We live in a world that always wants to be first; being ahead of the curve, being the smartest, and the one who gets the most stuff. The world teaches us to be self-centered and to think about our desire over others, including God. But that isn’t where the blessings are.
Matthew 10:38-39 says “And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
While it isn’t natural these are our stories about putting ourselves second to the Lord and the miracles that came because of it.
Peace
It has surely been a journey for baby Seraphina and I. When I first found out I was pregnant with her, everything was perfectly fine. One night I woke up bleeding. I rushed to the hospital to see what was wrong. I was only 8 weeks along and after several appointments, ultrasounds and other tests. I was put under a “threatened miscarriage.” Meaning I could have a miscarriage if I’m not careful. So I had to limit myself to everything I did to be as safe as possible! I didn’t want fear to control my life so I began to pray for God to protect my pregnancy. The further I went in my pregnancy, the mor I was told she could be a little autistic. I was even offered to go through with getting rid of her. I immediately refused that and kept trusting God to keep my pregnancy healthy and safe. I didn’t care if she was autistic I just wanted to make sure she stays alive. Seraphina was born on march 7th 2022. From the start of my pregnancy and after delivery she had some difficulty.
She was of course born healthy at 6 pounds. But had to go home on the lowest setting of oxygen. For three months of her life she had oxygen, her very first smile was around 1 month old. Ever since that first time she hasn’t stopped smiling. As time passed she was taken off oxygen and was free from the cord. But then she decided to sleep with her neck always facing to one side causing her neck muscle to pull to that side. Her neck muscle got tight and hard for her to move her head. Which caused her head to become flat on one side. Her head started to misshape that lead her to needing a helmet to force her head back into a rounding. When she first got her helmet everything was fine. We had her in physical therapy to get her neck stretched back so she can start moving forward with her motor skills. Then we noticed her head growing at a rapid pace causing many helmet adjustments.
When we took her to a neurologist. He looked at her and ordered a ultrasound.
The next day when we took her in for an ultrasound, we then discovered she had spinal fluid in her brain, but the ultrasound only showed very little so we didn’t think anything of it to be super serious. But also serious enough to pay attention to. So the neurologist, then ordered a MRI that would have her put to sleep during the MRI. The MRI showed her entire brain full of it so he immediately ordered for a surgery to place a shunt into her head to drain all the spinal fluid slowly back into its proper place. If we refuse the surgery her head would keep growing and pretty much just become oversized that would cause further complications. So we went through with the surgery for a shunt. During that time as she was getting prepped, it broke my heart, watching her being poked at and messed with. It broke my heart watching her cry from Physical Therapy and appointment after appointment, trying to help her with all these sudden difficulties. But regardless of everything happening. She never stopped smiling. The neurologist told me “for a baby who is dealing with hydrocephalus, She has every reason to be extremely fussy and difficult because of the spinal fluid and pressure in her brain.” but she has never been that fussy difficult baby. She’s always smiling at me, always extremely attentive and ready to learn. She only got fussy when she was being messed with against her will. Once she was put to sleep and put into surgery, I waited anxiously for her to be done. Once she was out of surgery and in recovery room, I got to go see her. when she was waking up she was a little fussy. She cried here and there, but that’s normal for babies because they are hungry and coming off of anesthetic, once she came back to her normal self, the first thing she did was look at me and smiled. All that anxiety and fear that I had was unnecessary to carry on my heart. Her smile told me what it means to have peace during a storm, she was so at peace when I was stressing and being extremely emotional over it. Fear was trying to control me, but watching my little baby just smile and act like nothing was wrong or it was easy to go through. It was a good lesson for me to see the example my own child gave to me. If a baby can get through a storm with this level of peace and happiness then so can I. Surgery was a success. She is now a year old, she is in her third helmet. The shunt is slowly decreasing that spinal fluid. Her head is rounding out slowly, she is now able to roll and lift her head better and she’s still such a happy baby. She may be a little behind in her growth and abilities, but she has come along way and never once was she a difficult baby. Never once has she been super difficult. She is my happy, strong little girl, her testimony would be an example of how to act during a storm. Everything that’s trying to bring you down and hurt you, there’s nothing you can’t get through when you have the peace and comfort of Christ Jesus.
I deliver gas for a living. Last Tuesday I had a delivery to Canon City, Colorado. The fastest way to go is Hiway 115. I started to go that way but when I came to some construction, they turned us around. This was a bit frustrating; it would take an extra hour.
When I got to the store and went in to get paperwork the store manager said something happened about an hour ago. At first, I thought she was upset about me being late, so I told her there was road construction. Then she said "We're lucky you weren't here an hour ago because there was a dumpster fire right next to where you drop the gas."
Not lucky, God was taking care of us. There could have been a big fire. There is also an oxygen store next door, which is an accelerant.
I will not complain about traffic. My God works 'all things together for good them that love Him and are called according to His purpose.' It pays to listen to the Spirit.
Lighthouse Temple
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