My eldest daughter, Dawn, had grown to be a beautiful, and fun loving and hardy young woman.  She is very talented and is concerned for the things of God.  When Dawn told me that I was to be a grand-father again, I was elated. Dawn said that the doctor revealed that she was to have a boy.  For some reason this seems to take away much of the excitement as you near the birth date so I attempted to add to the excitement.  I began telling Dawn that she was not having a boy and that she was indeed going to have a girl;  this was wishful thinking on my part since I had only one grand-daughter out of four grand-children. Anxiously, we all waited for the baby to arrive on its April 1, 1994 due date. I hope this date wasn't a reference to the maternal grand-father. As we got into the middle of April, the family was beginning to get uneasy but the doctor said that we needn't be overly concerned.  This continued to three weeks over due...  four weeks over due. On May 5, 1995, my daughter Krista, who was living in Maryland, had just given birth to her first child, a daughter, Sabrina Marie Thompson, who was very healthy and right on time.  Besides, Dawn's baby was to be born a month earlier.  She was now down-hearted.  "Could the baby be deformed or sickly?" we wondered, "Could he be dying for some inconceivable reason?" As it this was not already bad enough, my cockatiel had hatched an egg and began raising her little chick.  This certainly didn't help what Dawn was feeling. When they were five weeks over due, the doctor was asked about this over due factor.  We were ensured that the due date was at the first of April, but we were told that this was not all that abnormal.  I don't doubt that the doctors were right. I don't know about you all, but according to my biology teacher in high school, there is only a nine month gestation period.  We are now nearly ten and one half months. Those of us in the family knew that because of the prayers being offered by our churches, God would have everything in total control.  Still, a question would arise in my mind.  "For what purpose would God allow the child to carry this far over due?  Why would he allow this hardship to come against Dawn. Finally, on May 10, 1995, Dawn had to be taken to the hospital.  She gave birth to a son whom they called Christopher Lee Chapman.  I just called him 'Bucky'. He was a handsome little man, but more importantly, he was a healthy baby being 20 1/2 inches long and weighed 6 pounds 15 and one quarter ounces.  He was perfect. If this little fellow would have been born at the due date he would have been unnaturally tiny, weak and quite possibly sickly. Because of the prayers, God had allowed little Christopher to have more time to develop safely within his mother's womb, since he apparently had been developing rather slowly, showing His ultimate power and authority over all things. Through it all, God was able to show His power and authority over all things, as well as His concern for our needs and desires (Psalm 37:4). God heard the cried of His children (Psalm 10:17) and was moved by them. To God be all the praise, the honor, and the glory.