Impressed

 Impressed!

As I mentioned in last week’s “Impressions”, we visited my sister in the State of Wisconsin, where we were shocked at the sight of all the dead ash trees that we saw on her property. During our stay there we spent time with a number of old friends and acquaintances that we made when we lived in the area for four years, back in the 1980's. One particular lady (Chris) was our midwife, who coached us through both pregnancies and subsequent births. Now two of her daughters, Beth and Billy Jo have joined her in this wonderful profession and calling. When we contacted them, they were excited to show us around their new birthing center.

We were first invited to Billy Jo’s new home on a small pond, to enjoy some refreshments and reminisce about years gone by. Her husband took us for a short ride around the pond in his pontoon boat. While relaxing and conversing on the boat, Billy Jo referred to something that she had read in my book “Firstborn Factor”.  Being a midwife, she naturally brought up the story of Joseph who offered his knees to his grandson’s wife, while she was giving birth. This episode is found in chapter 40, page 14 of the book.

“Joseph lived to see the third generation of the children of Ephraim, but when it came to Manasseh’s firstborn, Machir, he did something quite strange. Scripture tells us that Machir’s sons were born on the knees of Joseph (ref. Genesis 50:23)…  So when the wife of his grandson Machir gave birth, she sat on Joseph’s knees as a sign that the child came out of his own loins, and in that way he became his great grandfather’s offspring and belonged to him. Many years earlier, Joseph’s mother Rachel enacted this very same proxy procedure. “So she said, ‘Here is my maid Bilhah; go into her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her’” (Genesis 30:3).” End quote. 

Billy Jo then proceeded to tell us about a situation that she was in, which required her to act as a birthing stool, positioning herself so that the mom sat on her (Billy Jo's) knees. She then surprised us with an observation that could have only been made by a midwife.  She exclaimed, “I know how Joseph adopted Yeshua!” She didn’t have to say another word, our souls were already filled with joy at what was about to be uttered verbally. Of course, Miriam gave birth to Yeshua on the knees of her husband! Their immediate circumstances (of being by themselves), as well as the legal requirement, made it most likely that this is how the birth took place. Thank you Billy Jo!

After our little ride around the pond, we proceeded to meet Billy’s mom at the birthing center. That also turned out to be a big surprise, as we drove up to a beautiful little red brick church building (picture below) that was sold to them by the seven members who were left of the congregation. The three midwives, along with a local Amish community, renovated the building into a first-class facility for mothers (and fathers) to give birth in the most accommodating conditions. The sign on the front of the building says: MAMA 1-2-3 CENTRAL WISCONSIN MIDWIFERY.

I want to end this short missive with a comment that Billy Jo made while we were in the building: “This church failed to bring forth new life and so the community died. But now, once again, new life is being birthed here".