Awaiting Maverick

May 24, 2020

WHAT. A. DAY!

My goodness...

After church we gathered for lunch at our house.  Poor Brianna was miserable - hot, muggy weather and several days past her due date.  She just wasn't looking right.  Eventually Jackson and Brianna left to go home - she just wasn't feeling well at all.  As they were leaving Mama and I looked at each other and said, "She's in labor".  But Jackson and Brianna had spent the last week feeling things and thinking there were signs that didn't turn out to be, so I don't think they even imagined it could be happening at that point.  

Storms were due to roll in that evening so the guys were outside trying to get some chores done beforehand.  Jonathan was finishing up mowing at Mama and Daddy's house, while Marvin was working to get doorknobs off the old doors that were found in the hayloft of the small barn.  Julie wanted them laid down in the garden as walkways.  

By mid-afternoon the storms were brewing - and boy did they come!  We had storm after storm!  Some were really weird and at least one was quite disconcerting.  But the skies were so fascinating that I couldn't quit taking photos.  At times we even had full heavy rain through blazing sunshine!  These photos are from all throughout the afternoon and evening.  We got word about 6:40 pm that Brianna was officially in labor.  That renewed my effort to document the day fully!  Not knowing if this was the day of Maverick's arrival or just the day we knew he was 'on his way'... but I sure wanted to document for him.  Perhaps not coincidentally, his Grandma Laura was born during an old fashioned summer electrical storm one June evening many years ago!  :)  This storm didn't have quite that level of lightning, but there were definitely some interesting parts!  

Hannah and Megan had gone to Walmart to buy some plants for Mama.  When they brought them out to her they had patio visits with all of us.  We enjoyed a lovely visit until another storm blew in and chased them away.  Later, when looking at these photos, I couldn't figure out what those red stripes were that were showing up on their legs....

...then I finally realized it was the reflection through the glass door of the t-shirt I was wearing!  ha! 

There they go!  It's raining again!

Feeding time.  Doesn't matter if it is storming or not.

Another calm before (after?) the storm.  It just kept going and going and going!  I kept thinking this was definitely the kind of weather to get labor going!  

Of all the storms of the day, the next one was the most ominous.  The sky and winds were just weird... very swirly and twisty.  But just as quickly as it blew up, it dissipated.  Thankful for that!  Looking at some of my photos later I realized I had captured some pretty wild looking clouds, including spouts coming down.  whew!  There was definitely the feeling of rotation out there.  It was all so eerily beautiful.  The colors and the light... these photos were not edited in any way!

there's a little spout coming down...

definitely a lot of weird cloud action...

And then it was gone!  

Finally, there was this... I was so busy looking out the front at the sky and would have missed this if Jonathan hadn't called to me.  A beautiful (almost) double rainbow - complete with a bird flying in the midst.  Took this photo at 6:21 and Jackson texted at 6:40 to say Brianna had been having contractions steadily at 6 minutes apart.  I took this rainbow as a beautiful sign.  A marker of the beginning of Maverick making his way to meet all of us who already love him so very much.  

Another hour later - this photo was taken knowing Brianna was in labor! 

And here was a photo from Shonda at her house at the same time.  

About 8:30.  My last weather/sky photo for the night.  

In my journal, this was the last thing I wrote on the night of Sunday, May 24, 2020.  A note to Maverick...

Maverick, 

There was a reason I felt compelled to watch the sky all day and take photos all day long.  Yes, the weather was stormy and chaotic and interesting and unnerving, but it was all leading to you and your arrival!  It caused me to fully document the day!  I was born in an electrical storm.  Your Daddy came right before an ice storm.  Sometimes the heavens declare that a child is coming!  I am glad I have all these photos to show you someday.  To show you the beauty of the world you are coming in to.  So many things today are not so beautiful, but anything that shows the majesty of God is exquisite!  This is still a place where beauty can be seen.  And you, Maverick, will be such a huge part of that beauty for so many from this day forward.  God is gifting us all you.  I pray your entry to this world is smooth for you and your precious Mama.  I pray your Dad feels the strength he needs for his growing family.  I pray that the three of you will feel the love of God and the love of your families.  These skies with all their twisting and darkening remind me of the groaning of labor... and then, the rainbow.  And for you, Maverick, we had a double one.  :)  All on the day that you began your journey to be born.  I can't wait to meet you, little one.  

All my love, Grandma Laura

Video from the evening...