Monday, January 25, 2016

Teaching

This week I have been reminded that the Lord often uses our life experiences to teach us so that we can be prepared to help or understand others down the road.

I remember when Liz was in the hospital.Every day felt so long. She was doing great from the beginning, and really she just need to learn to eat, but it sometimes felt like that would never happen. We would drive home at night and I would stare out my window, tears streaming down my face because I was going home without my baby AGAIN. There were times I felt like no one in my neighborhood knew what we were going through. (Looking back I understand that people were aware of our little family!) And then all of the sudden, Liz was able to go home. The last few days went so quickly. One day it felt like she would never be ready and the next they were talking about how she was ready.

I remember sitting in the NICU with my sister the first time that I went with her for a feeding. I remember being amazed at all of the progress Joshua had made in a month. I had only seen him once since his birth. I had heard about his growth and progress and all of the good things, but it struck me that day as I watched my sister with her baby boy, that he still had such a long road ahead of him.

A family in our neighborhood had a baby. This sweet little boy arrived several weeks early, and was small, even for his gestational age. They have since discovered some metabolic issues that the baby is dealing with and will deal with his whole life, but they caught it early and it will be very manageable. While I don't understand all of the challenges this dear baby and his family are facing, there is a part of me that wants to let every NICU mom and dad know that people understand, that they are not alone, that they are not forgotten. I KNOW that these feelings come from my personal experience as a NICU mom fifteen years ago, and from watching my sister and brother-in-law as they had a NICU baby for 10 1/2 weeks. The lessons remind me to prayer for this family regularly and to do small things to help them know they are remembered.

Another friend had a medical procedure recently. I don't know much about specifics of medicine, nor do I handle these things very well, but this specific procedure is something I gained a small understanding of as I watched my grandma over the last several years. I certainly couldn't give any expert advice to my dear friend, but I feel like understanding my grandma had helped me understand this friend and her situation a little more.

I am grateful that the Lord teaches me in these little moments, even though sometimes I don't recognize all of the lessons until further down the road.

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