OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE
Sally had been married for seven years, and all she wanted was to be a mother. Only a few months after she was married, she had prepared a nursery for the baby she dreamed of having.
But the years passed, and no baby came. She spent lots of money on doctors and specialists, but the final verdict was that she would never be able to have a baby. She had spent the last seven years praying for a child, and now that she felt God had abandoned her, she, in her bitterness, abandoned him.
She watched a news report of a young, teenage mother who had a baby she didn’t want and left it to die, and resentment began to grow in Sally’s heart. How could God be so unjust? She knew she could have given that child the love her empty arms ached to give.
Feeling the way she did, Sally refused to attend her family’s Thanksgiving gathering. In her heart she felt there was nothing left to be thankful for. Then, a few days after Thanksgiving, a knock came on her door. There stood a young woman who was obviously pregnant.
The young lady introduced herself as Amanda, and said, “I’m expecting a baby next month, and I am trying to find a good mother for her. Different people I know gave me some names, and of those, I felt to come here.”
“Why?” Sally asked.
“I know I can’t take care of her the way she needs to be taken care of,” Amanda said. “But I want to make sure the mother she goes to will love her like I do.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“If you will accept me into your home, I will see how you live and what you are like.”
The thought passed through Sally’s mind that this girl was only trying to find a free place to live, and that when the time came, she wouldn’t actually give up her baby. She had heard of such things. Perhaps this girl would just rob them, or even murder them in their sleep. Sally had so many bad thoughts, but still, she found herself saying yes.
Sally set up a bedroom for Amanda and helped her settle in. When Sally’s husband came home, he was surprised to find out about the new arrangement, but agreed to it. As the days passed, Sally learned more about Amanda. She had grown up in a good home, but she had made some bad decisions. She had lived with the baby’s father until he learned she was pregnant, and then he threw her out.
Social Services had worked out for a couple to adopt her baby, but she insisted on meeting them first. When she did, she felt they were not the ones she wanted to raise her daughter.
As the days grew into weeks, Sally found herself loving this wayward young woman. She realized that Amanda had a good heart and truly loved her baby. Sally wondered if Amanda would really be able to give her daughter up when it was time.
The day eventually came that Sally was rushing Amanda to the hospital. After many hours of hard labor, a sweet little girl was placed in Amanda’s arms. Amanda cried and said, “My sweet little angel, I have chosen a mother for you who will help you understand that I am not giving you up because I don’t love you, but because I do. I chose someone who will love you as I do, but can give you the life I can’t.”
Amanda cuddled her little daughter close for some time, crying while she did, but finally she handed the baby to Sally.
“What will you name her?” Amanda asked.
“I think I will name her ‘Angel Amanda’,” Sally said.
And through the years, as Angel grew, Sally’s heart was always full of gratitude, not only for the child she had received, but for a young woman who taught her what love really is.
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