Friday, August 14, 2009

Queen Anna...

I wrote this piece almost 3 years ago, as my youngest daughter Anna was preparing to leave for New York City and make it her home. Today is her birthday, so I thought I'd share it.

QUEEN ANNA NAOMI

It is often noted that each child a mother bears is very different
My story holds this to be true

Shay, was my first born, not “planned” as they say
Her birth was at a time of turmoil in my life unlike any other
She rescued me from the path of destruction I had begun

She was “born saved” and loved Jesus always it seems
Almost always obedient, loving and my friend
Shay was the “easy” child

Job was my second. Born in my “natural woman” days
He was all boy from the word go, topping 8 pounds at birth

I would become familiar with emergency rooms with Job
Since his activities were prone to bring about injury

His teen years would bring rebellion and the testing of wills
Through it all, God prevailed and spared his life, more than once

Anna was my last, and I knew she would be
So perhaps she was “spoiled”, as her siblings often say
By the time she came along, so many of the “rules” seemed to lose their importance

Anna’s life barely started before it was almost taken from us
She was born in a labor room, all the delivery rooms were full
She was blue, with no breath and no oxygen tanks were around

Powerfully, God stepped in and brought her to life

And the moment I held her I saw wisdom in her face

Anna Naomi, means “Gracious and Pleasant”
It is a name she has grown into, become really

Grace flows around her like a silk scarf
It is her carriage, face and stance
It has been said by some, that Anna walks about on air

Pleasant is who she is, her demeanor, her “style”
Who does not enjoy her bright smile, her hearty laugh
Or the way she invents new movements to accompany her conversation

From the beginning, the fight for her life was clear
As bad news and illness came upon her
A “brewy” in her brain, a heart murmur and fevers

Many nights as a baby, she laid almost lifeless against my chest
As we held her close for fear she would stop breathing
While 105 degree fevers racked her body and sucked her energy

Vials of blood taken to run tests, yet never did she shed a tear
When time and time again, she would be poked and prodded

Each time the dr.’s answer was the same;
Which was, we have no answer, no disease we can name

She was so small, purple circles under her eyes
Blond curly hair about her soft cheeks
People often asked if she was a “preemie”

Smiles were hard to come by many days
As I lived in fear of the next fever

But miraculously, one New Years Eve
God said not so, and healed her of her infirmities
The fevers never to return again
Heart murmur and brewy both silenced

Around outsiders, she was quiet, and subdued as a child
It would become a “quest” for some church members
To get her to speak

She also had her times of acting up, acting out and the like
It was those times I would look in her eyes and make her recite
“My name is Anna Naomi, gracious and pleasant”
With a roll in her eyes, she would repeat my words

Her teenage years brought a soberness that would be hard to pierce
And a loathing of school that tried my sanity
But God told me she was a Queen, not a silly young woman
And peace was my restored to my mind

She endured disappointments and surely felt alone often
But like Anna in the bible, she waited for Christ’s appearance
Not wavering in her seeking of Him, He heard her cries

And as a bird that has found it’s wing, she took flight
Almost overnight it seemed, she embraced who she was
And the facets of her diamond shone in brilliance

Now the fire in her belly seeks new fuel
As she leaves what is familiar, in a quest for more
To be all that God has made her to be

Queen Anna Naomi, follow your dreams
Surely God is in your heart, His favor is before you