Toby, it hurts so bad!

Probably gives me the most hopeless feeling EVER.

Watching your wife give birth is probably the most amazing moment a man can have…..and the worst.

We men like to be the protectors…..the suppliers of every need…..the fixers.  But in these moments, we are truly irrelevant.  There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to make the pain she is feeling go away.

The amount of time has grown shorter with my 3 kids.  With Gabriel, I stood there during 36 hours of labor….BAWLING through most of it…..as she suffered.  With Chaya, it was a mere 12 hours that I was a blubbering idiot…..and with Elijah, it was a little over 90 minutes.

There are two totally opposite sides of the coin in these moments.  Total elation on one hand.  Watching God’s work before my own eyes.  The life that He created 10 months prior is being delivered into this world for us to love and care for.

Then there is the craziness.  Hearing her yell out in pain, looking at me, wanting me to “fix” it.  All I can do is pray, but my mind won’t stop spinning long enough for me to do that.  I like to think I’m pretty decent in pressure moments, but not those.  I’m totally useless…..Sometimes I can manage to count when the pushing begins….I can get a rag wet to try and cool her off….I can set up a camera like no one’s business…..But the whole process cannot possibly be over soon enough.

Yeah, I don’t have any miraculous ways for us to be useful during these times.  This post won’t end with a solution.

All I know is my “respect cup” has overflowed 3 times during our marriage.  I have witnessed, 3 times, pain that I KNOW I couldn’t handle…..Yet, the baby is born and she forgets all about the pain.  I know that I would have to complain about that pain for weeks to come.  Not her!  Not once!  My wife rocks my world!

Face it men, God uses childbirth to put us in check….to show us we’re not nearly as tough as we’d like to think we are…..to show us when it comes to strength, there’s more to it than lifting grocery bags into the house or picking up couches…..there’s an inner strength in every woman that we can only dream about.

Thank God for my wife!!

YOU should thank Him for yours!!

We introduce you to Elijah Charles Keathley

Born July 22, 2009 at 12:32pm weighing in at 9 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long.

Elijah's Birthday

Click his picture and it will take you to a series of pics taken from first thing this morning til right now.  If, for some reason, clicking the pic doesn’t work, look to the right of this post and click on one of the pictures under “Our Pictures” and it will take you to our Flickr site where you can find them all.

Below are the videos we made throughout the day.  More videos to come, I’m sure .

There ya have it.  There are more pics on my phone, but the cord is at the hospital……where I need to be going .

I hope to get around to the, literally, hundreds of you who sent prayers, congrats and well wishes, eventually, but for now, as I’ve said many times today….

THANK YOU!

Praise God!

This time you get to guess.  Guess the DATE, WEIGHT and LENGTH.  Only this time there will be prizes!!!  3 different prizes actually….One for the closest in each category.

I’m gonna give you what I would consider all of the contributing factors and you put in the comment section your guesses.  Here we go:

• Gabriel, born March 23, 2002 weighed in at 9 pounds 7 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.
• Chaya, born August 10, 2005 weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 19.75 inches long.(yeah, weighed 8/10 ON 8/10…easy for her old dad to remember)
• Don’t know my exact weight at birth, so I can’t help ya there
• Ria, born November 13, 1981 weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces.
• The doc hasn’t given us a guess yet, but they have been wrong with the first two, so that wouldn’t help ya either.
• Ria’s due date is July 17.
• Her next appointment is July 5.
• There are other factors and if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know them….If not, you have some catching up to do.
• Below you’ll find the latest pic of Ria’s belly….I’ll just tell ya she looks similar, but maybe a bit smaller than with the first 2.  Then again, she wasn’t in the Army with them either .

ON TO THE PRIZES!!

The closest to date, weight and length will each get some kind of souvenir from Germany.  I’ll let you choose what ya want….t-shirt, drinking glasses, keychain, etc.

If there is anyone who guesses EXACTLY on any of the 3 categories, I’ll throw in a $50 iTunes gift card on top of the above mentioned prizes!

WOW, that Pastor T guy is AWESOME!!  No, he just loves ya!

Ok, get to guessing!!

Heather gave birth this morning at 5:30 a.m. to their son, Simon.  She is not doing well after the delivery—very low blood pressure and seizures.  She was quickly taken, we think, to ICU.  Their son, Simon, is doing well.  He is 4 ½ pounds.  They are at St. Johannes.

Bill asks that we get prayer chains going for them.   I know you will join in praying for her and asking others to pray also.

If I know the community of people who stop by here once in awhile, I know you will join us in praying for this family.

Dear God,

Thank You for the new life, in Simon, you have given Bill and Heather.  We pray you keep him warm in your arms and allow the healing necessary for his premature body to thrive in this world.  We pray Your healing hands on Heather….that you give her peace of mind and comfort that all things are good in Your hands.  We pray that they seek You for this comfort, that their faith in You will grow in this circumstance.  Be with Bill and their other 2 daughters during this time, Lord.  We pray for them, peace and confidence in Your plan.

Cover this family, Lord, in Your Holy prescence.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen!