It was 33 years ago on March 1st when the nurses at Mesa General Hospital put a beautiful 3lb. 14oz. baby girl in my arms for only a few minutes before putting her in a neonatal incubator and making final preparations for transporting her to Good Samaritan Hospital by ambulance in Phoenix. They told me the neonatal nurses would care for her as they would their own and I could call every 5 minutes 24 hours a day to check on her if I wanted to. Then with her dad following the ambulance, they took her from my arms. I was left by myself for 3 days at MGH and my anguish was beyond anything I had ever known. I often wondered to this day, why I survived that month with my little girl being in Phoenix for 2 weeks then transported to the new Desert Samaritan Hospital (now Banner Desert)for 2 more weeks. In that time we almost lost her but her will to survive was the greatest testament to me of her pure knowledge of her mission on this earth.
Now on February 28th (one day before her mother's birthday)our beautiful 3lb. 14oz baby girl gave birth to her 3lb. 13oz beautiful baby girl and as I watched her having to leave her family in Safford to be with her doctor in Mesa suffering from Preclampsia, I wondered if I could survive the almost identical anguish I felt when I had to leave my daughter for a month to be with her daughter?! Today I went over to see our girl's and Tifani showed me a post on how she and I were possibly chosen to be this special mother. I now understand.
Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen?
God is hovering over Earth, selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.
Beth Armstrong, son. Patron Saint, Peter.
Marjorie Forrest, daughter. Patron Saint, Celia.
Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles. “Give her a preemie “
The angel is curious. “Why this one, God? She’s so happy.”
”Exactly,” smiles God. “Could I give a premature baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel.”
”But does she have the patience?” asks the angel.
”I don’t want her to have too much patience, or she’ll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she’ll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I’m going to give her has a world of its own. She has to make it live in her world, and that’s not going to be easy.”
”But Lord, I don’t think she even believes in you.”
God smiles. “No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just the right amount of selfishness. “
The angel gasps, “Selfishness?! Is that a virtue?”
God nods. “If she can’t separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says ‘mama’ for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see as ignorance, cruelty and prejudice and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing My work as surely as she is here by My side.”
”And what about her Patron Saint?” asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.
God smiles. “A mirror will suffice.”
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