|
The Miracle of a Brother's Song
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.
They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
He was building a bond of love with his Little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required?
Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St.Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.
Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not.
If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket. The head nurse recognized him as a child and hellowed, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed."
The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line.
"He is not leaving until he sings to his sister" she stated. Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me " happy when skies are gray." Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond.
The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on singing Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, How much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."
As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on singing, sweetheart."
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms". Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.
"Keep on singing, Michael." Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away..." The next, day...the very next day...the little girl was well enough to go home. Woman's Day Magazine called it The Miracle of a Brother's Song. The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love.
NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE. LOVE IS SO INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.
Life is good.
|
 |
|
| |
|
Interview with God
"Come in," God said to me,
"So, you would like to interview Me?"
"If you have the time," I said.
He smiled and said:
"My time is called eternity
and is enough to do everything;
what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"
"None that are new to you.
What's the one thing that
surprises you most about mankind?"
He answered:
"That they get bored of being children,
are in a rush to grow up,
and then long to be children again.
That they lose their health to make money
and then lose their money to restore their health.
That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present, such that they live
neither for the present nor the future.
That they live as if they will never die,
and they die as if they had never lived..."
His hands took mine and we were silent.
After a long period, I said,
"May I ask you another question?"
"As a Father, what would you ask
your children to do for the new year?"
He replied with a smile:
"To learn that they cannot make anyone love them.
What they can do is to let themselves be loved.
To learn that it takes years to build trust,
and a few seconds to destroy it.
To learn that what is most valuable
is not what they have in their lives,
but who they have in their lives.
To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.
There will be others better or worse than they are.
To learn that a rich person is
not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.
To learn that they should control their attitudes,
otherwise their attitudes will control them.
To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in persons we love,
and that it takes many years to heal them.
To learn to forgive
by practising forgiveness.
To learn that there are persons
that love them dearly, but simply
do not know how to show their feelings.
To learn that money can
buy everything but happiness.
To learn that while at times
they may be entitled to be upset,
that does not give them the right
to upset those around them.
To learn that great dreams
do not require great wings,
but a landing gear to achieve.
To learn that true friends are scarce,
he/she who has found one
has found a true treasure.
To learn that it is not always enough
that they be forgiven by others,
but that they forgive themselves.
To learn that they are
masters of what they keep to themselves
and slaves of what they say.
To learn that they shall reap what they plant;
if they plant gossip they will harvest intrigues,
if they plant love they will harvest happiness.
To learn that true happiness is
not to achieve their goals but to learn
to be satisfied with what they already achieved.
To learn that happiness is a decision.
They decide to be happy
with what they are and have,
or die from envy and jealousy of what they lack.
To learn that two people can look at the same thing
and see something totally different.
To learn that those
who are honest with themselves
without considering the consequences
go far in life.
To learn that even though
they may think they have nothing to give,
when a friend cries with them,
they find the strength to appease the pain.
To learn that by trying to hold on to loved ones,
they very quickly push them away;
and by letting go of those they love,
they will be side by side forever.
To learn that even though
the word "love" has many different meanings,
it loses value when it is overstated.
To learn that they can never
do something extraordinary for Me to love them;
I simply do.
To learn that the shortest distance
they could be from Me is the distance of a prayer."
|
|
|
|
