Great is Thy faithfulness!

In March 2020, Amy, my younger daughter will turn three. Time has flown by and looking back, I can only thank God for the infinite ways He has been faithful in the months leading to Amy’s birth. We had just moved to a new apartment in May 2016. It was July 2016, after a long and tiring road trip from Yellowstone National Park back to Seattle, when I discovered I was pregnant. My husband and I were thrilled! Our prayers had been answered!

My in-laws visited us in August and a couple of months later, we decided to call our parents over to visit since my husband’s project had gotten over and he was at home for a couple of weeks. We had been praying for a new project close to home but to our disappointment, my husband was posted to a new project in Phoenix. Considering that we had only a few more months on our visas, any move would not only be expensive but would also take a toll on us, especially on my health. Since we had prayed over this, we knew God was at work. There was so much to do! First, we had to find a new apartment in Phoenix without having to pay lease-breakage for the apartment we were living in. We frantically searched for all options to break the lease without any fee. Nothing seemed to work.Realizing that we didn't have much time left, my husband wrote out a cheque for the lease breakage fee which was over 3000 USD. Just before handing it in, we decided to pray over it and wait another day. Amazingly, that very day we came across a property in Phoenix that was owned by the same management that owned our current apartment. Guess what? We finalized an apartment in Phoenix without having to pay any lease-breakage, a huge cost-saving feat accomplished with God's help !

I was almost six months pregnant by then and we had to pack up and move to Phoenix from Seattle. Having finished the long and tedious processes of trashing, donating and packing all our stuff, we called the movers. Moving day came and all our stuff was loaded into the truck. Hardly had the movers packed up and left, when my husband got a call from his employer asking him to stay back in Seattle for three more weeks. We were shocked! Our stuff was all gone-no furniture or bed or kitchenware. Our apartment had been emptied, we had to survive for three weeks with practically nothing, and my parents were visiting in a week!

We trusted God to lead us. I’m thankful for the friend who lent us a bed for my parents to sleep-in, for the friend who lent me some of her kitchenware and even for friends who invited us over to stay with them (which we politely declined). On the day my parents were to arrive, my husband had to leave for Phoenix on an official trip for a couple of days. I dropped him off at the airport at 5 am and prayed for someone who would accompany me to the airport to pick up my parents in the evening. For someone like me who struggles to navigate the neighborhood even with the help of technology, the thought of getting around a place I’ve been  only once before, like the airport, bothered me. My friend, who accompanied me to the airport that day was an answered prayer.

Over the next couple of days, I drove my parents around Seattle for sight-seeing (Thanks to Mom armed with google maps!) after which my husband returned to take us all back to Phoenix. A friend in Phoenix who heard of our move, picked us up at the airport and treated us to a yummy Indian dinner at her home. Indian food in a foreign place was heaven indeed! Life's simple joys reminded me of a heavenly Father who cared and provided for us.

Our visas were getting over by March 2017 and I knew I had only a couple of months before I travelled back to India. My parents left for India in a month and I was to leave in January. I could’ve left with them but decided to stay back to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my husband. Since I was leaving the US for good, I had a lot of luggage. While my check-in baggage included 3 huge carton boxes, 1 big suitcase and my toddler’s car-seat, my cabin luggage had a duffel bag,a small suitcase, a backpack, a guitar, a toddler, and a baby in my tummy. It was going to be a long 30-hour flight with 2 transits. Travelling alone at 32 weeks of pregnancy, I must admit I was a little worried with a lot of what-ifs.What if I go into labour or start bleeding mid-air? What if my feet swell up? What if my toddler becomes cranky? I went to the Lord in prayer.Our God is a God who speaks- not only of instruction and holy warnings, but of promises too.The Lord spoke through Job 39:2 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?” He who watches over the goat and the doe when they give birth would watch over me! What assurance!  Having cast my cares on the Lord, I was all set for the long journey ahead.

I had more cabin luggage than I was allowed on-board. God granted me favor in the eyes of the crew and I was allowed to take all of it in. My guitar which was supposed to have been charged extra wasn’t charged and was flown business class since it wouldn’t fit into the economy class. (A couple of months later, when my husband flew back home, he had to throw away a suitcase because they didn’t allow it inside the cabin, citing extra luggage. Lol.) My toddler did remarkably well the entire journey. A lady at the airport remarked that that I had too much luggage while travelling with a young child. I smiled because she didn’t know that there was a little one inside me.

I reached India safe and an ultrasound a few weeks later revealed that I had a low-lying placenta, a condition that would hinder normal delivery. I had trusted God in my previous pregnancy and delivery, and I knew God would do it again. Amy Arpana was born normally on March 8th, 2017 (A long story in itself) hale and healthy. Amy is almost three now, beautiful in every way — our own miracle of life and of love.