A Child Sent to Retell the Story

"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see." -C.S. Lewis

This is Leighton, the miracle who is living and breathing before our eyes. He is my 3 pound, 9 ounce, precious blond-haired nephew. I love him because of who he is, and I can't wait to find out who he becomes.

Nine days ago a neonatologist told us that this little guy's chances of survival were very low. My sister went into labor too early for his system to be developed enough...they thought his heart would give out from all the work because he has hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The options were given to either provide "comfort care" for the baby and spend some time with him, or to pursue heart surgery with aggression and very low expectations. My brother-in-law and sister discussed this through tears as the rest of my family waited outside. The sorrow was overwhelming and I can say now I know how it feels for one's heart to be wrenched.

But then God reminded me, through His Word and through His people, not to give up hope. That He heals, that He listens to our requests and likes to show His power and His love. But most of all, He reminded me that He came to earth and lived, suffered, died, and rose from the dead to heal us of spiritual sickness and death. As I looked for stories of Jesus's healings, what caught my eye was the story of His resurrection.

I held on to this hope as I watched and prayed for my sister, and her husband, and little Leighton. I asked for healing, a miracle...some way, somehow. And the One who breathed life into the first human did His work of sustaining new life once again. My sister didn't deliver him until 3 days later, and the doctors were surprised at both her ability to hold out until then and the extent of Leighton's development. He is doing very well now, with the help of a ventilator that he hardly needs, tube-feedings, and various medicines. His first heart surgery will be Thursday morning, and the expectations for success are high.

And the story "written across the whole world" that C.S. Lewis speaks of is what I hold on to... the love, perfection, incarnation, and resurrection of Christ. To my heart, the miracle of Leighton's life is not only an answer to a request I cried out of love for my little nephew. It is also a retelling of the Story of our gracious God through tiny, barely developed lungs... through half a heart that is pumping hard for life... through a little hand that can grip our fingers and deep blue eyes that occasionally gaze curiously on our new faces.