Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Patrick and I had the privilege of meeting a baby tonight who was born 10wks early. His mommy, a very good friend of mine, was only 30wks pregnant when her water broke. The nurses and doctors did what they could to stop labor, but little Josiah had decided he was going to be born regardless of what anyone did and so he showed up much earlier than anybody expected. Thankfully, he was born without a stressful birth and is doing as well as he can considering he should still be cooking inside mom.
This is the first time I have seen a baby in the NICU. I'm not sure anything can prepare you for seeing such a tiny person with so many tubes and wires coming out of them.
His parents can't hold him for at least a week as his skin and muscles are extremely sensitive. They could bruise him to the point of hemorrhage because his blood vessels are not strong enough for the pressure of a touch. He is able to get enough oxygen on his own, but he is still hooked up to an apparatus that "reminds" him to breath. He can't swallow so so his nutrients come from an IV. When the breathing apparatus is removed he'll have mom's breast milk through a feeding tube for his first month. His eyes have to be taped shut while he is getting light therapy for his jaundice because his retinas are not developed enough.
So many things that still have to grow, to develop and become complete. So many things that could still go wrong.
Yet, as I looked at him, all I could think was, "fearfully and wonderfully made." How perfectly God had put this child together. God gave him ten fingers, ten toes, a squishy nose and cherub lips. Already, his parents can see Josiah's fighting spirit as he pulls at the air tube and IV wires. His neonatal nurse calls him a "Wild Man" and says she can hear him screaming from down the hall, even when is incubator lid is closed! God knew all along that little Josiah would come into this world earlier than we deemed ready. But this is part of the story of Josiah's life. A story God has already written out. God has given him the best birthday, the best parents, the best beginning in His design.
May we treat each person we encounter, especially those in our own family, as one who God has fearfully and wonderfully made - regardless of the things we see that still need to grow, to develop and become complete. Or the things we see that could still go wrong. Let us always see them as perfectly created by God and the part they play in His story.
This is the first time I have seen a baby in the NICU. I'm not sure anything can prepare you for seeing such a tiny person with so many tubes and wires coming out of them.
His parents can't hold him for at least a week as his skin and muscles are extremely sensitive. They could bruise him to the point of hemorrhage because his blood vessels are not strong enough for the pressure of a touch. He is able to get enough oxygen on his own, but he is still hooked up to an apparatus that "reminds" him to breath. He can't swallow so so his nutrients come from an IV. When the breathing apparatus is removed he'll have mom's breast milk through a feeding tube for his first month. His eyes have to be taped shut while he is getting light therapy for his jaundice because his retinas are not developed enough.
So many things that still have to grow, to develop and become complete. So many things that could still go wrong.
Yet, as I looked at him, all I could think was, "fearfully and wonderfully made." How perfectly God had put this child together. God gave him ten fingers, ten toes, a squishy nose and cherub lips. Already, his parents can see Josiah's fighting spirit as he pulls at the air tube and IV wires. His neonatal nurse calls him a "Wild Man" and says she can hear him screaming from down the hall, even when is incubator lid is closed! God knew all along that little Josiah would come into this world earlier than we deemed ready. But this is part of the story of Josiah's life. A story God has already written out. God has given him the best birthday, the best parents, the best beginning in His design.
May we treat each person we encounter, especially those in our own family, as one who God has fearfully and wonderfully made - regardless of the things we see that still need to grow, to develop and become complete. Or the things we see that could still go wrong. Let us always see them as perfectly created by God and the part they play in His story.
Monday, April 12, 2010
I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy! I never know when these random tears are going to pop out of my eyeballs. Well, today it happened driving down Hwy 86 toward Castle Rock to go grocery shopping at Sprouts.
The boys were in the back as usual, listening to their current, favorite CD set "The Singing Bible." And a completely silly, song sung by kids, for kids sent my emotions into overdrive. It's a song about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It's peppy. It's fun. The boys and I love to sing along with it. But there is a part of the song that "gets me" emotionally every time I hear it but today my emotions got a little extreme and I actually started to cry. The lyrics go something like:
Oh, they were thrown in the fire
But Nebuchadnezzar saw they were not alarmed
'cause there were four men in the fire
Who was the fourth one?
