As I write these words, my wife and I are awaiting the birth of our fifth child. By the time you read this devotional, Lord willing, he will be four months old. Each birth I’ve witnessed has been nothing short of a miracle. And every time, I’m also held spellbound by the beauty of a mother’s love.

Most of us are familiar with Hannah’s prayer for a child in 1 Samuel 1, including her encounter with Eli the priest and God granting her prayer. But what happened next? Hannah got pregnant and bore a son. After the boy was weaned, which might have been about age three, Hannah kept her promise. She took her son Samuel along with a special offering to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and told Eli: “I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:21–28).

Hannah’s prayer of gratitude and dedication is one of the high points of the historical books of the Old Testament (1 Sam. 2:1–11). And then? Life went on. Hannah and Elkanah returned home. Samuel stayed behind and was trained and cared for by Eli, whose own sons were evil (vv. 12–17, 22–25). Samuel’s family visited once per year, as before, for the Festival of Tabernacles. Though Hannah was blessed with five more children (v. 21), her firstborn remained on her mind. Every year she would make him a “little robe” for his duties in the Tabernacle (v. 19), doing her best to estimate how much he’d grown since last year.

“The boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord . . . [he] continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people” (vv. 21, 26). This summary was later echoed in the narrative of Jesus’ growth and development (Luke 2:52).

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