Wife, Missionary, Blogger…. Mom?
Well friends, you heard it here first.
We’re having a baby!
We are, indeed, expecting a little one on October 5th, 2014! That’s right, my birthday!
We’ve had so much fun over the past 2+ weeks telling all of our immediate family the news and getting to watch their expressions and excitement. Since this pregnancy was not expected or planned, it was a surprise for everyone. In fact, we’ve been actively and vocally giving God the reigns to our future with children here in the past year, saying that if He decides no children for us ever, we’ll follow Him. Essentially trying to speak out what we need to learn for ourselves, to trust Him with our futures, no matter what. But now, with such a HUGE blessing and surprise bestowed upon us, I wondered before we told anyone what their reactions would be like – but boy, they did not disappoint. I wish I had them all on film to share with you!
- My brothers… all of them were hilarious. From David screaming, “My baby sister is having a baby before me?!” Matt’s calm and repetitive, “It’s so amazing. I’m so happy,” to Joe and Lindsey’s abrupt turn around in the car to come back and congratulate us.
- My mom and dad… Mom stared at me and said, “Are you serious? Really? Seriously?” with big eyes, a wide smile and lots of shrieks and tears. My Dad threw out a sinking-the-buzzer-beater-for-the-win fist pump into the air and screamed “YES!” in the middle of a Chinese restaurant, then proceeded to cry (in a very masculine way) while smiling from ear to ear.
- Eric’s parents and brother… When we we told them, they all just froze in place. Eventually his mom beamed from ear to ear and began to cry, his brother slowly applauded and his dad, in relief, exclaimed, “Finally!” So hilarious!
- Our PPM friends… We told Marlo that she was going to be an aunt and she semi-seriously joked that she’d steal the baby away. Annie encouraged us, saying that there’s no better people to be entrusted to raise a child. After sending a mass email to all our PPM coworkers, we received a group call from the Minneapolis office with screaming and shouts and praises for carrying on the role of “pregnant pelican” for this year (making quite a few years since our Pelican family hasn’t had at least one person pregnant). Although we haven’t told any of our Haitian staff and friends, they’ll see us in March and, I can already assure you, they are going to be over the moon.
- Our friends in Cave City. Let’s just be real, they may take the cake for reactions. Jessica attacked me with a bear hug while Nicole kept saying, “Oh my goodness!” and (once Jessica was finished) gave me a huge hug. Mule just said “WHAT? Yeah!” and giggled for an hour and Jonas did “hallelujah hands” and even got a little misty eyed. We told most of our friends through a Facebook message, which resulted in Mason’s 4+ hour hilarious jokes about parenthood and the whole groups’ continual hilarious banter through the night about beards, bacon and boogers.
These are the people we live our everyday life with, who know the struggle and desire I’ve had for children. They’ve spoken peace into our lives and told us that God has a plan. They’ve walked along our journey since we started dating back into 2005 and even before then. It was so wonderful to watch them experience finding out and seeing the joy light up their faces and to share in this amazing gift of life.
Overall, we are so excited to be embarking on this journey that the Lord has blessed us with. We are so humbled and overwhelmed by the blessings of Christ. If you know much of our story, it’s always been a battle for us (me) to give over the topic of children to Christ fully. I always would hold a little piece of the worry to myself, not allowing Him to have full control. I recently found peace in that and gave up control, only to be given this gift soon after.. if you want to read the story on how that happened, feel free to read my blog on it coming up soon.
So.. questions! Everyone always has questions!
Were you surprised? Yes indeed we were, surprise surprise! Not planning to have a baby for a few more years, but we always say “Le Bondye Vle,” or “When God Wants.” Looks like He wants now, so we’re good.
What was Eric’s reaction when you told him? After he realized I was serious, he smiled the most radiant and handsome smile I’ve ever seen in this life and hugged me as I wept. Then, true to Eric form, I said – “We’re having a baby Eric, it’s going to change everything.” and he replied, “Yep, I guess we’ll just do that then.” Haha, I laughed and laughed. I’m tempted to make him a shirt with that on it.
When’s your due date? The due date is October 5th… which is my birthday!
What will you do about Haiti and mission work/does this change anything? Well, while Haiti and mission work aren’t going anywhere, it definitely changes things. I will be coming back to the States sooner than I typically would this summer, and Eric will stay to finish out the summer. We are incredibly blessed to work for PPM, they are beyond gracious in everything, but especially in new life!
