Carina Joy from the view of her daddy
At about 3:30am Steph woke me up letting me know that we should leave for the hospital soon. She let me know that my parents have been called and will be over shortly to watch Toby as we head off to the hospital. I jumped out of bed and at 3:45 my dad arrived and we were off. I asked Steph how much time I had? She said go fast. I inquired if it was obey all, some or none of the traffic laws? She let me know that some of the laws were OK. As we took off on HWY 5 she told me to slow down as I was stressing her out. On our way to the hospital, Steph was having contractions every 4-5 minutes. So that conversation in the car wasn't overly stimulating.
We arrived to the hospital around 4am. I pulled into the ambulance only drop off (heck to me at the time I was an ambulance). I walked Steph into ER and she checked herself in while I literally ran out to the car and decided to legally park it. By the time I got back in they already had Steph upstairs, admitted and in the hospital bed. They did all that while I parked the car within 2 minutes.
Steph was having contractions every 4 minutes or so the whole time we were at the hospital and was making significant progress towards delivering, so it was funny to watch the nurses ask her questions about health, birth plan, pain meds etc. Then there were questions that I could help answer (or they thought I should be able to answer). They would ask me the question, I would then look at Steph and ask her and then she would just give an exhausted look of why did I bring you along again? Of course it probably didn't help that they would ask the questions during her contraction.
At about 4:45am the midwife Jaime arrived and started asking Steph questions about how she was feeling and then checked her out. A little after 5:15 Steph let them know that she was getting close to pushing. They began to get prepped and at 5:24 Steph began to push and at 5:31 Carina Joy Schwarz was born. Carina was 6 pounds 10 ounces & 17 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful, but just a peanut of a thing.
Within 10 minutes of being born she was already eating and bonding with her mother. Carina stayed awake for almost 2 full hours after she was born. She finally feel asleep in mommy's arms after we switched rooms.
Back while we were still in the birthing room, I was able to hold her for a little bit and speak into her life. I let her know that she was created for a purpose and that purpose is to be a blessing to many lives. I also let her know that her name Carina means "Beloved" and that God said "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers". I also let her know how excited her brother is to see her. I'm excited to watch how Tobiah and Carina bond and how our family will be enriched by adding her giggles, smiles and charisma.
As major events happen in my life, I've always taken time to reflect and think about how good God has been in my life and this is no exception. I believe God's Word is true and I stand on His promises that he will always meet our needs and that he will do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. As I look back on the past 31 years, God has kept his promises and I trust in him to know that he still has a plan and the best is yet to come.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Where it All Began
Since my wonderful wife eluded to our story yesterday, I thought it would be fun to give my rendition of the events that happened 14+ years ago.
It start back in 1999 when I attended a Teens Encounter Christ (T.E.C) weekend retreat. At that point in my life I needed T.E.C more than T.E.C need another person to attend their weekend. Thankfully for that weekend that I was able to begin building a new association. Because of the bond that we built we got together almost every weekend. Through a series of events and parties, I met Steph. At that time of her life she was seeing someone. Obviously she didn't know I was available or that I was a big deal if she did she would have left him on the spot or I'd like to at least believe that.
Moving on from that day I may have seen her once, maybe twice until a memorable night in May of 2000. I was at another party outside of Albert Lea and that night I just received my senior pictures. As customary for people from Waseca (maybe this is common for others as well), I was writing on the back of my pictures a favorite memory or something like that. For some reason, there were a line of people waiting for a picture or two from me, which is hard to believe, but it is 100% true. Steph happened to be at that party and I gave her 2 pictures. Later that evening, I remember it as if it were yesterday, I looked into the dining room and saw Steph talking to one of her friend and God spoke to me and said that I was going to marry that girl. Now you have to remember, I just turned 18 and I wasn't looking for a wife and to be honest, at that time I was probably more interested in a few other girls that night. None of that mattered because God told me who my wife was going to be. I remember leaving that party a little freaked out and thought that God may have misspoke.
Fast forward a few months and I was ready to head off to college. Actually, almost all of my friends had already left for college. For whatever reason St. Thomas started 2 weeks after some of the other colleges my other friends went to. If you don't know me, I'm a very reflective and reminiscent person. The final few days before I was to go to college were a struggle. I remember trying desperately to hold onto a summer that was filled with laughs, late nights and plenty of fun! Maybe it was the fact that I was scared what the next chapter held and that going to college meant that I was no longer a kid and I was going to have to accept responsibility for my life. Either way I felt drawn to reach out to Steph and see how things were going for her. I don't fully remember, but I might have been inquiring about one of her roommates. Either way, God had me reach out and she turned out to be a great friend. It's funny how things progressed. It started out as an email or two a week, then it moved to daily emails and then multiple times a day. Then we started IMing (MSN Messenger) and calling each other. I quickly realized that I was gaining strong feelings for her.
