Miracle Boy

Reef KnotNo one could tie a tighter knot if they tried. Except this wasn’t yarn, a string or a piece of rope. It was an umbilical cord.

I remember glancing at it just moments after our son was born. The doctor was saying, “This just doesn’t happen. This is a miracle. This is a miracle boy.”

“Michael” is 16 today (named after his dad). The reason why I bring up “today” is because it’s the 16th anniversary of his surgery (July 12, 1994). He was five months old then and was suffering from the condition referred to as: “Craniosynostosis,” an abnormal forming of the brain due to a premature closing of the skull. It showed itself in that Michael had a cone-shaped head.

The days leading up to the surgery were a challenge. Of course, in the back of our heads (my wife and I) were thoughts of fear (Christians do get scared), “Why us?” questions and more. Beyond that, Michael got sick so the surgery had to be postponed. (It was supposed to take place in June.) We had to continue to pray and trust, believe, hope and lean on friends and family.

And I guess what I really wanted to say with all this is that God is faithful. Michael is sitting in the chair early this morning (as he likes to do) watching his favorite: “Star Wars – The Clone Wars” while I (his dad) reflect on how glad I am to have him (is that a tear welling up in my eye?) and how grateful I am to God who answers prayer, comes through when you need Him most and is always there.

Even when our story doesn’t quite work out the way we would have it, it’s still true. Did you need to be reminded?

“He (God) Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'” (Hebrews 13:5)

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1-3)

(Flickr image by katiedee)

About Pastor Mike

Pastor Mike is making the most of web technologies to encourage disciples. A self-proclaimed “twitterholic,” one twitter follower describes him as the “jogging, blogging, tweeting Pastor.” Visits to Pastor Mike’s blog (A Heart For God) number in the hundreds of thousands. His video blogs have been viewed over a half a million times.

Comments

  1. 🙂
    I have a nephew who will be 16 in November. I was 5 when he was born and we had to wait months for him to come home bcuz he was not actually due until March!
    Weighing just 2 pounds and 3 ounces, I now know it must have been something difficult for my sister and my mother & all the other adults and to top it off, they had to deal with me asking when he was coming home like…every..single day!
    One day, me and my brother, a year younger than I, went to see our newborn nephew. He was in an incubator with tubes to his nose. We reached in and held his itty bitty hand. Guess what – today, that hand is bigger than mine!

    He’s a miracle working God

  2. And yes, I did need to be reminded