What is a miracale?

I recently came across a story of a family who experienced a miracle. The story was of their baby girl who was not well when she born (I didn't retain the details of her illness.) She was in NICU and she was not doing well. This family testified that they prayed about their baby and prayed for her well-being and health. Her dad said that God told him their baby would come home alive and well. There came a point when the doctors called this family in and told them their baby was on her way out, gave them about a 5 minute time frame. The doctors told them their was no oxygen in her blood and when they saw their baby they described her as limp and lifeless. The story goes on that they all gathered around and the mom held the baby and the family decided they would just praise God. So they did....they said they praised Him and thanked him for letting their daughter come home alive and well despite the fact that she was lifeless and the doctors gave them no hope. The ending of this story is that the baby came to, became alert and is now a healthy toddler with no health issues or deficits to speak of. The family shared this testimony as witnesses to God's miracles and stated that Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead in biblical times and is still performing those miracles today.

And so I pondered for a moment....why do some families experience this type of miracle....and others don't? Where was our miracle when my brother died? Where was our miracle when we lost our first baby to an ectopic pregnancy....and our 3rd to late-term stillbirth? And then I was given my own revelation of miracles.

Sometimes the miracle isn't divine intervention of preventing tragedy. That doesn't mean there isn't a miracle. Sometimes the miracle is that you survived the tragedy. And it really is a miracle to come through some of life's experiences.

I have been a witness to many miracles that HAVE prevented tragedy. It was a miracle when I rolled my car and knicked a gas line....and I walked out of that car with my dog and neither of us had any injuries and the gas line didn't blow up. It's a miracle that some of my younger irresponsible choices didn't kill me or someone else or land me in jail. It's a miracle that my sister was in the hospital having a normal test done when she passed out and her heart rate plummeted and they lost my nephews heartbeat for a moment....and they rushed her into surgery and had Zekiel out lickety split....and he wasn't breathing....and now 6 months later he is alive and well with no marks of damage from lack of oxygen. These are just a few miracles that immediately come to mind. I am no stranger to miracles of this sort.

Neither am I stranger to miracles of the more hidden variety. I am in many support groups and so many grieving parents often wonder WHY this terrible thing of pregnancy and infant loss has plagued them? And this question has drifted across my own mind, although I never allow it to dwell.

So I didn't get the miracle of being in the exact right place at the exact right time so they could get Emerson out lickety split and save her. That was not the miracle I received. That does not mean there wasn't a miracle in her loss. So many people hear about the loss of a baby and say "I couldn't do that" or "I can't even imagine." Other statements made are things like "I would lose my mind," "I would never be able to handle that." Well my friends, nobody can. But nobody is really given a choice. It's not the kind of thing there is a sign up sheet for and you say "Oh I think I can handle that put my name on that list." Doesn't work that way. But do you know how many families DO handle it? How many families DO experience this tragedy that nobody thinks they can face? SO. MANY. So many families experience pregnancy and infant loss, from early pregnancy....to late pregnancy....to bringing a sweet baby home only to lose them so suddenly to SIDS or other tragic incidents that nobody foresaw. And NOBODY goes into such an experience thinking "I can totally handle this. I got this." Nobody. The disbelief, the shock, the blind sideness, the overwhelming breath taking grief that takes hold of you when you learn your baby is gone.....that does not feel like something you can live through. You wonder HOW you will live through it.

Do you know how people get through these tragedies? It's a miracle. That is not just a phrase or a figure of a speech. It is true and genuine miracle and it is the grace that God bestows upon us that let's us SURVIVE such incidents. While I did not experience the miracle of physical healing or raising of the dead with Emerson....I experienced EMOTIONAL healing and what could have been the death of my spirituality was actually what gave me GROWTH and more spiritual life then I have ever experienced. THAT is a miracle. I have witnessed this same miracle when my younger brother died suddenly and tragically at age 20....and every space of my mom's home...from floor to ceiling.....from wall to wall....in every room....the presence of God was there. HE WAS THERE. He was with us....have you ever experienced a closeness to God in such a physical way??? THAT IS A MIRACLE!!!!! Our hospital room when we had Emerson was filled with the spirit of God....HE WAS THERE. Our nurses...while they maybe couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was....KNEW there was SOMETHING in our presence that was special. Y'all......THAT IS THE MIRACLE!!!

Coming through some of life's most traumatic, trying and treacherous (unrelated: why do all of the words in that category start with T??) hardships and still standing...sometimes standing even taller than ever.....and still believing and still having a hold (an even stronger hold even!) to your faith.....those experiences friends....those are truly miracles. Those are the miracles that I will witness to. And when that thought starts to float across my mind.....why me??....I will let it float right back out because I will be reminded of the so many miracles that God has granted me.