Our family got a beautiful gift from some friends today. Apparently, the plan was hatched a few days prior when some of the staff of my church decided to set some time aside to pray for Julia and her surgery (and for her parents to come down off the ceiling).
The debate still rages on as to the ultimate effect of such an exercise; but something amazing happens when people come together to focus their attention on God. To admit, if even for a moment, that a situation is completely out of our hands and recognize that there may be a larger will at work can be a very healthy thing.
I do it all the time (pray for folks, that is), but it is an entirely different feeling when the focus of the prayer gets turned on my family. It truly was humbling to witness my little girl as the focal point of an overt act of love and humility. People turned aside this afternoon, took their focus off of their work and the myriad distractions and concerns of life and asked God to move with love and concern in Julia’s life.
I may never know in this life if the cosmos were affected one bit by the exercise, but I can tell you that we were. Moreover, I can say with (hopefully) humble confidence that God smiled today. Thank you, my friends!
This is also a thank you to the friends all over the world who are praying for our Julia. You’ll be meeting some of them in a post coming very soon.
2 Responses
As each of us Cook kids have wandered the earth, we have looked back to the farm and our family for support and encouragement. Most times we got it, but then each of our needs expanded beyond that family. We have all made new families, and reached into new communities to exercise our skills, and gifts. It is good to be able see into your community, and see that they support you where we can not. Peace, Love, and Understanding. Lees
Thank you Chris for your beautiful account of Julia’s life thus far….what a treasure. Grandma Nancy asked who was teaching Pediatric Cardio this semester and it’s me; she suggested I might use your story as a teaching moment. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have it as required reading this next week. You have a gift, besides this beautiful legacy of her birth (better than any scrapbooker’s dream of a baby book), you have told a very important story of a family going through this medical process. So important for our nurses-to-be to hear “the other side”. May I infringe on your privacy?