Day 4 of A Mother’s Perspective—Trusting God with a Sick Child
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8 NKJV).”
I like to be prepared. Before I go anywhere (even a simple trip to Target), I check the weather to see if I need a sweatshirt or an umbrella. I carry snacks in my bag in case anyone is hungry. I always have a first aid kit in my car, as well as a change of clothes for the kids. I like to know I have the things I need for whatever may come my way. This is also why, no matter how hard I try, I cannot pack light for a trip. I’m always overprepared and overpacked.
When I was pregnant with our daughter, the doctors could only guess as to what she had or what she would look like at birth. There were so many questions, and not many places to look for answers. I had weekly ultrasound appointments where there was no guarantee that she would still be alive and well in my womb. In fact, all the high-risk doctors I saw believed she was not going to make it—each thinking that a different symptom was going to cause her to be stillborn.
I would try to prepare myself for each appointment, in case there was no heartbeat, but that’s not really something you can prepare to hear. What I could do, however, was continue to pray and remind myself that God was in control. That our baby’s life was in His hands, and I had to trust Him and His ultimate plan for her.
Much to the doctor’s surprise, our daughter did make it to 36 weeks, and continued to puzzle them even after her arrival. I soon learned that when you have a sick child, you become their advocate, and you constantly need to fight for what is best for them. After our stay in the NICU at this hospital, I sought out doctors from Mayo Clinic and that is where our daughter continues to get her care to this day.
Our baby girl was diagnosed with a very rare syndrome, one that can sometimes be hard for my overprepared personality. I cannot prepare for her future, because I don’t know what it will look like. To be honest, I don’t even know what tomorrow will look like for her—she has a habit of developing infections, fevers, and inflammation randomly overnight. Does this stress me out? Yes, it does. But during my pregnancy I realized the wonderful truth that God already knows all about it. He created her for a purpose, He gave her to us for a specific reason, and He knows her future.
The road is not always easy, but knowing that God has already found me capable of whatever lies ahead gives me the strength I need to face each day as it comes. To completely trust Him with her life and know that He has equipped us with what we need to carry out His ultimate plan for her life has made this journey much more bearable.
Sometimes it’s hard to deal with a situation that you can’t google or prepare for in any way. But it is in these moments where you truly feel God’s presence. Your trust is completely in Him, whatever it may bring. What a comfort it is to know that He has already gone before you, to check out the road you’re on, and He knows that you can handle the things that are coming your way.