It was Thursday evening, April 12, 1984, exactly one week before Shirley was due to deliver our third child. It had been a very happy nine months. We thought we had done a good job of preparing for the birth of another child. Shirley had gotten lots of exercise, eaten wholesome foods, and maintained a cheerful and contented mental disposition. Even during the cold winter when the temperature was far below zero, we would try to take walks together in the evening, holding hands and discussing the day’s events, and the soon-coming new baby.

Our first child Barbara had come easily in a doctor’s office. The doctor had to leave for another call, and I took Shirley home by myself a couple hours after delivery. However, our second child Rachel, born at home with assistance of three midwives, came only after an excruciatingly difficult labor. Shirley and I had not properly prepared for that baby, and we were determined to do a better job this time. We were attending Lamaze childbirth preparation classes to refresh our memory of how to have a baby naturally. What a great event to have another baby! The last days seemed to drag on slowly. Perhaps — just maybe! — I might have a son this time! Not that I don’t love dearly Barbara and Rachel. But, you see, I am the only son of an only son. I’d like to have a son to carry on the family name. My father had seven sisters and no brothers. I have three sisters and no brothers.

On that Thursday evening, Shirley and I didn’t think of all this. The house had undergone spring cleaning in preparation for the soon approaching Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Shirley felt full and decided to skip supper. Her stomach looked like she had swallowed a watermelon! During the months I had teased her saying she was looking more and more pregnant every day!

When we went to sleep that night, we did not know that in a few short hours we would be catapulted from peace and tranquility into one of life’s most memorable and trying experiences.

Around 1:30 A.M. Shirley shook me out of bed. "My bag of water has broken," she said. From my groggy sleepy state, I slowly rose. She called the doctor and he wanted her to go to the hospital at once. As we called the baby sitter, Shirley began labor contractions. We had gone through this twice before. We were mature and could handle anything — or so we thought.

One of the basic tenets of our religious faith is that the Almighty Creator is the Healer and Deliverer. Having a baby is not a disease or illness, but a natural process He created. It should be conducted as naturally as possible, without unnecessary use of medications, drugs, and artificial methods. This is in obedience to God’s Law, and results in better health to both mother and baby.

In our previous location in the Pacific Northwest, there were professional midwives and doctors who support natural delivery and home birth. In Wyoming, where we were now, it was a far different situation. Unless we drove 150-200 miles, there was no possibility of having a baby outside of a hospital. We were determined to make the best of our situation, and have the baby as naturally as possible. The local hospital had a birthing room, and fathers were allowed with the mother all through delivery. We found a medical doctor who seemed to be sympathetic with our desires to have our baby naturally.

But there were nagging fears at the back of our minds. If there were complications, would the hospital try to force treatments on us against our will? We have been "hassled" in the past. Years ago we were involved in a serious car accident and were taken by ambulance to a hospital emergency room. We had a vociferous confrontation with the doctors because we refused to receive tetanus shots. I was the least injured, and I recall nearly coming to blows with a massive hospital security guard because I was prevented from entering the room where a doctor was sewing up Shirley’s cuts. Would this horrible sort of thing happen again?

We entered the hospital about 1:45 A.M., and were placed in a small maternity room. I began timing Shirley’s contractions. They were irregular, sometimes four to eight minutes apart, then twenty minutes apart, sometimes intense and sometimes mild. The night seemed to be endless. When the doctor examined her at 9:00 A.M., he said that he wanted the baby to be born within 24 hours, because the bag was broken, and infection could result unless delivery came soon. I teased Shirley, saying that she should jump on a trampoline to speed things up! Shirley’s irregular contractions were a concern to the doctor, because they should have been steadily progressing in intensity and closeness. The doctor wanted to induce labor, but we said no, we would wait for her body to get into the proper labor routine.

Labor pains are certainly involuntary. No amount of straining can make them come or leave. A natural doctor would have aided Shirley’s labor through the use of herbs. But this was Wyoming. What could we do but pray and wait? At noon, Shirley’s labor was not at all improved. Women in labor shouldn’t receive solid food. Shirley was given a little broth and water, but had had no solid food in 24 hours. She is a physically strong woman, but I could see she was becoming tired. The ten to eleven hours of labor had taken its toll on her strength. The doctor urged that she at once receive an artificial hormone called pitocin, which simulates the hormone normally produced in a mother’s body which causes the uterus to contract. He promised that there would be no side effects, that the only danger would be an overdose and to prevent that, he would begin with a small dosage.

No side effects. Could we believe that? These same doctors in our childbirth preparation class had stated that circumcision of male babies had no health effect whatsoever. They are willingly ignorant of the scientific studies (confirming Biblical truth) showing that not being circumcised leads to later incidence of cancer in men and also the wives of uncircumcised men.

