The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.

Nahum 1:7, KJV

Isn't God good?

On July 3rd at 12:14 AM, we got a text that we had been expecting: The time for our newest grandchild had arrived, and our daughter and son-in-law were just pulling out for the hour and a half trip to the birthing center in Lubbock, a town some 90 miles away from their home. I had asked Josh to let us know, if possible, when they were leaving and when they arrived so that we would know they were safe and sound. My eyes were a little out of focus when we got the text, so I thought it was actually five minutes later at 12:19.

Why be so precise? Well. I figured that if all went well, we would be getting a second text at about 1:49 AM telling us that they had gotten to the birthing center and were getting settled in. Instead, we received a phone call from Josh at about 2:15 AM telling us that we had a new grandson, Oliver! Carolyn and I were ecstatic and could now settle in for a needed night of rest, because we had the other three of Becca and Josh's kids (ages 20 months to 4 years old) and we needed all the rest we could get.

I was just about settled, when it struck me! Josh had told us that Oliver was 7 lbs 11 oz, was 20" long and was born at 12:41 AM! My tired brain started doing the math and it dawned on me that Oliver was born an hour and 23 minutes after they had left for an hour and a half trip... there was more to this story than we had been told! 

A little after 6:00 that morning we got the news that Becca, Josh and Oliver were already back in town! It was we got to talk with them that we got the rest of the story. Unbeknownst to any of us, a huge rain system was making its way through Texas that morning. It was the same system that would cause so much flooding a little south and east of us later that day. Apparently, it brought some big swings in the barometric pressure, and as any rancher knows, anything and anyone remotely close to giving birth when the pressure drops is likely going to be sped up a bit.

Anyway, I digress.

Our daughter had started having contractions about thirty minutes apart earlier that evening. No big deal (she thought) for they had left for the very same birthing center from the very same house when her contractions were ten minutes apart with her last child - and they still had hours to go when they reached that birthing center. The problem was that when she woke up shortly after midnight, the contractions were a lot closer together and she was in full blown labor! It became a race against time as they jumped into the van and sped towards the doctor. They made it as far as a little town about 20 miles from Lubbock when Becca told Josh that she didn't think the baby was going to wait, so he pulled over into a truck stop parking lot and folded the seats down in the back.

Becca thought with her being able to lay down that they might be able to make it, so Josh hopped back in the driver's seat and headed towards help. They did make it to the birthing center and the team came out to the van and realized that Becca could not even make it inside. So, a few minutes later, Oliver Keith came into this world in the fullness of health and safety!

Total time elapsed for an hour and a half drive and the birth of a healthy baby boy was one hour and twenty-seven minutes!

It had been raining in that city for a bit, but it paused long enough for the physicians to deliver that baby in the back of a van in their parking lot. Shortly after Mama and Oliver were brought safely inside, the skies opened up and it began to pour! The kids had to leave for home before the streets were too flooded to travel. They made it back to Happy a bit before 6:30 AM, just a little over six hours from when they had departed to have our sweet grandson.

Surely, the LORD is good! A stronghold in the day of trouble! And, as it turns out, in the day of great joy!