All Things Work Together For Good

" And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28 KJV

You know, many Christians and even many Pastors believe that God does not perform miracles today, and that they are a thing of the past. Well, I know that my God is a God that changes not. He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. I want to share a testimony of my daughter. She is 6 1/2.
A little over 6 years ago, my husband and I left for the hospital, I was in the beginning stages of labor. We were going to go have our second child. My pregnancy had gone great and I was going to try to have a natural birth. My son had been a C-section 5 years earlier. After many, many hours of labor,(over 36), I was finaly dilating and excited that it would soon be over. It was at this time that the Doctor noticed that the baby was showing signs of distress and decided we needed to do an emergency C-section. I was rushed to the operating room and Nicole was quickly delivered. My husband held her briefly and they whisked her away to clean her up etc.. At this point she seemed fine. A little while later, while I was in recovery with my husband by my side, they came and told us Nicole had been rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit and that she was not doing well. Boy, talk about a real excitement buster. A little while passed and the Doctors came to visit us and let us know what was going on. Nicole had aspirated her muconium(the first bowel movement they sometimes have inside the mother). This is much the consistency of tar. It had caused her lungs to "stick together."Nicole's life was hanging in the balance, they told us she may not live. It was a moment to moment thing. My husband was able to see her but I could not. I still could not do much moving from the C-section and also developed a bad e-coli infection. This was truly the most difficult time in my life. I felt numb. I felt betrayed by God. "Why me?",was often in my thoughts. I also felt more helplessness than I have ever felt in my life. This was my child, my baby, I am supposed to take care of her.I had no choice but to put my trust in God. My husband and I gave our daughter to God. We actually told Him that we trusted Him completely and we wanted Him to heal her, but if He wanted to take her home we understood. WOW, was that a hard thing to do, but the best we could do. The nurses told us that Nicole was the worst case of muconium aspiration they had ever seen. I did not get to hold my baby until she was 10 days old. For the first few days we could not even touch her. Nicole spent 5 weeks in the intensive care unit. We finally brought her home. But what we brought home was a baby that the doctors said would probably never walk or talk. Nicole had brain damage as a result of her lack of oxygen . She came home on a feeding tube and also had crossed eyes.
We had a true lesson in living one day at a time. I always trusted God and knew that He was in control, but I will not lie. Many times I would wonder,"Why me?, Why my baby? What did I do to deserve this?" The answer is nothing. I don't know why. We had many many therapies each week. Nicole progressed very slowly and you always wondered if she would reach the next milestone. ALWAYS, when we would feel discouraged and wonder if we could take anymore, God would move. She would roll over, or crawl. I remember the first step. She was 2 years old. WOW what a day! She did not talk until 2 1/2 to 3 years old. At around the same age Nicole had a follow up MRI, and guess what? The brain damage was gone. Unexplainable by the neurologist. Explainable by me. GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD! HE STILL DOES MIRACLES ! He does it in His time. It was a rough first few years, but Nicole is now all caught up to her peers. She NEVER is quiet and she loves to dance for Jesus. Every time I think to myself,"Will she please be quiet!" A little voice reminds me what could have been. Every time she dances in any open space, (the grocery store, the mall ) I am also reminded of what could have been.
I am writing with tears in my eyes so grateful for all that God has done. Nicole forever changed my husband and I's outlook on life. We could have chosen to be angry at God for putting us through it, but God truly does work all things together for good. Our hardship and difficulties with our daughter caused us to reassess our lives. Our marriage, which was quickly failing, is better than ever. God is in control. I can truly say that I am thankful for what I had to go through. I came out a better person on the other side. God really does know what He is doing, even when we don't understand.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." --Hebrews 13:8