Christmas Day has passed and the opened presents
are there for the viewing. Earlier this week when looking at the wrapped
packages under the tree I reflected on some of the “gifts” I had received from
God this past year.
On March 30th our daughter delivered
a very healthy pre-mature baby girl weighing in at 6.5 pounds. She had a
high-risk pregnancy, which had her taking special medicines and shots to keep
the baby inside. The neonatal specialists were amazed she hadn’t delivered early
- as it was, she gave birth just one month before her due date. The little baby
has grown and thrived and her life has brought healing graces to our family as we journeyed with our daughter through the divorce process this past year.
In October another daughter delivered a baby boy, Blaise Emmanuel. She had two “normal” deliveries prior, so our only worry
was she would go past due which would limit our cuddling time before our visit
would come to an end. She did go past the due date by a week, and she delivered
a baby with his bladder on the outside. The New Jersey hospital prepped right
away to send Blaise to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD – renowned for
such a condition. My husband and I watched the siblings while my daughter and
her husband hurried off to Baltimore. They were met by the specialist letting
them know Blaise has a “great” bladder and they would be able to take care of
putting it back inside the next week. The doctor sent them home to await the
surgery. My kind coworker told me to
stay another week, which I did. So we enjoyed having the newborn home, and all
was normal except for wrapping the bladder in saranwrap after each diaper
change. Meanwhile we were looking up the patron saint for bladder conditions
and discovered it is St. Blaise! We
felt like this was a hug from God letting us know He was taking care of
everything. Plus, we were then able to condescend to the fact the family’s move
to New Jersey last January was another one of God’s gifts, since they are close
to Baltimore where their baby will be spending a lot of his time with future reconstructive
surgeries. Other gifts included the family getting a room at the hospital
housing unit, and the other grandma being free to stay the 5 week term of
recuperation to help out, and that little Blaise was able to get out of
traction after the minimum period of 4 weeks.
God’s gifts are sometimes wrapped in ways that I
do not always see them as treasures but rather as tragedies, burdens, and
frustrations. I need to allow Blessed
Mom to help me see God’s goodness in all events. For she accepted God's gifts of a donkey ride while 9 months pregnant, and fleeing her home while
being chased by soldiers who wanted to kill her baby. She trusted, awaited, and
loved. I cannot do that on my own, but perched in her merciful arms, she can
trust, await, and love for me and through me.
So how about you? What gifts did
God give you this past year?
"The conviction that everything is 'given' to us, that everything is a gift, can be born on the foundation of the truth about God's unceasingly bestowing love and the truth about ourselves as people who need everything from this bestowing love."
S.C. Biela, TheTwo Pillars, (Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2006), 7.
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A note from our bloggers:
We offer our prayers that you feel the Christmas
joy, love, and peace
that Jesus brings every day when we open our hearts to
Him.
We hope for a most blessed New Year for each and every one of you
- full
of God’s merciful gifts in 2016 ~ the
Jubilee of Mercy!
