Whew! It’s been a lonnng time! Nine months have come and gone, and with each day even more blessings. We want to thank you all for your love and prayers throughout my whole pregnancy and birth of our first born son, Gabriel Ángel Hermano Pingoy!

Our little angel was born November 27, 2009, which happens to be the feast day of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. My water broke at around 3 o’clock in the morning the day after Thanksgiving, and Gabriel was not delivered until 4:28pm by emergency c-section. Turns out baby was having a hard time fitting through mommy’s birth canal! Though the c-section was unexpected, we were at peace through it all. God knows me all too well, and the whole thing worked out exactly as God planned it. Ray was with me in the operating room, we prayed, we waited and before we knew it we heard a loud cry…the most beautiful sound I ever heard in my life. In that instant my eyes welled up and I started crying a cry of joy I’ve never experienced before – my baby boy who lived in my womb for 9 months was now out into this world! It is truly the greatest miracle of my life.

We named him Gabriel Ángel (Spanish word for angel) after the Archangel Gabriel. My birthday lies on March 25th, the feast day of the Annunciation of Mary when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mama Mary and told her that she would be the Mother of God. It was the day Jesus’ life began on this earth in Mama Mary’s womb, the beginning of Mother Mary’s journey of 9 months of pregnancy. On that day, I believe Mary came to understand her calling and purpose in life. And though she may have not understood it, she accepted it with full faith, humility and sacrifice. It was the Angel Gabriel that reminded her that “With God all things are possible!” And Mary would respond, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” – Luke 1:26-38

I’ve come to realize our baby Gabriel was sent to me to remind me of the same thing. I just hope I could respond in the same way as Mother Mary did. God gave me this baby, my little angel, to reveal to me a deeper purpose, a deeper calling, and my very reason for existence…and that is to honor and do the will of God. And these past few days of being a mother to Gabriel has already shown me that in ways I never knew it could.

I still can’t believe that we now have in our lives a perfect beautiful baby boy…with perfect little arms and hands and feet, and eyes…oh those eyes! Eyes that speak more than I can understand, when I look at them, I see God’s handiwork. Eyes that see me, eyes that shoot straight to my soul from his own. My little baby, flesh of my flesh, heart of my heart – literally a part of me, yet a whole new and separate life from my own. What a miracle! What a privilege to have this happen to me and Ray…to bear a child through the love we have for each other, to be part of God’s mind-boggling procreative process through the love He has for us.

Holding Gabriel in my arms, suddenly the whole world means nothing to me…none of my own wants or desires hold any more weight. All I want now is for my son to be safe in my arms, for him to not have any hurt, for him to always feel my love, for him to have everything that is good and holy and beautiful. I automatically know I would give up of my very own life for the sake of his, never before have I known I could love someone so much.

And then it hit me…through this I see more of how much my God loves me, how HIS LOVE ITSELF had created me in my own mother’s womb. I now to an extent can actually see through the Father’s eyes. As I am God’s own child, flesh of His flesh, heart of His heart. I see His extreme love in why He pains when I’m in pain, why he delights in my joys, is the first one to catch me when I fall or respond to me when I’m in need. I now can imagine the ache in His heart if I were to ever stray away from Him, His deep longing for my safety and protection…why He sacrificed His life and died for me, and why He will always remain the one and only true and unfailing constant in my life.

And then all at once, not only did I understand more of God as my Father, but also I realized more of Mary as the Mother of baby Jesus, making this the most meaningful Christmas of my life to date. At a mass soon after Gabriel was born, I heard these words sung to Mary in a song: “Jesus, formed by your faith…AveMari-alleluia… Jesus, born by your love…AveMari-alleluia!”

Jesus…our Lord…was a cute little baby boy, born to Mama Mary. Through Mary’s life, this baby’s faith was formed. Through Mama Mary’s love, she bore Jesus…in full labor, in a farm stable no less. It was through Mary’s deep love for God that Jesus was raised to be the man He was.

As we continue to celebrate the Christmas season and the New Year, let us remember the Christ Child who as born of the Virgin Mary. A cute little baby boy, perfect and pure and holy. Sent on this earth to change our lives forever. Let us count our blessings, and see why they are sent to us. For isn’t it amazing how it’s littlest things that change our lives the most?