Well, He looked like the son of God
And He was keeping them safe from harm...
Suddenly, this was no longer a kid's song.
I could see it as an historical event that really took place. Three young men (some biblical scholars believe they may have been teenagers) were really carried off into slavery to a completely secular, godless culture. They were told to choose between bowing down before a graven image or death. I was suddenly seeing three young men, looking first at the golden idol, then to a furnace of flames that had been heated to 7x greater than usual and back at the idol, knowing that one simple gesture would save their lives. And choosing to step toward the flames instead and saying, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)
Three young men who had the character, integrity and tenacity to obey their God no matter what! They were going to believe that God was good. Whether their physcial bodies went up in cinders or the son of God showed up beside them, they were going to believe His ways for them were best.
I think what got to me today is I have spent a lot of time thinking about the completely secular, godless culture my boys are growing up in - a modern day, Babylon where sex sells anything and unborn babies are murdered without a second thought. When Patrick and I were talking about what to name Daniel before he was born, Patrick said, "I think he should be Daniel because he is going to grow up in Babylon and my hope is that he will be a prophet for the One True God just as Daniel of the Bible was." Today, as I was singing away with the boys about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, best friends to Daniel of the Bible and trying to go against the cultural grain of ancient Babylon, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw my own little men sitting there. I wondered if I was doing a good enough job raising my own Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos.
Of course, the historical account of the Bible has a happy ending as Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed when he saw how the three men would give up their lives for God. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had no promise they would live. They didn't know the son of God was going to show up, but they were going to obey him anyway.
My selfish prayer is that my children never have to face losing their lives for following the One True God. Or even their way of life or comfort, for following the One True God. But I know my godly prayer should be, that if the calling God has for them is to lay down their lives, that I (and Patrick) will have fullfilled our role in helping them be men of character, integrity and tenacity who would willingly step toward the flames.
The boys were in the back as usual, listening to their current, favorite CD set "The Singing Bible." And a completely silly, song sung by kids, for kids sent my emotions into overdrive. It's a song about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It's peppy. It's fun. The boys and I love to sing along with it. But there is a part of the song that "gets me" emotionally every time I hear it but today my emotions got a little extreme and I actually started to cry. The lyrics go something like:
Oh, they were thrown in the fire
But Nebuchadnezzar saw they were not alarmed
'cause there were four men in the fire
Who was the fourth one?
Well, He looked like the son of God
And He was keeping them safe from harm...
Suddenly, this was no longer a kid's song.
I could see it as an historical event that really took place. Three young men (some biblical scholars believe they may have been teenagers) were really carried off into slavery to a completely secular, godless culture. They were told to choose between bowing down before a graven image or death. I was suddenly seeing three young men, looking first at the golden idol, then to a furnace of flames that had been heated to 7x greater than usual and back at the idol, knowing that one simple gesture would save their lives. And choosing to step toward the flames instead and saying, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)
Three young men who had the character, integrity and tenacity to obey their God no matter what! They were going to believe that God was good. Whether their physcial bodies went up in cinders or the son of God showed up beside them, they were going to believe His ways for them were best.
I think what got to me today is I have spent a lot of time thinking about the completely secular, godless culture my boys are growing up in - a modern day, Babylon where sex sells anything and unborn babies are murdered without a second thought. When Patrick and I were talking about what to name Daniel before he was born, Patrick said, "I think he should be Daniel because he is going to grow up in Babylon and my hope is that he will be a prophet for the One True God just as Daniel of the Bible was." Today, as I was singing away with the boys about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, best friends to Daniel of the Bible and trying to go against the cultural grain of ancient Babylon, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw my own little men sitting there. I wondered if I was doing a good enough job raising my own Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos.
Of course, the historical account of the Bible has a happy ending as Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed when he saw how the three men would give up their lives for God. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had no promise they would live. They didn't know the son of God was going to show up, but they were going to obey him anyway.
My selfish prayer is that my children never have to face losing their lives for following the One True God. Or even their way of life or comfort, for following the One True God. But I know my godly prayer should be, that if the calling God has for them is to lay down their lives, that I (and Patrick) will have fullfilled our role in helping them be men of character, integrity and tenacity who would willingly step toward the flames.
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