An unpalatable decision can be made if it comes at a hopeless moment and seems to promise quick results. The doctor promised, "I’m sure with this injection her labor will speed up and the baby will soon come." Reluctantly, we agreed. I didn’t know where it was located, but the Scripture kept going through my mind, "the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth" (later I found it twice, Isaiah 37:3, II Kings 19:3). We had to do something quick, or her strength would be gone. I felt that her bag had broken prematurely, and that her body’s natural hormone production to create labor contractions was late in catching up.

An electronic fetal monitor was attached in two places on Shirley’s abdomen, to measure the baby’s heartbeat and the strength of her contractions. A continuous computer graphic printout showed her progress. As the artificial hormone was entered into her veins, contractions fell into a regular pattern, and eventually were two and three minutes apart. Breathing properly as we were trained in childbirth class is essential to help the mother relax and effectively utilize the contractions to move the baby down and out. As "coach," my job was to make sure Shirley was breathing properly and relaxed, even during the most difficult contractions. I gave her ice to cool her between contractions.

When Shirley’s cervix had dilated to ten centimeters, she was allowed to push. This stage began about 2:00 P.M. Friday. The artificial hormone did stimulate contractions, but it had a side effect, that of adding to the pain of labor. For a healthy woman, coming to the pushing stage is like the last stretch of a marathon race. One is tired after running twenty-five miles. But miraculously, strength comes to run that last mile to the finish line.

The doctor was a true professional. But I couldn’t help notice that he was concerned. Even though she was ready to push, the baby was high in her abdomen. It had not dropped into her pelvic region. He commented that he had never seen a situation like this: a woman who has had two children before, and after all this labor, the baby had not progressed into the birth canal.

For an hour and a half, Shirley pushed, panted, and pushed again and again. Shirley was strong and pushing correctly. The doctor said the baby’s head was in the proper downward position. We all encouraged her and she tried different positions. I prayed silently, but Shirley wasn’t so shy in front of a crowd of unbelievers. She cried out, "Father, help me!"

The result? NOTHING! After an hour and a half of immense physical strain and effort, Shirley lay with her legs quivering, covered with perspiration. Her strength was gone. On some contractions, she couldn’t even push at all. I sat bent over in a chair next to the birthing bed, my stomach tied up in knots. I had literally pushed with her. I felt as if my viscera were hanging out. I was as it is described in Jeremiah 30:6, "Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?"

The doctor grimly stated that the baby had not dropped past the pelvic bones. It was impossible to aide the baby out with instruments, and he said we must prepare for a Caesarian operation to take the baby. I replied, "Doctor, you don’t know how much we don’t want to do that!" I knew that the monitor showed that the baby’s heartbeat had dropped forty beats per minute. How much longer could we risk the life of mother and baby to extend this agonizing situation?

I wish I could say that my faith was unshakable, like as Paul said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body," II Corinthians 4:8-10. But I was poured out like water, my heart felt like melted wax and my bowels churned in agony (Psalm 22:14). If only I could have borne the pain that Shirley endured! If only there was light at the end of the tunnel.

I left the room with tears in my eyes. I phoned home and told eight-year-old Barbara: "Mother’s had a rough time and unless she delivers in a few minutes the doctors are going to have to operate on her to remove the baby. Please pray for Mother and the baby." Out of the depths I cried with all my soul to the Almighty.

There are times when we must all face the indisputable fact that we mortal human beings are powerless. We do not have the "strength to bring forth." Just as Hezekiah realized that he alone could not withstand the might of the Assyrian army, we must see ourselves for what we are: weak human beings desperately in need of the Great Deliverer’s merciful help. We do not deserve His forgiveness and mercy. We deserve death for our sins. He can only help us when we come down from our arrogancy and in our helpless condition cry out to HIM. Would the Eternal come to our aid in this travail?

As I was talking on the phone, one of the nurses burst in and cried out, "come quick!" I streaked down the hall to the birthing room and was astounded to see the baby’s head crowning. Shirley relates what happened in those few minutes during my absence. Courage and strength suddenly came to her. She looked at the nurses and said, "I’m not going to have a Caesarian!" In over fourteen hours of labor, including one and one-half hours of hard pushing, nothing had happened. Nothing. The doctor had never seen anything like it. Strength was gone. But suddenly, in six quick pushes, Amanda Ruth Nickels, a healthy girl weighing eight pounds three ounces, was born!

