On April 3rd, 2022 my wife and I welcomed our second child into the world. The day was a surprise to us all. We knew we were going to have a baby, we didn’t know that it would be that soon.
My wife and I were in our basement that afternoon preparing for his arrival. We had a due date for the end of May and we wanted to start getting some of his clothes ready for him. We had one load in the dryer and the covers for the bed and other baby items in the washer when my wife felt something was off. After some time she called he doctor and was told to go to the hospital. After some talking, I finally convinced her she needed to get in the car. I buckled up the first born, threw some things in the car and off we went. I decided to get to our destination as quickly and safely as possible. While we were driving she grabbed me and said I think my water broke. I was like no way we are way to early for this, but we needed to get there right away. I made a choice in my mind that if I had happened to find a police officer following me I would use their lights and sirens to help me to get through the red lights I knew awaited me when I got off the freeway. The cop never was seen. And I stopped and waited at any light that was red. We got to the hospital, I grabbed a wheelchair, unbuckled the oldest and went inside. The greeter at the door asked what we needed. We replayed maternity and she took my wife and told me to go park. By the time my oldest and I got back into the hospital the room was full of hospital staff. I had already texted my supervisor letting them know I was not going to be there the next day and let the nice lady at church that volunteered that morning to come get the oldest so he can stay with her family. When the doctor called out my wife was dilated to nine I was shocked. This delivery was coming faster than a high speed train. The nurses tried to get my wife an IV, and never succeeded. They stuck her once and missed. The second attempt was interrupted by our sons arrival. I was told the doctor looked at my wife, turned around to get something, turned back and the baby was there. Our oldest, who is four, heard the cry of the newborn. He was like, “That’s my baby brother, is he okay, I love him very much” The nurses sprang to action, stabilized the child, and wheeled him out of the room to were i later found out was the special care nursery. As I write this he is still in the nursery. Being born eight weeks early, his body was not ready for the world outside of the womb. This time has been difficult, more on that in a future post. We are praying for his fast growth so he can come home to us soon.
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Nothing in the world can prepare you for the loss of a parent in your life. Our parents where there when we were born, they helped us learn to ride a bike, they took care of us when we were sick, and they were there when we did well at school. However, one day they will leave us. They will move on to the next life. It is a fact of life. The Bible tells us that all humans will die at one point.
Ten years ago my father beat back stage four prostate cancer. He survived against all odds and doctors saying he had a short time to live. In May 2021, he fought off COVID-19 and got to go back home. However, in August a case of pneumonia and congestive heart failure took his life. I remember going to bed the night before. Hearing the news that dad was doing well. My wife and I were planning on visiting in a few weeks over the Labor Day holiday. My family prayed as we normally do before bed and I drifted off to sleep. By the time I woke up early the next morning things had changed. I had messages from the family telling me I needed to get to the hospital. I woke my wife up, which if you know my wife you know she not a morning person. I told her we needed to get to Michigan and that if she wanted to come to pack a bag. The four hour drive was intense as we quickly and safely made our way to the hospital while only making one stop for the bathroom, hard to do with a three year old traveling with you. I got off the highway for the hospital exit to have my mom cll asking where I was. Thankfully we got green lights all the way from the highway to the hospital. As i went upstairs with my mom, my wife and son waited downstairs. I went into the room of my father. He was so happy to see me there. At one point with my sisters Alicia and Skylar, he just looked at the three of us and kept saying it is amazing, its amazing. I took my wife and son to lunch and dropped them off at a close friend of mine that happen to live within miles of the hospital and I returned the spend the rest of the day there. When I returned they started the morphine. The hours that followed were hard, many of us talked and reminded dad of how great a man he was and that we loved him. My mom was holding his right hand and I was touching his left arm. We told him he did not have to fight and to go see his parents and Jesus. At 8:55 PM on August 14th, 2021 he took his last breath. I hugged my mom to comfort her as we got the nurse and doctor on duty. After they made their declaration we left the hospital. My father was such a wonderful man. We spent many years working at Ford Motor Company providing for our large family (I am the oldest of eight). I can remember many days as a child when he would take me down to his train room and we would spend hours there together has he showed me his layout and explained to me what he was doing. I loved the moment when at 7 years old I got my first train set and he set it up on a table right next to his. I learned so much from him in my life that I use today with my wife and son. Jeffrey Peter Robinson, you were a great father and we love you so very much. I look forward to seeing you in heaven one day. Many months ago we launched Cross Culture Family. We were so excited for what it could be used for. We were hoping to get on here and write about our struggles and our victories. However, we let time get away from us. We let the business of our lives keep us away from writing.
The spring and summer months came to us with so many changes. In early spring I found my self getting a new position at work, one that I worked hard for and was right where I got my education. Our God showed up so wonderfully to allow a position to open up and I was at the top of their list to bring into the department. After that the company decided to bring all the remote workers back home. You can imagine that the changes effected the family in a huge way, not only was I working different hours, I now needed to commute to the job. The summer months brought about a busy schedule. We started the summer at a family camp. We had a great time and we hope to share a lot of it in the near future. We had so many other family activities lined up on most weekends. What can be taken from these last few months is the time spent together. As a family it is important to do things together. To learn more about each other. While each of the activities we accomplished took time, at the end of it all we grew closer to each other as a family. My challenge to you now is this. With the remaining time we have in the summer take each moment and spend it with your family around you. Allow God to use this time to strengthen your marriage and your relationship with your kids. YOu only get each day once and once it is gone you can never get it back. Take the time to make the most of it with the family that you are blessed to have. Welcome to Cross Culture Family.
Why Cross Culture Family you might ask? Maricel, my wife, is from the Philippines and I am from America. We both meet each other in 2015 while I was doing some mission work in the Philippines. We got married in 2017 and now have our own little cross culture family. We knew from the start that our marriage was going to be used to help others. We know marriage is hard in general. However, when you have two different people growing up and living in different cultures coming together the challenges are magnified and so is the fun. We wanted to share our experience with others to encourage others who find themselves in a family made up from different cultures. We wanted to share the great times we have together, the merging of traditions, and the struggles we have and the growth we gain as we live together daily. We pray that the people we reach in this ministry will be impacted and encouraged by what we share and that it will lead to stronger marriages and families. Bookmark this page and like us on facebook at CrossCultureFamily to follow us and stay up to date on any post we may make. Also, feel free to send us a message on the contact page. |
Joshua & Maricel RobinsonHusband and wife sharing about our experience in a cross culture family. Looking for previous post from Heart For The Philippines? Follow the link below to be taken to all the posts made.
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