Quote from Forum Archives on September 28, 2002, 12:27 am

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

The doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana
Blessing.   Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her
hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That
afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana,
only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency cesarean to
deliver the couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At twelve inches long and weighing only one pound and nine
ounces, she was perilously premature. "I don't think she's going
to make it.  There's only a 10-percent chance she will live
through the night, and  even then, if by some slim chance she
does make it, her future could be a  very cruel one".

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor
described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if
she survived.  She would never walk or talk.  She would
probably be blind, and be prone to other catastrophic conditions
from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation.

Diana, David, and their five-year-old son Dustin, had long
dreamed of the day they would become a family of four.   Now,
within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning Dana held onto life by the
thinnest  thread.   Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing
more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live to
be a healthy, happy young  girl.  David, fully awake and
listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of
ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must
confront his wife with the  inevitable.

David walked in and said that they needed to talk about making
funeral  arrangements.  Diana remembers she felt so bad for
him, because he was doing everything to include her in what
was going on, but she just wouldn't, couldnt listen.

"No, that is not going to  happen, no way!  I don't care what the
doctors say," she said. "Dana is not going to die!  One day she
will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

Dana clung to life with the help of every medical machine and
marvel her miniature body could endure.  As those first days
passed,  a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because
Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was  essentially "raw",
the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so
they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests
to offer the strength of their love.  All they could do was to pray
that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

As the  weeks went by, Dana slowly gained an ounce of weight
here and an ounce of  strength there. At last, when Dana turned
two  months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms
for the very  first time.   Two months later, though doctors
continued to gently but grimly warn  that her chances of
surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to
zero. Dana went home from the hospital.

Five years later, Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with
glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.  She
showed no signs,  whatsoever, of any mental or physical
impairment.  Simply, she became everything  a little girl can be
and more, but that happy ending is far from the end of  her
story!

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near their home
in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the
bleachers of a local ball  park where her brother Dustin's
baseball team was practicing.  Dana was chattering nonstop
with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she
suddenly fell  silent.  Hugging her arms across her chest, Dana
asked,  "Do you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a rain, Diana
replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."

Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"

Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get
wet, it  smells like rain."

Dana shook her head and loudly announced, "No,  it smells
like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His
chest."   Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana then happily
hopped down to play with the  other children.

Her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the
members of the Blessing family had known all along.  During
those long  days and nights of her first two months of her life,
when her nerves were  too sensitive for them to touch her, God
was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that
she remembered so well.

 

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Running in the Rain

 

  She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6
 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of
 innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over
the top of gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no
time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just
inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We waited, some patiently, others
irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always
mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.  Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.
"What?" Mom asked. "Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.
"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom,
let's run through the rain." "We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.
"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young
girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm. "This morning? When did I
say we could run through the rain and not get wet?
"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer,
you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through
anything!"
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything
but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few
minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would
say.
Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might
even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young
child's life.  A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will
bloom into faith.
 "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If
GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.
Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as
they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their
bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a  few
who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.  And
yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they
can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one
can ever take away your precious memories...
So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.  To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

 

 A friend sent this to me to remind me of life. Hope you enjoy it I
HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN They say it
takes  a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate  them, a day
to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other.

 

Thanks Helen for sending this to us.

 

Have a Blessed day
Barbara and David

 

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