Today’s post was written by Whitney Nall. Whitney and her husband Brandon have a four month old son and write a blog called “A Marriage Moment.” They moved to Birmingham from Nashville last summer and love being closer to the beach!

When people ask how the birth of our first born son went, we say that it was nothing like what we had pictured and better than we could have pictured...all in the same breath!

Brandon and I wanted to have a home birth for a number of reasons, but it was not allowed in Alabama. I grew up in Chattanooga, TN, and my parents welcomed us into their home for the last few weeks of my pregnancy so that I could give birth there.

Throughout the entire pregnancy, we prayed: "Lord, if there is any reason that we should not have this home birth...please show us a red flag." Sure enough, prenatal after prenatal appointment went smoothly, and there was no flag...until the very end. The day before my due date, there was a complication that could have been dangerous. We were encouraged to go to the hospital to start getting my body ready for going into labor. After 36 hours, there was talk of them possibly going in to break my water. We were discouraged at the progress and felt at a crossroads because we were trying to give my body the best opportunity at having a natural delivery with minimal interventions.

I have never felt more out of control in my life then waiting and praying through these decisions. And something clicked with me in these days: even the times I felt like I was in control, I never was. That was all a false sense. Praise God for showing me that now.

The Lord provided us with a nurse who was experienced in home deliveries, and when she came in, she breathed LIFE-giving air over me, our room, and our situation! The dream that we had of having a natural delivery was coming true...all in our hospital room that we had made as "homey" as possible. That night I gave birth to our healthy beautiful son!

I share this with you to say...plans don't always turn out how you expect! The truth is when you "Delight yourself in the Lord...He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4)! The love I have for the Lord, my husband, and our son is deeper than it ever has been! We have learned so much, been through so much together, and still have so much to learn. Each day is a new adventure, and when we look into the eyes of our precious boy, we can see the fingerprints of God. He is God's gift to us, and for that we are forever grateful.

Just as we had to learn to take one contraction at a time, now we are learning to take one moment at a time. There is no "handbook" that comes with how to raise a child, that's for sure! Each parent and child is different, and every one has different advice. That we have already seen! We are so thankful to know the Lord and have HIM be the captain of TEAM NALL!