At that point of my life, I never asked a girl out without already knowing the answer. I always utilized "the friends" to give me information and to let me know if a girl was interested or not and Steph was no exception. Steph's best friend at the time, April, went to college just a few miles down the road from me. I would talk to April once or twice a week to find out where Steph's interest was and if I had a shot with her. I was told that she had mutual interest and that I should ask her out. It may have been a weekend or two after we had this conversation that Steph came up and spent the weekend with April. I think they stop by St. Thomas Saturday early afternoon, we hang out for a while and we headed over to April's that night for a get together. At the time I was thinking that this was perfect and that everything was going better than I planned. It was at that party that I realized this sweet, innocent and angelic girl was a major flirt. As it turned out, the little get together turned out to be bigger than I anticipated and was more coed then I hoped. I really didn't know anyone at this event, but little social butterfly whom I thought was interested in me was flirting with this other guy almost the whole night. After a few hours of this tourture I told April that I was going to go back to St. Thomas as I was convinced that the interest just wasn't there. Somehow she convinced me to stay and as the evening wound down we popped in a movie and Steph cuddled right up next to me. Even though I was jealous, I knew that everything was going to turn out as God promised.
We dated for just over 3 years, we had a 6 month engagement, been married for 9 years. Our son Toby turns 2 this summer and kid #2 arrives in late fall. I truly thank God everyday that he told me 13 years ago that he had my bride, soul-mate & best friend picked out for me. I can't imagine what life would be like without her.
Stephanie, I am humbled to be your husband and I hope that I accurately show you how much you mean to me everyday. You are the perfect wife to me, a treasure to my parents and a best friend to my sister. My Waseca High School vocabulary can't describe what you mean to me. I pray that I can be a blessing to you like you've been a blessing to me. You are the best and I love you so much!
And now you know the rest of the story......
It start back in 1999 when I attended a Teens Encounter Christ (T.E.C) weekend retreat. At that point in my life I needed T.E.C more than T.E.C need another person to attend their weekend. Thankfully for that weekend that I was able to begin building a new association. Because of the bond that we built we got together almost every weekend. Through a series of events and parties, I met Steph. At that time of her life she was seeing someone. Obviously she didn't know I was available or that I was a big deal if she did she would have left him on the spot or I'd like to at least believe that.
Moving on from that day I may have seen her once, maybe twice until a memorable night in May of 2000. I was at another party outside of Albert Lea and that night I just received my senior pictures. As customary for people from Waseca (maybe this is common for others as well), I was writing on the back of my pictures a favorite memory or something like that. For some reason, there were a line of people waiting for a picture or two from me, which is hard to believe, but it is 100% true. Steph happened to be at that party and I gave her 2 pictures. Later that evening, I remember it as if it were yesterday, I looked into the dining room and saw Steph talking to one of her friend and God spoke to me and said that I was going to marry that girl. Now you have to remember, I just turned 18 and I wasn't looking for a wife and to be honest, at that time I was probably more interested in a few other girls that night. None of that mattered because God told me who my wife was going to be. I remember leaving that party a little freaked out and thought that God may have misspoke.
Fast forward a few months and I was ready to head off to college. Actually, almost all of my friends had already left for college. For whatever reason St. Thomas started 2 weeks after some of the other colleges my other friends went to. If you don't know me, I'm a very reflective and reminiscent person. The final few days before I was to go to college were a struggle. I remember trying desperately to hold onto a summer that was filled with laughs, late nights and plenty of fun! Maybe it was the fact that I was scared what the next chapter held and that going to college meant that I was no longer a kid and I was going to have to accept responsibility for my life. Either way I felt drawn to reach out to Steph and see how things were going for her. I don't fully remember, but I might have been inquiring about one of her roommates. Either way, God had me reach out and she turned out to be a great friend. It's funny how things progressed. It started out as an email or two a week, then it moved to daily emails and then multiple times a day. Then we started IMing (MSN Messenger) and calling each other. I quickly realized that I was gaining strong feelings for her.
At that point of my life, I never asked a girl out without already knowing the answer. I always utilized "the friends" to give me information and to let me know if a girl was interested or not and Steph was no exception. Steph's best friend at the time, April, went to college just a few miles down the road from me. I would talk to April once or twice a week to find out where Steph's interest was and if I had a shot with her. I was told that she had mutual interest and that I should ask her out. It may have been a weekend or two after we had this conversation that Steph came up and spent the weekend with April. I think they stop by St. Thomas Saturday early afternoon, we hang out for a while and we headed over to April's that night for a get together. At the time I was thinking that this was perfect and that everything was going better than I planned. It was at that party that I realized this sweet, innocent and angelic girl was a major flirt. As it turned out, the little get together turned out to be bigger than I anticipated and was more coed then I hoped. I really didn't know anyone at this event, but little social butterfly whom I thought was interested in me was flirting with this other guy almost the whole night. After a few hours of this tourture I told April that I was going to go back to St. Thomas as I was convinced that the interest just wasn't there. Somehow she convinced me to stay and as the evening wound down we popped in a movie and Steph cuddled right up next to me. Even though I was jealous, I knew that everything was going to turn out as God promised.
We dated for just over 3 years, we had a 6 month engagement, been married for 9 years. Our son Toby turns 2 this summer and kid #2 arrives in late fall. I truly thank God everyday that he told me 13 years ago that he had my bride, soul-mate & best friend picked out for me. I can't imagine what life would be like without her.
Stephanie, I am humbled to be your husband and I hope that I accurately show you how much you mean to me everyday. You are the perfect wife to me, a treasure to my parents and a best friend to my sister. My Waseca High School vocabulary can't describe what you mean to me. I pray that I can be a blessing to you like you've been a blessing to me. You are the best and I love you so much!
And now you know the rest of the story......
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