Do you have any names picked out? A few, but nothing official as of yet.
How can we support you? Prayers for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby. I’ll be 6 months pregnant in Haiti during the hottest month of the year, so pray I don’t melt into a puddle. 😉 Also, feel free to send down any vegan/vegetarian snacks to Haiti! Haha. But seriously, above all, prayer that our little one will grow up following the paths of Christ and listening to His voice above all.
Thanks everyone for your well wishes, congratulations and love! We are so excited to begin the timeless journey of parenting and feel blessed that the Lord has allowed us to bring a child into this world. One thing is for certain, little Baby Richardson, you have so many people in this world who already love you so much. You don’t know it, but you are one blessed kid. So you just focus on chilling out and growing for the next 7 months. We’ll see you in October.
Thank you Father for this incredible gift, it’s all for You, Lord.
-Bethany
You guys are so awesome. Love this news. God’s up to big things!
Thanks, Adam.. It’s going to make things a little crazy, but we’re excited to see what He’s got in store. 🙂
Thanks Adam! We are so pumped!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited for yall!!!!! can’t believe yall plus mandy and beaner are expecting at the same time!!! Ya’ll know i’ll def be praying for yall!! miss yall and love yall!!
As soon as I read the title I said “oh yay!!” Beautiful! You guys will be terrific parents. Such a blessing.
So excited for you guys! You’ll be awesome parents!
Thank you Mrs. Gina!
First of all, let me say…I BELIEVE that Mule was giggling for an hour! lol
On a more serious note:
I am just so excited for you! When I got pregnant with Araylah (it had actually been a little bit since we had given over the number of our children to God, and I guess I kinda thought I wouldn’t have any since I hadn’t gotten pregnant yet), I was overjoyed, but so scared. She wasn’t “planned” or even “unplanned.” Part of me had a blast picking out outfits and doing the “new mom” thing and another part of me was like, “am I really going to go through labor and come out a mom?” I remember leaving the hospital and Mark and I were like, “Can you believe they let us leave with this baby? What were they thinking?!” And we were serious as could be!
I think by this pregnancy being unplanned, it really brings to light how much God’s timing is better than our own. You are going to get to experience so many firsts and it will be overwhelming (but in a good way). In fact, while the baby may shorten your mission trip for a time, your child will actually make you a better missionary and missionary’s wife. I know you already have such a love for children, and it’s probably hard to see that love growing any stronger, but it will…even in someone who already has as much love as you!
I am so happy for you guys and I hope you’ll guest write for me sometime as a new mommy! I’m not too far away if you ever need me! I don’t have any newborns, so I’m fully rested and would be glad for you to come over here and take a nap while I babysit! 🙂 Trust me, you are going to want to take as many people up on that offer as possible…the first six months can be trying. But I think it’s a wonderful time for God to teach us moms patience and endurance and learning to serve someone who can’t serve themselves…like I said, your child will make you an even better missionary.
Anyway, I could go on and on about how excited I am for you, but you’ve got to get started on catching up on your rest! 🙂
Thank you.Lindy. so cool how the Lord works and I think you’re right, His timing is so much better than our own. I love what you said about the baby making us better missionaries, so true. I cannot wait to learn everyday about the love of a parent. Thank you for all your encouragement and wisdom!
Words can’t describe how excited I am for you and Eric. You’re going to be awesome parents because I know that Christ will be at the center of everything. Can’t wait to meet my new cousin!
“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.” Psalm 137:3-5
Thanks Suzy! I pray we can be the parents Christ desires us to be. I loved your running story- so cool! <3
GOD KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING WHEN HE BLESS Y’ALL WITH A BABY. WE ARE SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU. CAN’T WAIT FOR THE HOLIDAYS. VERY HAPPY FOR THE GRANDPARNET TOO.. MOST AWESOME THING I EVERY HEARD. LOVE ALL THREE OF YOU.
LOVE AUNT LINDA AND UNCLE DAVID
Thanks you guys! The grandparents are so excited.. as are we! Love you!
So happy for Aubrey, Jana and most of all for you two! Congratulations!
Thank you so much!
Bethany and Eric, I am so proud for you both! Take care and God Bless!!
Cheryl