Miracle

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon,

that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, O God; 

may all the peoples praise you.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, O God;

may all the peoples praise you.

Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. 

God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Psalm 67

This is the Psalm I read while fueling for for the Kaelman Run on July 7. This is the Psalm I shared portions of to my friend, Amanda, after we finished running and were departing. 

Amanda and her husband, Micah, were in the process of adopting a newborn baby. 

The story begins (does a true story ever really have a beginning?) when Micah offered a ride to a woman and her two boys on a cold wintry day. They formed a friendship and eventually Meisha gave her life to Christ. Fast forward, the beginning of June this year, Meisha calls Amanda and says her sister is pregnant and plans to give the baby up for adoption and would Micah and Amanda want to adopt the baby. I get a call from Amanda the next day informing me of their decision and wanting me to, you know, PRAY!!! From then on, I spent time connecting with Amanda, listening to her talk out the craziness of adopting within such a short time frame as the baby was due in August, and trying to help steady the roller coaster of emotions of adopting, being in close contact with the birth mom, etc. (like I know about that!) Well, I don't. But I do know a God who is faithful and true and I kept pointing her back to Him. 

Back to race day, 45 minutes later, on my way home I receive a call from Amanda saying that the birthmom had gone into labor and wanted Micah and Amanda there. They were zipping down to Burlington as fast as possible and could I, you know, PRAY!!! 

Two hours later, I receive a text from a friend, Jen, saying that there are complications with the baby and she might not make it. Wow.

The baby girl, Miracle, was born at home, breech position in the care of an inexperienced EMT provider. It all happened so fast there was no time to make it to the hospital! The baby, being premature was on oxygen but later Micah and Amanda found that Miracle had a rare form of fatal dwarfism called Thanatophoric Dysplasia. Her skeletal frame was not growing properly, whereas her organs were. That's a very short description. She would not live long.

Monday afternoon, Jen called me to say that Miracle would be taken off of oxygen that day and would I like to go to Iowa City with her to be with Micah and Amanda. She picked me up in an hour and we headed over. There we met Auntie Meisha, Rockele(the birth mom) and her two boys, and the grandmother. We also met sweet Miracle. She had many, many tubes and whatnot attached to her but you couldn't help but fall in love instantly with her. She was sweetness. We watched her heart rate monitor and oxygen levels (she was on almost 100% oxygen). We saw her refuse to open her eyes for Auntie Meisha but then pop them open when Micah would just whisper "Hi, Miracle." Then finally Jen and I took turns holding her. 

Twice in my life I have now held babies that passed into eternity within hours. I sat there and I loved her. I cried for her. I cried that sometimes giving your Yes to Him is the hardest thing in all the world and yet you still do because you want His Name to be made known on earth. So you pray, hope, cling, and put your trust (sometimes blindly) in Him because He says He is just and faithful and true and you don't even know how that can be right.

Just a little passed midnight I received a text from Amanda saying Miracle was gone. She lived 2 days, 13 hours, 41 minutes.

Sing to God, sing praise to his name...

his name is the Lord...

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 

God sets the lonely in families. 

Psalm 68:4-6

Miracle had no father. In technical terms, yes she did but he didn't want her. God is Miracle's father. While Rockele isn't a widow, she needed someone. God provided. Micah and Amanda have family. Rockele has family. In Micah and Amanda's dreaming of making their own family, God set them both together as a new family. 

The hymn sung at Miracle's celebration of life service, more beautifully sung than I have ever heard, was "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

Why should I feel discouraged,

Why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely

And long for Heaven and home?

When Jesus is my portion,

My constant Friend is He;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He cares for me.

I sing because I'm happy.

I sing because I'm free.

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches o'r me.

God cares. God sees. Through the yes of Micah and Amanda in many little things and later in many great things- God was being made known. Through the small but my how that tiny girl packs a punch story of Miracle, His salvation is going out among many.

To read Micah and Amanda's story more fully, go to The Making of a Family. You will have to search the tag Miracle Renee to read everything Amanda has written.

In my next post, Running for Miracle, you can read what people all over the world are doing to remember Miracle this week.