When my first daughter was born I was living 3000 miles away from home in a tiny apartment…just my husband and me and this scary new responsibility. I was so alone. At least that is what I thought until I heard about the Victorian Order of Nurses. For a small fee they would come and help you get adjusted to this miniature mite of humanity.
I had seldom held a baby, let alone fed or bathed one but there was the V.O.N. nurse at the door, looking so proficient that all my fears quickly vanished.
I had bought an enamel baby bath tub and had towels and of course baby powder….all the things on the list but I hardly knew which end to put in the water. In minutes the nurse had warm water in the tub and our little girl, with complete trust allowed her tiny body to be immersed.
Finally she was washed, dried and dusted and handed over to me. A few more questions and explanations and the nurse was on her way. We had all survived what was to be the first of many years of baths with me nearby, until she insisted “a girl needs her privacy.”
Years later the small enamel bath was scrubbed and set on a towel on the kitchen table and a little boy giggled and grinned as his daddy gave him a bath. And there was me, now a great-grandma, looking on with as much pride as years before, when his Daddy’s Mom had been bathed in it.
What a delight it had been being a mom and a grandma…and what a thrill it was to see my great-grandson enjoy the same bathtub that had been in the family for over 50 years.
There are times in life when you feel your heart nearly breaking with thanks. God has such a capacity for filling your life full of unexpected joy. What a wonderful Lord we have!
