A friend of mine is in the hospital in Texas where she delivered her third son via c-section yesterday morning. Phoenix is a miracle baby. Even as late as yesterday doctors were unsure if he would survive birth and, if he did, what life on the outside might hold for him. As you can imagine, emotions have been running high. The back story is that Megan and her husband Mike lost their first son, Evan, who was stillborn. They knew early on that both boys had little chance at life but continued with the pregnancies, nurturing them and packing as much love into nine months of pregnancy as many children get in a lifetime.
We have all prayed that the outcome will be different for Phoenix. Please, God, grant them some time with this child. Let her hold him, feel his breath on her face, smell him, rock him, nurse him, look him in the eyes and tell him what he surely already knows - that he is a child of God who is has been deeply loved, anticipated, and wanted.
Phoenix was born weighing just over four pounds. He is resting comfortably after surgery last night. Mom, Dad and big brother Rowan are over the moon, savoring every moment of this miracle. I have been amazed by their strength and trust in God. They see a big miracle in this little baby and are realistic in their expectations for his future, which is still uncertain, at best.
Too often we close our eyes to miracles when they don't look just as we had hoped they would look, when they don't meet our every expectation.
Today, in a hospital in Texas, a family is loving a fragile baby boy. Doctors say he will not walk and will require more surgeries to close his open spine. The circumstances are not ideal. Life is not perfect. Luckily, God's love and grace are. Maybe we too narrowly define our blessings. We only see God in the big things - the things that seem to us to have a perfect outcome. We expect our miracles to be all or nothing. The truth is small miracles surround us at every moment. If we could embrace that our lives would be so different, so much more fulfilling and whole. I want to breathe that air -to be fueled by the Holy Spirit who is active and alive.
Close your eyes and take a deep breathe. What does your miracle look like?
PS
Welcome to the world, sweet Phoenix!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
What Are You Looking For?
I recently realized how easily entertained I am. Ever since I was a child I have been able to pass hours of time simply looking for things. It's a trait I've passed on to my own children and something we share with real enthusiasm.
As a little girl, my babysitter, Beth, taught me how to play "Find the Button." While my sister, brother and I closed our eyes she would hide a button somewhere in the house and then we would look for it. She would give us clues like, "getting warmer" or "getting colder" to guide us in our search. We looked forward to evenings with Beth and our favorite game. These days I'm the official button-hider in our family and, like their mother, my children pass many long winter hours looking for that button.
Another favorite childhood pastime of mine was finding agates. Agates are rocks that have very pretty lines in them when they are polished. We loved going to the old gravel road where we would look for agates for hours.
Maybe it's genetic. My children have discovered their own love of looking for interesting rocks. They can see beauty in stones that are far less exotic than the agates of my childhood. They are always on the lookout for rocks and bring them home by the handful.
On a sunny summer day, you might find us laying on the front yard looking for shapes in the clouds. Yep. It's another looking game that I love and encourage. In our hyper-scheduled world I don't think children are given nearly enough time to have their head in the clouds and I'm on a one woman mission to change that for my own children.
Lately, we've added looking for crosses to our list of "look for" favorites. We've found that if you're looking for them, you can find crosses everywhere - in high line poles, window frames, intersections, light poles, trees, fences, car doors, jungle gyms and, yes, even in the clouds.
"Find the Cross" does more than keep my children occupied while riding around town in our minivan. It teaches them that they are surrounded by signs of the cross and all that it represents. The other day, when we were getting into the van, one of my daughters noticed that the door panel and window on our vehicle intersect to make the shape of a cross. She commented, "That must mean God is with us when we're driving."
In life, we will all experience times when we're searching for things bigger and more consuming than buttons and rocks and shapes in the clouds. If all of my years as a "look for" fanantic have taught me anything it's that when you're really searching, you don't have to look any farther than the cross.
Play a game of "Find the Cross" today. The cross, and the man who loved you enough to die on it for you, are closer than you think. Go ahead, take a look. As Beth would say, "You're getting warmer."
As a little girl, my babysitter, Beth, taught me how to play "Find the Button." While my sister, brother and I closed our eyes she would hide a button somewhere in the house and then we would look for it. She would give us clues like, "getting warmer" or "getting colder" to guide us in our search. We looked forward to evenings with Beth and our favorite game. These days I'm the official button-hider in our family and, like their mother, my children pass many long winter hours looking for that button.
Another favorite childhood pastime of mine was finding agates. Agates are rocks that have very pretty lines in them when they are polished. We loved going to the old gravel road where we would look for agates for hours.
Maybe it's genetic. My children have discovered their own love of looking for interesting rocks. They can see beauty in stones that are far less exotic than the agates of my childhood. They are always on the lookout for rocks and bring them home by the handful.
On a sunny summer day, you might find us laying on the front yard looking for shapes in the clouds. Yep. It's another looking game that I love and encourage. In our hyper-scheduled world I don't think children are given nearly enough time to have their head in the clouds and I'm on a one woman mission to change that for my own children.
Lately, we've added looking for crosses to our list of "look for" favorites. We've found that if you're looking for them, you can find crosses everywhere - in high line poles, window frames, intersections, light poles, trees, fences, car doors, jungle gyms and, yes, even in the clouds.
"Find the Cross" does more than keep my children occupied while riding around town in our minivan. It teaches them that they are surrounded by signs of the cross and all that it represents. The other day, when we were getting into the van, one of my daughters noticed that the door panel and window on our vehicle intersect to make the shape of a cross. She commented, "That must mean God is with us when we're driving."
In life, we will all experience times when we're searching for things bigger and more consuming than buttons and rocks and shapes in the clouds. If all of my years as a "look for" fanantic have taught me anything it's that when you're really searching, you don't have to look any farther than the cross.
Play a game of "Find the Cross" today. The cross, and the man who loved you enough to die on it for you, are closer than you think. Go ahead, take a look. As Beth would say, "You're getting warmer."
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