Our agony, our sorrow, our pain was instantly replaced by indescribable, unspeakable joy. I literally danced around the room shedding tears of joy, praises to the Eternal and the wonderful woman who had brought our family another child, another potential child of God.

The doctor let me cut the umbilical cord. He vigorously massaged Shirley’s abdomen to help her organs return into place. After a brief clean-up, he and the nurses discreetly left the room for we three to be alone together. I placed the baby on Shirley’s breast and tried to capture on film her glowing face as Amanda nursed for the first time. Shirley’s face glowed with a wonderful radiant beauty.

From out of the depths of despair and anguish, the Almighty heard our cry. I cannot relate this experience without having tears of joy. How wonderful and mighty is our Great Deliverer, our Rock, our Fortress!

I have not related our experience to overdramatize it. (I’m sure many others have experienced as much or more traumatic deliveries.) But I wish to demonstrate that out of the depths of despair, when we give up because we know we have no strength left, HE hears our cry, HE lifts us up out of the dust and causes us to ride upon high places. Many a night at bedtime, prayers with the children were said for a safe delivery. We studied, exercised, practiced breathing and relaxing. We were ready, as it were, for the Olympics. This was all good to have done, and we would do as good or better again. Yet we were defeated at every turn, exhausted, beaten. At one desperate point, Shirley exclaimed, "I want to go home. I quit!" Then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, came an instantaneous miraculous strong hand from the Almighty to lift us from abject defeat to glorious victory. Can we take any credit? Does this all show our strong faith, our righteousness? Not at all. We had given up. The victory all belongs to God.

This is the story of the birth of Amanda Ruth Nickels. It is the real story of life. Anything that we do does not earn salvation. All our righteousness is as filthy rags. We suffer through the travail of this life and in the end we have to give up, knowing that we don’t have the strength to deliver. Unless our Rock, our Deliverer, lifts us up on the wings of eagles, we will perish. But, praise Him! The good news is that He will lift us up. He will deliver us from all our sorrows, if we trust in Him.

Certain scriptures now have a much more personal meaning to me as a result of Amanda’s birth. Yes, a man can suffer pangs as of a woman in travail. I did.

The coming day of the LORD (YHWH) shall be far more agonizing than what we went through. In that day, all hands shall be faint, every man’s heart shall melt. " . . . And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth," Isaiah 13:6-9. It will come as a thief in the night, "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape," I Thessalonians 5:3. When Isaiah was given a grievous vision of this coming time, he said, "Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it," Isaiah 21:3.

Those that are punished for their sins will have the sorrows of a travailing woman, with no end for their misery. Of sinful Ephraim, Hosea 13:13 says, "The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children." The punishment of the rebellious daughter of Zion by a cruel army from the north is described as "our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail," Jeremiah 6:24. In spite of painting herself like a harlot and going after lovers, the daughter of Zion will cry out "woe is me now!" as " . . . a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child," Jeremiah 4:30-31. Verse 19 adds, "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart . . . because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war."

"LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen," Isaiah 26:16-18.

Judah shall be carried away captive, " . . . shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?" Jeremiah 13:21. "How gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!" Jeremiah 22:23. "Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail," Jeremiah 49:24. "The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail," Jeremiah 50:43.

Despondent Job stated, "The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days," Job 15:20. This is not always true; sometimes, they prosper, Jeremiah 12:1. However, in the final judgment, this will be true. "As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception," Hosea 9:11. Verse 16 adds, "Ephraim is smitten . . . they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet I will slay even the beloved fruit of their womb."

The Creator shall cause Zion (the Church) to miraculously bring forth in His kingdom. In a future prophecy, of Zion (the Church), Isaiah predicts, "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God," Isaiah 66:7-9. See also verses 10-13.

Zion shall be redeemed, the Kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem: "Now why doest thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city . . . there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies," Micah 4:9-10.

The church is described in Revelation 12:1-5 as a woman "being with child" who "cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered." This child is the Messiah, who was to rule all nations. Satan tried to devour the child as soon as it was born, same verses. In the kingdom, when the Church is married to the Messiah, she will prosper, "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD," Isaiah 54:1 (cited in Galatians 4:27).

Those who see the Kingdom shall fear and tremble as a woman in travail. Mount Zion, the city of the great King Messiah when He reigns on the earth, shall cause the kings who see it to be troubled and haste away, "Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail," Psalm 48:6. Moses’ song echoes the fear and trembling that overtakes those who hear how the Eternal led forth His people and guided them in His strength into His holy habitation, Exodus 15:11-18.

Zealously serving the brethren as the Apostle Paul did is like travailing in birth. Paul "travailed in birth" for the Galatians, willingly going through pain to help them have Christ formed in them, Galatians 4:19. A mother willingly suffers the pangs of childbirth for the sweet little baby to be born. Do we serve the brethren in the same way?

