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Be Not Afraid CourageThis hope was fulfilled, at least on one count: inDecember, as she was leaving her doctor’s office afteranother appointment, he said to her, “You know,Ramona, I really admire your respect for life.”On February 4, 2001, Ramona gave birth to Isaiah,as she and Barry named the baby:It was a sudden, sharp, painful labor. Maybe I wassubconsciously resistant to it, just knowing that Isaiahwas safe as long as he was inside me. I started crying.But I’d had a friend bring me a picture of Jesus on theCross, and I placed it where I could see it. I looked at itthroughout the next several hours and prayed that Jesuswould be with me.When I finally gave birth, a mixture of emotionsflooded over me. I felt both great joy and deep sorrow.Isaiah looked very different from a normal baby. Likethe doctor had warned me, the whole top of his headwas missing, and his eyes were badly swollen from theunprotected passage through the birth canal. Yet hewas living, breathing, and kicking. He was even robustlooking.Not all of Isaiah’s siblings could handle seeing himthat first day. My younger children were fine – theydidn’t even seem to notice anything different abouttheir brother – whereas my fifteen-year-old daughter1