16 Weeks, 1 Day, Countless Blessings

God is faithful. I appreciate that.

Of course, as a Christian and a student of the Bible, I know that God is faithful. That is, I believe it. But, over the course of these weeks and months since Olivia was care flighted here from Abilene, where I was left standing on the curb waving goodbye,I have come to appreciate the faithfulness of God.

Even this morning, in Ezekiel, YHWH is the faithful God who promises to restore adulterous Israel, though He says Israel had been worse than Sodom, seeking new ways to defile herself. He'd saved them from death on the trash heap as an infant, raised her, and clothed her with his beauty, but they grew proud in "beauty of your own" and forgotten the days of their youth.

I don't want to forget where we have come from. Micah is doing really well, growing and improving slowly almost everyday. We will not be here forever, no matter how many more weeks we are here. We will go home. She will grow to be a toddler, and then a child, and then a preteen... Perhaps someday she will marry and have children of her own. She will have more obstacles to overcome in the years to come, to be sure, but most of the people she meets in her life will never understand what she went through "in the days of her youth." I will know, even better than she does, and I don't want to forget where she came from.

Micah is our sixth child. Micah is also our first. Micah was born on May 21st at 23 weeks, 4 days. Micah was not due until this upcoming Thursday (September 13th). If Micah had been born 10 years ago, they could not have saved her. Micah's airway was barely large enough for the smallest breathing tube. Micah's lungs struggled to outgrow the rate of damage caused by her premature exposure to the high levels of Oxygen required to keep her alive. Micah got sick. Micah got better. Micah got sick again. Micah is strong; she had to be. If Micah had not been strong, she would not be here anymore. Micah is a gift from God, His child. We are merely stewards (not owners) of her life. Micah is a privilege, a blessing, and an answer to countless prayers. Micah is alive because hundreds of believers, including hundreds we have never met, begged God for her life. Micah is like Israel in her salvation (I pray she remains faithful). Micah's real beauty is from the Lord. Micah means "Who is like YHWH?".

Micah came from God. Micah's beauty is God's beauty. I don't want to forget that.

 
Beautiful Girls

Yummy Burrito

In the Shade

Daddy's View

Yes, Her Feet Are Perfect

Micah's Favorite Place

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caption Contest!

Image
Today Micah reached 2 lbs, 0.5 ounces. In order to celebrate, Olivia (and Micah) suggested a competition. So, here's the deal: Think of a caption for this picture and contribute it in the Comments below by clicking on the underlined word "comments". The winner will get a guest appearance on a popular sitcom, a cash prize of $2000.00, and a special gift from Micah. (Well, maybe just a special gift from Micah!) Micah also asked me to tell you that she is progressing on her ventilator and her lungs have cleared very well because her lungs are growing. Praise God! She did have to have a transfusion to get her red blood cells up where they need to be, because she is making less blood than she uses. (But, hey! She's only 5 weeks and 1 day old [gestationally 28 weeks, 5 days] and is amazingly making making her own blood, how much more do you expect?) So, think of your caption, enter it in Comments below, and keep praying! Add Your Caption Here {click b...
Read more

Gone

We saw her born. I cut her cord. We waited. We loved and thanked her birth-parents. We visited with them, ate with them, rejoiced with them. We took her from the hospital. We watched her all night. We hardly slept. We set up stations for changing and sleeping. We fed her. We changed her. We worried about germs. We held her. We prayed over her. We sang to her. We talked to her. We cleaned the stub of her umbilical cord. We memorized her changing little face: her nose, her ears, her blue eyes, her soft dark hair. She was perfect and we fell in love right away. She squeaked. She sighed. She looked at us. She snuggled. She held our fingers. She ate passionately, liked noise better than quiet, and learned to anticipate a camera's flash by the "1 - 2 - 3" that preceded it. Never had either of us been so happy. Yesterday, we packed her things in the car. We started driving back home. I drove. Olivia sat in the back with her. We sang praises to Jesus. Every mile was joy. We stopp...
Read more

100 Days of Micah!

Image
Here are my girls! Today is Micah Ahava Elise's 100th day!     So, what are some of our favorite things about Micah?   1. She is alive! 2. All her labs are normal 3. She is 5 1/2 pounds 4. She is awake a lot 5. She is breastfeeding 3 times a day 6. She is 14 weeks, 1 day (37 weeks, 5 days gestation) 7. Her steroids have stopped (really this time) with no signs of stress 8. She smiles 9. She makes sounds while she is eating 10. She burps! 11. Her eyes look good and healthy 12. She has a strong heart 13. She had a good echo-cardiogram 14. She squeaks 15. She follows you with her eyes 16. She likes to "nuggle" 17. She is progressing on her O2 support 18. She is strong 19. She is really cute! 20. She has done everything they have asked her to do 21. She already has lots of friends (including you!) 22. God has amazing plans for her life 23. She has 10 toes 24. She has daddy's hairline (temporarily) 25. She is an answer to prayer 26. She...
Read more