A Very Special Delivery – By Bermie Dizon

There are moments in life that confront us with challenges so intense they test our faith to its very core. For my wife and me, one such moment came when our precious daughter, Carmel, entered the world much earlier than expected.

It was 1988, and we had been sent to our denomination’s Pasadena campus to attend a ministerial refresher course. We were staying in a small apartment on the campus. My wife was pregnant, and our doctor had assured us that the baby’s birth would be in August. To be safe, we scheduled our attendance at the conference, which began on the first day of June. It was a two-week event, and we expected to be back home by mid-June, ready to prepare for the arrival of our little one. But then, the unforeseen happened.

Late in the evening of June 14th, my wife began to feel pain. Close to midnight, she shook me awake with a sense of urgency in her voice. “The baby may be coming,” she whispered. In my ignorance, I naively suggested she lie down with pillows under her, hoping the baby would wait until morning. It was a foolish thought. I soon learned that when a baby decides to come, nothing can stop it!

Realization hit us like a tidal wave. Carmel was arriving early. Fear gripped our hearts as questions flooded our minds. Would she be okay? Would her tiny body be strong enough to survive? We prayed fervently, clinging to the promises of God, yet the uncertainty loomed like a dark cloud over us.

Everything happened so fast. The fear is etched in my memory. At 12:59 a.m., my wife lay down on the shaggy carpet floor, a towel beneath her, and looked at me with a mix of determination and vulnerability. “Bermie,” she said, “you need to deliver the baby.” I was stunned. Me? Deliver the baby? But there was no time to hesitate. The baby was coming, ready or not.

My wife quickly instructed me. “Get your Swiss knife, cut some of the plastic rope wrapped around that ‘balikbayan’ cardboard box we planned to take home.” My hands trembled as I did as she said, tying a knot on the umbilical cord two inches from the baby and another two inches from her.

As baby Carmel emerged into the world, I followed my wife’s guidance to ensure our baby was safe. Then, I called the doctor we had seen just the day before. After hearing about the delivery and Carmel’s condition, he reassured me. “No need to rush to the hospital this early morning,” he said. “Just take her and the baby to the clinic later in the morning for a check-up.” We did, and by some miracle, both mother and baby were perfectly normal. The father? Well, I was left reeling from the experience.

Fortunately, a student on campus who was a doctor from South Africa arrived when he found out what happened. He was so calm, a stark contrast to my frayed nerves. He helped my wife to ensure that the placenta was delivered properly.

What’s the point of all this? Carmel was born premature, weighing just a little over four pounds. She could have fit in a shoebox. The hours surrounding her birth were filled with a mix of emotions—anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.

And then came the moment I will never forget, the first time I held Carmel in my arms. She was so tiny, yet so full of life. Her eyes sparkled, and her little lips curled into a smile that seemed to light up the entire room. It was as if God Himself was smiling through her, assuring us that He had been with us all along, even in the darkest moments. The fear and anxiety melted away, replaced by an indescribable joy and gratitude.

In holding Carmel, I was reminded that God’s joy often comes after the storm. The same God who calmed the seas for his disciples brought peace to our hearts amidst our uncertainty. Carmel’s smile was a testament to the joy that comes when we trust in God’s timing and his perfect plan, even when we don’t fully understand it.

Life is filled with unexpected challenges that can shake our faith and cause us to question God’s plan. But it is in these very moments that God invites us to draw closer to Him, to trust that His plans for us are indeed for our good, even when they don’t align with our own. Carmel’s journey has taught me that God’s faithfulness is unwavering, and his joy is always on the other side of fear. And yes, that is something I will never forget. I delivered our baby girl.

In our moments of greatest fear and uncertainty, God shows us His love in ways that go beyond what we can imagine. Trusting Him, even in times of difficulty, opens the door to a joy that can only come from knowing He is in control.

 Excerpted from “God in Every Step” now available at Amazon.com. Bermie Dizon is a husband, father, grandfather and retired pastor living in Southern California.