That White Elephant

I had no idea how patient my husband was when I married him. You see, for as long as he can remember, he has loved children. The oldest of five children and 50 grandchildren, he has certainly fallen in love with watching babies grow. He searched and searched for the woman who would one day (hopefully) be the Mother of his own children, but you just don't know God's plans when you stand there on that altar. But he hoped and he prayed that he would one day be a father. And I got a glimpse of just how much he loved children and how much they loved him when this little girl came into our lives:



Not long after we were married he found a great deal on a treasure he could not pass up. You see he would often go to "The White Elephant" to browse what items they had for sale that week. (This is not the first time this has happened.) Anyway, it's one of those stores that constantly receives new items from estate sales and often there are very nice things for a great bargain. But you have to look. And you have to go at the right time-as the true gems don't last long.

Well he must have gone at the right time all those months ago (over a year actually). He found something he just couldn't resist and then arranged with one of our neighbors to store it in their garage until the "right time." See he didn't want to show me this too early because he knew we both longed to be parents but as we waited each month to become parents there was a tinge of sadness that the time was not "yet."

Even though I've been pregnant for some time now, I think he has been waiting to "make sure" (who can ever be sure...but at some point you just have to leap!)

We came upon some real furniture bargains at Baby's 'R Us a few weeks ago, but they only came in a certain color. So when he hesitated at buying them, I knew something was up. His explanation: "Well, I sort of have a surprise at home but it's in another color."

That night he showed me this. And he explained just how long he had it (he's waited over a year to reveal this) and then showed me how it matched the piece he stained and gave to me for my birthday. I think it's just perfect:



Through tears, he told me: "I knew this day would come. I knew we would be parents again!"