left our family planning up to God. I could sense Jesse's personality as soon as I could feel him move. Happy, joyful, athletic, loving. His birth was an experience in faith. He should have died or at least been damaged, but the Lord spared him. He came into the world fearless, oblivious to danger or unhappiness. His brothers and sister and he traversed the woods and life with abandon. He came here with a light that dispelled darkness, making us all feel hopeful. His laughing eyes and giant buck-tooth grin refused to be squelched. Anything resembling a sphere was his game. He could deftly bounce a basketball at eighteen months old. He leapfrogged, jumped, careened and twisted his way around the world, lean and muscular as a monkey. He loved to snuggle and be held. Any pain could be fixed with a hug. He had the most sensitive of spirits, often taking his brothers' blame when things were not his fault. His heart loved Christ from a young age. I believe he was twelve before his brain allowed him to read. He wrote whole sentences backwards and turned numbers upside down. He made up his own written language, made of runes known only to himself (he eventually taught his wife how to read them). Everything was an analogy to Jesse. He saw the parallels and significance, the deeper meanings behind the world around him. Before he could read, he would tell me what things meant, how they fit into the cosmos of his planet. Apparently there are more important things than letters.
He made it to college on a basketball scholarship, struggling but working hard. His junior year, he met the love of his life and suddenly his grades improved. He started studying and reading. He came home and asked me to buy him books. We knew she had to be the one. They are now happily married with three adorable rug rats tearing it up. His first kiss was for Bailey, on their wedding day. Tall and handsome, he waited stalwartly and patiently for his bride and that special moment. He is a youth pastor, bounding his way through life, throwing his kids ten feet in the air and scooping toddlers away from danger. His joy and zest for life are lighting the world.
I still marvel at God's providence, how He bypassed our plans to bless us with this precious son. We think we're smart, but He is smarter.
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