life means so much

Every moment is a gift. Let us never forget it.

I'm up right now, unable to sleep for some reason. The clock reads 1:14 am. All is quiet in my house. I was catching up on reading some blog posts and came across several random blogs, all about either special-needs or premature babies. I don't know why God drew me to these stories this evening, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it would be to remind me of what I have.

To carry a baby for nine months and then give birth to a perfect little human being whose lungs work and whose brain functions and whose heart beats is in itself an unbelievable miracle. I think about parents who are dealing with all sorts of problems in their sweet babies, and I can't help but ask the Lord: "Why them? Why not me? Why not Anne-Kelly?" I think these things mostly because there was a time during my pregnancy when they ran innumerable tests on me and AKG, and they said words like "chromosomal abnormality" and "intrauterine growth restriction" or "insufficient placenta." During that time, I lived in fear of what was to come. I wondered what we might be facing when we brought our daughter into the world. And yet, here I am, one year later, able to peek into my daughter's crib and see her little chest rising and falling with each tiny breath. And you know what? Each one of those tiny breaths is a gift from God. Each one. Each blink. Each time she cries or spits up on me or looks at me for the millionth time, holds out her arms and says "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma." I pray that the Lord never lets me take her for granted. Not for one second.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." - Psalm 127:3