Braveheart

Caleb's Birthday this year fell on Rosh Hashanah (evening) and he was purposely given a Hebrew name. Caleb in Hebrew (Ka Lev) is translated "Like the heart" or as "Whole Hearted". At the time I was pregnant with him I took a class titled Bible as Literature, and I read the entire bible front to back. In the Hebrew Bible referred to as the (Pentateuch)/Torah. Caleb is one of the 12 men sent by Moses to explore Canaan with Joshua despite the evil reports of the other 10 men the two stay steadily faithful to the word and belief that this is the promised land. Due to his faithful devotion, brave spirit, and unwavering belief Caleb and Joshua are awarded the promise land and generations of his family benefit while the other ten perish. Their belief was the difference between life and death. 

Now, during my pregnancy this story spoke to me for many reasons. The first being Caleb was born 13 months after his stillborn brother. The only thing I had to cling to during his high risk pregnancy was faith. I could only stay true to faith, immense hope, and unwavering belief that this baby would be okay, this time would be different, and there was something miraculous that would come from this. Doubt and fear would not rob me of this joy. Second, Caleb had a rough end to his inutero experience and his birth was very traumatic.  Induced, 36 hours of labor, a baby in fetal distress, c section prepped and wheeled off, only to end up discovering he was too far descended in the birth canal so a c section would've been too risky and they would've had to pull him back up with the cord around his neck . So with an assisted delivery of vacuum and forceps we finally got him out, except he was blue, not crying after several invigorating rubs, and wisked off to get oxygen. I'll never forget looking into his eyes from across the room as the team got him stabilized. I knew this child captured the essence of everything that was brave, faithful, and undeniably whole hearted.  He has always been my little warrior. This boy conquers everything. He IS and will always be defying the odds in life. My very own testament of true faith and prosperity.