Celebrating God's Blessings!

After 3 long weeks of being able to only touch William's hand (and, occasionally, the top of his head) through his tiny isolette doors...well, there was that one diaper change that I got to assist in - you know, the one that he decided to hold his breath for and that brought the emergency team running...we finally had the opportunity last night to snuggle with him! His hands were held close to his heart; his head resting in the palm of my hand. Ahhh...sweet comfort for him...and US!

I left the NICU ecstatic, thinking we had just had our best day yet (read on as it got even better today) and, oddly, the chorus of James Taylor's "How Sweet it is to be Loved by You" popped in my head. Not completely odd after I thought about how loved I felt that moment...loved by sweet William, loved by my amazing husband, loved by you, the friends and family who have prayed countless prayers for us and our son, and, most importanly, loved lavishly and unconditionally by God. How sweet it is! How truly blessed we are.

Earlier this week, I was wrestling with God (not that I thought I could win or anything), questioning His purposes, struggling to understand why He allows suffering (especially when it involves a sweet infant), and wondering how I would reconcile my faith with my current reality. Certainly God can heal William...but will He? Does He want to answer our prayers? (rhetorical question of course) What if the answer is NO? Fortunately, God can handle my questioning, my anger, my disbelief for a time and then He scoops me up as His child and reminds me that He hasn't promised me a perfect life (or as my Dad and I used to jokingly say when I was kid - "who said life was fair?!") - at least not here on earth - but He has promised to love me, to hold me, to never leave me or forsake me. He is GOOD. If our prayers get answered in the way we wish, HE IS GOOD. If they do not, HE is still GOOD. He gives and takes away, blessed be His name. I share this only to offer comfort to those who may struggle with the same questions. I also want to share scripture that has encouraged me the last couple of days.

Philippians 4: 6-9 (stated plainly in The Message):
"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when God displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise; not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his excellent harmonies."

So...to continue you on with sharing God's blessings! This morning we met with one of our doctors who we just love and he shared that Will's chromosomal test and the metabolic screening both came back negative. He also showed us an X-ray from yesterday where Will's lungs were completely open, PERFECT (and to see the delight on his face when he showed it, we knew it meant as much to him as us) He is not out of the woods yet...but certainly it news to CELEBRATE! The next step is to wean him from the ventilator (they are estimating a week or so) so please continue to pray for that as well as prayers that he does not get an infection (which is common after having been in the NICU for this amount of time)

Mark and I cherish your friendship and are thankful that we have you to share this journey with. We feel your prayers of comfort and peace!

Dana


JT Lyrics...

How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you

I needed the shelter of someone's arms and there you were
I needed someone to understand my ups and downs and there you were
With sweet love and devotion
Deeply touching my emotion
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby

I close my eyes at night
Wondering where would I be without you in my life
Everything I did was just a bore
Everywhere I went it seems I'd been there before
But you brighten up for me all of my days
With a love so sweet in so many ways
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby

How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you