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November DevotionalFrom Sorrow To JoyGenesis 3:16 "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." After raising four children and having had the privilege of being present at the birth of each, I have witnessed the trial of labor, and the special connection between a mother and her child. Although as a man I will never feel the pain of labor, I have come to understand the true meaning of "sorrow" in Gen. 3:16 as worrisomeness (i.e. labor or pain—sorrow, toil). There is a life-long connection between a woman and her child, and God made it that way for a purpose. Although a mother travails in birth for a time, she forgets her labor when she first holds that special gift from God. I have raised three daughters, and each of them from as young as I can remember, loved to play with dolls; loving, feeding, hugging, and changing them, all because God placed within them a special desire to bear and love children. That desire was never forced upon my girls but was naturally placed deep within them by God and for His purpose. I mention all this because I am now a proud grandfather of three beautiful girls. Two of which were born healthy, but just this past July my third was born with a heart condition known as "Hypo Plastic Left Heart Syndrome." In common language, she was born with only half her heart fully developed. For nine months we were all excited about the coming of our new addition to the family, and then the call came that my daughter Elizabeth was heading in for delivery. That evening our beautiful granddaughter Emma Joy was born. The next day, my wife Diane and I drove up to the hospital because we couldn't wait to see her. She was perfect with dark hair and she looked so much like our other two grandchildren, except she was not blonde. Pleased that everything went well, we went home praising the Lord for his goodness to us. However that afternoon everything changed. We received a call from my son in law who was unmistakably upset, and through his tears he said, "Emma might not make it." Questioning his words we learned that a nurse had found a heart murmur and that the diagnosis was not good. Shaken and praying the whole way to the hospital, my wife and I hurried to the ICU not knowing what to expect. As I walked into the ICU my heart was taken back, for there was my little girl holding her baby. A sight I had seen so often when she was young, and again I saw through her tears her heart saying, "daddy fix it." You know as a father I've always tried to fix everything for my girls, but this time it was impossible. My heart broke and as we approached her, Diane and I both cried with Liz and Justin as we prayed for God's will and help in this situation. While we waited, we were told that a jet was being prepared to fly Emma and her dad to the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, and so we drove my daughter and her children from Lacrosse because there was no room for them in the plane. I learned that a new born has a natural hole in its heart that normally closes within 24 hours after birth but for some reason Emma's stayed open longer than normal keeping her alive, and so for the next week Emma's hole was kept open by medication to give her time to stabilize before surgery. It's difficult for a man to describe what a mother feels when her child is hurting, but let me say the sorrow of Genesis 3 was clearly visible in my daughter and wife's faces. The sorrow of Genesis 3 is a life long sorrow or curse, that never truly leaves a woman her whole life. It's a sorrow that naturally God has placed within her that causes her to worry and to do whatever it takes to preserve the life of her child, even if she has to give up her life to do so. How sad it is in our day that so many mothers are led to believe that a baby is just tissue growing within the womb, not truly explaining clearly the sorrow that will come if that life is killed and removed from her body. Unsaved or not, a woman never loses that bond. My daughter was given three choices by the doctors after the birth of Emma; 1) to just let her die, 2) to have a full heart transplant, or 3) a series of three surgeries. This over a three year period would save her life and help her live until she needs a heart transplant later in her 20's or 30's. I thank God for a daughter who chose Life for Emma Joy! As of the writing of this article, Emma Joy has now been through two surgeries. The family on both sides were present at each, and we all have had to endure the fear of waiting through each 8 hour surgery, but through it all we have watched the faith of my daughter, and I have witnessed again the unconditional love and the daily sorrow of her motherhood. For nearly a month after the first surgery, and for about two weeks after the second, Liz seldom left Emma's side, and she was even forced by the doctors to leave once in a while to go back to the Ronald McDonald house to sleep. Watching every beep of the monitors, and seldom taking any time for her self, she waited diligently for things to get better, before she could rest. I'm not saying that her husband Justin didn't feel anything, he was there with her most of the time as a faithful husband, but even his presence could not stop Emma's mom from feeling the sorrow of her babies pain. We all still dread the next surgery, but we know deep in our hearts that God has a purpose and plan for it all. At the writing of this article Emma Joy is now 3 1/2 months old, and I just finished playing with her a little while ago. She is smiling now and healing well even though she is still a little cranky at times from the headaches and gas problems she experiences from her surgery. Little did my daughter and son in-law know when they named "Emma Joy," what joy she would indeed bring to so many. She has touched the hearts and lives of hundreds of people across the country and the world that daily pray for her and view the Caring Bridge site on line for information on Emma Joy. We take great comfort knowing that the sorrow that our family experienced will never be compared with the joy that we experience today by her daily presence with us. Her life has truly been a journey from that of sorrow to a tremendous joy, and we are all so thankful to God for His grace toward us and for the doctors and nurses of the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. They showed Emma Joy and her family so much love, and the prayers, generosity, and love of so many people certainly have brought Liz and Justin through all of this. Isn't it ironic how the saving of one little baby has brought so much joy to so many, when so many woman today still choose to terminate the greatest joy that God intended them to have in this life. May we all be truly thankful for mothers, the precious gift of life, and most of all for the free gift of salvation that we can have when we place our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:9-13) | |