Tamar travailed with Pharez and Zarah. The midwife helped her, Genesis 38:27-30. On the way to Ephrath (Bethlehem), " . . . Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor . . . the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also." Rachel died after giving birth to Benjamin, Genesis 35:16-20. The taking of the ark by the Philistines led to Eli’s death and the onset of his daughter-in-law’s labor pains, I Samuel 4:18-22. Israelite women were more lively than Egyptian women, and delivered before the midwives came to help them, Exodus 1:7-22.

In this present life, we often face tribulation and persecution. But in the world to come, we will have joy comparable to having a child born. "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world," John 16:21. The anguish is forgotten for the joy that follows.

It is not uncommon for a travailing woman to cry out: "Now will I cry like a travailing woman," Isaiah 42:14. A woman should never feel inhibited in this situation. If you feel like crying out, do so!

Israel in type had a traumatic birth. Her navel cord was not cut, she was not washed in water, nor salted nor swaddled. She was polluted in her own blood, Ezekiel 16:1-6. God took her, washed and anointed her, verses 7-14. But she trusted in her own beauty, verses 15-63. We wish that our children would realize how much we have gone through to take care of them and raise them. We want them to turn out right. Doesn’t the Almighty do more?

Under Old Testament statutes, a woman was to go through an eighty day period of cleansing if she had a girl, and forty days if it were a boy, Leviticus 12:1-8.

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," Romans 8:22, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. Our whole being should cry out for this world to be delivered from sin and death, just as Shirley cried out to deliver Amanda! Those that face a life of grief often curse the day they were born (which should be a blessed day), Jeremiah 20:14-18, 15:10, Job 3:1-12.

Bringing forth foolish or wicked children is a cause of great grief to the parents. Proverbs 17:21, 25, "He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow . . . .a foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him." Conversely, "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him," Proverbs 23:24. Parents would rather kill their own children who would be false prophets, Zechariah 13:3. Our children should pass on the Eternal’s truth, Psalm 78:1-8.

A man that is born of woman lives a short life, Job 14:1, and can’t really be righteous, 15:14, 25:4, Psalm 51:5. The day of death (of a righteous person) is better than the day of one’s birth, Ecclesiastes 7:1. "As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun," Psalm 58:8. "If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial: I say, that an untimely birth is better than he," Ecclesiastes 6:3.

Every baby born should remind us of the Messiah’s birth, a birth in which we should continually rejoice, Isaiah 7:14, a virgin shall conceive and bare a son. For unto us a child is born, Isaiah 9:6.

Genesis 3:16 needs to be clarified relative to giving birth. The New International Version translates this verse: "To the woman [Eve] He said, I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Because of Eve’s sin of disobedience to the Eternal, bringing forth of children and raising them would be painful toil, much hard work (Hebrew word for pain is etsev, "grievous, hard work, toil, painful struggle"). In addition, Eve would be placed under the authority and rule (Hebrew mashal) of her husband. Just as the Eternal rules over us (Judges 8:23), the husband is to lovingly rule over the wife. Rebellion of the wife against the husband is sin; she must "reverence" (hold in deep awe) her husband, Ephesians 5:22-33. She must never tell him "no" unless his command is contrary to God’s law!

Furthermore, Adam also received the Eternal’s judgment because he followed Eve in her sin, Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV), " . . . Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil [etsev] you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you . . . . By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

Eve’s judgment did not end once she had given birth to children: the real labor began after the children were born, and the real grievous pains came when problems arose and Cain slew Abel.

Mankind in general has woefully misunderstood God’s "curse" on Adam and Eve. They feel that God was unfair, and, as a result, have striven ever since to nullify or do away with the righteous judgments of the Almighty. The Creator’s judgment was actually done for sinful mankind’s benefit to give people work to do. Idleness leads to unhappiness, boredom and more sin. Proverbs 14:23 states, "in all labor [etsev] there is profit." Work is not a curse — neither is a wife being put under her husband’s rule since the parallel type is the Church being under Christ, Ephesians 5:21-33.

Here is a correct explanation of Genesis 3:16-19:

(1) These judgments apply to us, not because of the "original sin" of Adam and Eve, but because of our own sins, in following their footsteps in rebellion against God.

(2) Some women have relatively easy and painless deliveries, others have extremely painful childbirth. The difference is often due to the health of the mother and her heredity, not necessarily because of the degree of sin.

