Thirty-one-year-old Bronx native Ninfa Ramirez was having a baby.
She wasn't having a baby soon; her contractions said she was having
her baby now. This explains why Armando Ortiz, the child's father,
rushed Ramirez to the hospital. There, after an examination, the parents
were told to go home. The experts didn't know exactly how long it would
be, but they were sure it would be some time before their baby would
arrive.
Having heard the experts, Ramirez and Ortiz went home.
Ortiz dropped Ramirez off at the apartment and went to do some
errands. Before he had gone far he got a phone call ... from Ramirez.
She said the experts had been wrong. The baby was on its way.
Ramirez was right; the experts were wrong. She, assisted by Ortiz, gave
birth to a nine-and-a-half-pound baby girl in their apartment's
elevator. And although the apartment complex is clean and nice, the
elevator's sanitation level is far short of a hospital delivery room.
In such circumstances, many people would be angry with the experts.
They might be furious and threaten to bring a malpractice suit against
everyone involved.
That is not the way this couple feels. They
say the elevator delivery was "a beautiful experience," and Ortiz adds
he doesn't mind that the experts sent them home; he's just proud to be a
dad.
All of this proves Jesus was right when He said in effect
that the good news of a healthy baby pushes out many of the memories and
pains that accompanied the child's delivery.
The truth Jesus was
trying to share ought to be important to us.
You see, we live in
a world filled with sin, sorrow and sickness. As Christians, we are not
immune to those problems. Indeed, precisely because we are Christians we
may attract a disproportionate number of difficulties and
discouragements.
Does that sound familiar?
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission.
