19 May, 2009

Now there's a first!

Elizabeth Adeney, of Lidgate, Suffolk said: "It doesn't interest me that I'm going to be the oldest mum in the country."

Her comments came as experts said she was too old to become a mother.

"It's not my physical age that's important - it's how I feel inside," she said.

Ms Adeney travelled to the Ukraine for IVF treatment and is planning to give birth at a clinic in Cambridge.

She will be nearing 80 when the child becomes a teenager. She is four years older than than the current record holder 62-year-old Briton Patricia Rashbrook.

Ms Adeney, who runs a manufacturing business near her home and will be 67 in July, told the Sunday Mirror: "I have young girls working for me in my factory and I'm fitter than half of them."

"I don't have to defend what I've done."

(To see the full article, go to www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews 5/19/09...Photo by JK Press) 

 

Genesis 18:13-14 [NIV]

13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."  

Genesis 21: 1-7 [NIV]

1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.


 6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

 

What does God's Story teach us about how He is a God of firsts? 

Today's story seems pretty outlandish...I mean, you don't hear about a 66 year old first time mom every day. Ms. Adeney will be the oldest "mum" in the history of the U.K. She won't, however, be the oldest in the world. If you look at the record books, the oldest is a 70 year old Indian woman. But even that isn't any sort of big news because God's Word tells us that Sara gave birth to Isaac when she was 90 years old!!!

Though there are a lot of lessons that can be drawn from this most unusual Biblical birth, one detail that is certainly noteworthy is that this had never been done before. God chose to accomplish his purposes in a way that had not ever been a thought to any human. God went on to do new things over and over in the Bible...and each time, His people were able to say, "Now there's a first!"

Think about it...water from a rock (pretty creative)...bread from heaven (didn't see that one coming)...yelling walls down (way beyond my imagination)...virgin birth (what!?!)...and the list goes on and on.

God demonstrated to us that He is able to do ANYthing and He is able to do it in a new way...one that we have never even considered before. 

 

How can we connect today's story and God's story to my story? 

  • Think of the biggest challenge in your life right now.
  • Now ask yourself the same question that God asked Sara and Abraham..."Is anything to hard for the Lord?"
  • Ask Him to give you the faith in Him that He can help you through this challenge...even if you can't see ANY way possible. With God, all things are possible. (Phil.4:13) 

How can we connect today's story, God's story and my story with my friend's story?

  • Ask your friend if they heard about this recent news of the 66 year old mom-to-be. Then ask them if they know who the oldest in the world was. It will allow you to share with them some of the most incredible "firsts" of the Bible.
  • Share with them how you are trusting God to help you through your biggest challenges right now...and if the transparency is appropriate; share specifically what those challenges are.
  • Ask, if you are led by the Holy Spirit, if they are facing any challenges about which you can pray for them. Encourage them with the truth that God is able to do ANYthing at ANYtime simply because He is God and He is always doing something new.  
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