(3) Many women today try to get around the pain of childbirth by taking drugs to alleviate the pain. This is harmful to the mother and the baby. Millions go even farther and don’t want the living human being in their wombs, causing it to be aborted (murdered). All in a vain effort to escape etsev!

(4) The whole experience of giving birth to and the greater part of rearing the children is the toil given to woman. When a woman tries to evade this God-given responsibility, she is sinning against her Maker.

(5) "Women’s liberation" is certainly not a new thing, but today’s western society is so perverted that the authority of the husband is held up to open ridicule.

(6) In many Third World countries, especially those dominated by the Moslem religion, the reverse perversion predominates. Women are treated as slaves. One frequently sees women doing all the hard dirty work, while their husbands relax. Neither extreme is in accordance with the way of the Eternal.

(7) Men too have tried to circumvent God’s judgments. Poisons are used to kill weeds and bugs in a perverse attempt to alleviate the curse of the ground. The Eternal’s way is that of obedience, which sinful mankind rejects, Leviticus 26, Malachi 3:8-12. Wars are basically fought over the land, and who will dominate it. What sinful mankind fails to realize is the Eternal owns everything. The ONLY way to be blessed is to obey Him.

And so, as with Adam and Eve, so it is with us. Both man and woman have to undergo painful toil (etsev) for their own good. When a husband and wife labor together in childbirth and every other experience of life, they are brought into a very close relationship with each other, and their Maker. Far from being merely a curse on womankind that the husband should look upon as pain the woman deserves, natural childbirth is an awe-inspiring example of the righteous judgment, love and mercy of the LORD! It should bring a husband closer to his wife and children.

Every birth should remind us of the painful effects of sin, and that the Ancient of Days has sent the Son of Man, the Messiah, to be born through pain, live a life of toil, die a painful death in our stead, and most importantly, be resurrected and be accepted by the Father as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. In all this painful labor — etsev — there is great reward, Proverbs 14:23.

A few years ago it was "out of fashion" for mothers to nurse their babies. The Nestle Company was severely chastised in the American natural health press for selling an infant formula in Africa that lacked necessary nutrients. Thousands of malnourished babies with permanent brain damage resulted. We never saw the Nestle Company recant. With problems of clean water and sanitation in Third World countries, the last thing they need is to bottle-feed their babies. What the Almighty created to be a natural process, and which almost every woman is physically able to do, some reject as an "old fashioned" custom. The Bible stands forever. Nursing is the Bible way. Scientifically, it is the superior method.

I Thessalonians 2:7 (NKJV), "But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children." (See also verse 11.)

Moses complained to Yahweh for all he had to put up with, leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. "Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the suckling child, unto the land . . . ," Numbers 11:12. Jacob blessed Joseph with "blessings of the breasts, and of the womb," Genesis 49:25. Of the Messiah, David prophesied, "But thou art He that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope [margin: keptest me in safety] when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly," Psalm 22:9-10.

Ephraim’s punishment is "a miscarrying womb and dry breasts," Hosea 9:14. The Eternal can teach knowledge to those weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts, Isaiah 28:9-11. God will never forsake His own, Isaiah 49:15, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." To those that flee during the Great Tribulation, " . . . woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!" Matthew 24:19, Luke 23:29.

To Jesus, " . . . a certain woman of the company . . . said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it," Luke 11:27-28. Psalm 8:2 (cited by Christ in Matthew 21:16) reminds us that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength."

As Shirley was nursing Amanda, there was certainly the feeling of strength and security in our lives. Nursing is beneficial to mother and baby. It is a wonderful thing the Almighty has created. A far cry from artificial methods. As Amanda was safe and secure in her mother’s arms, so we should be reminded that we are even more safe in the Eternal’s bosom.

As we watched our little bundle of joy wiggle and coo, we wouldn’t trade what we went through for anything in the world. Sure it was labor. And it continues to be labor as we care for and raise the new baby. But, this is as it should be.

"Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee . . . for that is thy portion in this life, and in the labor which thou takest under the sun," Ecclesiastes 9:9.

We encourage couples to have their children as naturally as possible, without drugs, medications and other unnatural methods. The mother should nurse the baby if at all possible. Prepare for the birth of your child, and for the many years thereafter of rearing them with love and discipline in the Eternal’s ways. Take the awesome responsibility to train up a child in the way he should go, so even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The Natural Childbirth Book, by J. Milburn & L. Smith. An excellent, up-to-date reference textbook for natural childbirth from the Christian perspective.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, published and available through the La Leche League, International, which has local chapters in most large cities. La Leche helps women to breast feed their babies, and counsels nursing women with nursing problems.

How to Raise a Healthy Child . . . In Spite of Your Doctors, by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn. A very helpful book.

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