NANNY
“I grew up in Ruatoria on the East coast of New Zealand’s North Island, and I loved it. It shaped the person I am today. I never thought of myself as either Pakeha or Māori, even though my skin was white, I grew up without seeing colour as something that divided people. That upbringing gave me a deep belief that people should be valued for who they are. We were one big whanau, and hospitality was everything even though many families were very poor and without power or running water.
“Christianity, people and discipleship are at the heart of who I am. Together with my husband and our two adult children, I seek to live out these values and strengths in daily life in the Waikato.
“Our oldest has struggled with mental health since the age of 16. When my husband and I read the suicide note she had written, we sat up all night searching for answers through prayer and communion.
“The only appointment available with the psychiatrist was on her 16th birthday. Even though she wore only her pjs and dressing gown, she made it to the appointment and received the help she needed to regain stability in her life.
“Sadly, she lost a close friend in a car accident and then we faced the covid lockdown. Our daughter basically went psychotic, and we found her early one morning walking on her own miles away from home. She tried to answer her internal questions with drugs and alcohol and was living a complete double life.
“Praise God, post covid she sorted her life out, was studying at university and going to a church home group. One day I received a series of odd phone calls from her and suggested she came home so we could talk. She showed me two positive pregnancy tests. We found out she had gone to a pub and was overcome with anxiety. The friend she was with abandoned her and she got drunk. Someone took advantage of her against her will, but she didn’t want to take it to the Police.
“Medical staff advised her to have a termination. She stopped them and asked if they meant she should have an abortion. When they affirmed this, she said, ‘it’s not the baby’s fault.” I was asked for my opinion and explained although it was against everything I believed in my faith, I did not want to be the Mum that down the track in years to come, she could say you made me do this or that. She had to live with life-changing consequences either way. She chose life.
“Telling my parents was so hard. When I had some alone time with my dad, I told him I was sitting on information that had the potential to blow our family apart. We needed to come together as a family. He had already figured it out and consoled me – ‘we’re whanau and we all got this. We will do whatever it takes’. Once Mum recovered from her initial shock, she supported giving the baby life. In that choice we all agreed to love, cherish and only speak life into that baby and despite the beginnings, it was part of our family. It was a defining moment when mum said she wanted to be that family to wrap their arms around that solo Mum, her granddaughter. I was so thankful and knew God had given us wisdom and the words to speak into each other’s lives.
“A few weeks later at university our daughter doubled over in pain and after tests the doctor told her she was miscarrying and would lose the baby. At the ultrasound they couldn’t show this decisively but used the term ‘viable’ . She did not lose the baby.
“She overcame numerous medical problems through her pregnancy, her glucose levels dropped alarmingly plus she struggled with the judgment and attitudes of many around her. It was a lot.
“Two weeks ahead of time, and very quickly she gave birth. The baby wasn’t breathing, and all the alarms and beepers threw attending staff into action as they tried to resuscitate the baby. My sister was there with us, and immediately we started to pray. We prayed that baby boy into life. We called him into existence and spoke over his life with the authority of Jesus Christ. We call you into the purposes God has for you, we declared.
“As we all prayed, my younger daughter was given a picture of someone high up in satan’s army coming to get the child. We felt there was an assignment on this new life, and this was the second attempt to take him.
“The enemy intended to rob, kill and destroy but God showed up. So, at 19 God gave her a purpose and she is a beautiful mum.
“One week later, at home with the baby my youngest daughter came to me saying ‘mum she’s saying her breasts hurt’. I was making lunch and thought she might have mastitis and decided to go see her. She was having convulsions on the bed. It had gone to sepsis.
“So, I was in the hospital room looking after her newborn baby while they tried to keep her alive. It was horrific as I faced the prospect of losing my daughter, the mother of this new baby, and he wouldn’t stop screaming. I was exhausted so I contacted my sister who immediately came, and she suggested I get our church to pray. So, I did and praise God, those prayers were answered.
“Once we were home again, I was sitting on the bed with my daughter and grandson. He was propped up on my knees with his little head against the pillow. I leaned in and said to him ’you and I are going to be great mates, just as long as you realise Nanny is in charge’. One week old and he looked at me and rolled his eyes. It was a moment of humour and delight.
“There has been real contention for his life and hers. Two years later she had another baby and that has been the making of her and us all as a family.
“Last Christmas there was another attempt on that little boy’s life. My husband had a picture of the enemy turning up and God saying NO satan not today!
“It was a stinking hot summers day with temperatures in the 3os. A perfect day for a dip in our swimming pool. My daughter and husband had been in the pool splashing about with the two kids, but they got out of the pool. My husband left the pool area to turn the pump on. For some reason the kids both went to either end of the pool to jump in again. The 4-year-old went to the deep end which was well over his head, and the toddler was in the shallow end. My daughter thought the older one had floaties on and was safe, so went to the 2-year-old at the shallow end. When my husband arrived back, he could see the boy was face down in the water.
“I was sitting inside and heard all this yelling and a big splash of water. I called out, “is everything ok’ NO was the answer. My daughter had him in her arms and when I looked his lips were blue and his body was grey and had that look of death. I asked if he could talk to me, and he said to me ‘I’m dying.’ What 4 yar old says that? Not today satan! I ran inside grabbed my phone and dialed emergency.
“What I found out later was when an emergency rural call is made, those responders in proximity have alerts set so they can assist quickly. Within minutes the first person arrived from up the road and not much later we had a whole team of 10 who responded to the incident.
“My mother rang and asked the church prayer team to pray urgently. We believe the positive outcome came because of this intercession. Only God.
“When the paramedic asked our grandchild his age, he held up 4 fingers. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Then the emotion set in. He was breathing on his own when he left for hospital to be thoroughly checked.
“The next morning once he was home, he tottered around to everyone in the house and said in his childlike words “I’m home and I’m ok”.
“A few days later a friend who was a swimming pool teacher asked if she could come and talk to us. This little 4-year-old had said to her ‘I jumped into the pool, and I went right down to the bottom and touched the bottom. Then I started floating up into the sky and I could see everything, and I was up in the clouds’.
“So, the enemy tried to take that child 3 times and failed. I believe God allows us to go through these things but in His plan and purpose he uses events to bind us closer together so we can use that knowledge to minister to others. As a family, this is what we have been called to”.
Genesis 50:20 (NIV) “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”.