LISTEN TO HIS VOICE

This story we share with you is about the "Anna" the Lord has given to Sharon and me. As many of you know by now, in the 18^th year of our marriage, by the mercy of God, Sharon gave birth on June 19, 2002, to our first child whom we named Anna Daisy Greiner, 6 lbs. 4 oz, 19&1/2 inches. What a beautiful miracle! And what joy she has brought us in her first month of life! After 8 hours of Sharon’s induced labor, which went incredibly smooth (thank the Lord for epidurals!), Anna was born without any problems or complications, or so it seemed. 20 hours after birth, however, while Sharon and I were enjoying Anna’s presence, the nurse came into the room and said they needed to take Anna for some tests. 2 hours later the nurse returned and told us that Anna had a malrotation of the intestine and needed to be rushed to another hospital for emergency surgery. We were in shock, as she had seemed perfectly normal to this point. Anna was taken by ambulance to the other hospital while we had Sharon discharged so we could both be with Anna. In a brief discussion with the surgeon, he told us they would have to untwist the malrotation of the intestine, but in doing so they would have to remove Anna’s appendix. We said we would be praying for him as he did the surgery. After 3 hours of waiting and praying, word came that the surgery was over and Anna was being brought back to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to begin recovery. Still not knowing if the surgery was successful, we watched from another room as they rolled her in. Suddenly an alarm went off. Nurses and doctors rushed to Anna’s bedside. The physician who had done the surgery hurried into the room, and a dividing wall was pulled around the area to keep anyone from seeing anything. You can imagine the thoughts that were going through our minds. Sharon and I quickly sat down and prayed: "Lord, you gave Anna to us for this short time but you may want to take her back, so we are giving her back to you right now to do whatever is best for her, for us and for your glory, according to your perfect will."

I went back to the door and saw them removing the dividers around the bed. The alarm had stopped and the nurses and doctors had stopped their frantic rush. The surgeon came to us and said, "Anna’s oxygen tube had come out of her mouth and I had to hurry to put it back in before any damage would be done. That’s why all the commotion. The surgery went extremely well and she’s doing fine." With tears running down our cheeks we thanked the doctor and told him our trust was in the Lord. Then, before we went out to see our daughter, we sat down again and thanked the Lord for sparing her life.

After 7 days in the NICU Anna Daisy was released to our care and we were able to bring her home. What a day of rejoicing that was! Before leaving the hospital, one of the head doctors said, "We are going to remember you here in a good way. Most parents who go through what you went through panic and scream, making it difficult for us to do our job, but you both remained so calm through it all. We were all amazed." We then had the opportunity to share our faith with him and tell him about the Lord’s grace and peace that kept our hearts calm.

As of this writing, July 19^th, Anna is doing remarkably well. We want to thank all of you who have prayed for us and continue to do so. Your prayers have meant everything to us. God has answered with mercy!

Sharon and I would like to conclude by sharing what we have been telling people during the past months. Although Anna is a "miracle baby" after eighteen years of waiting, the greatest miracle is still the grace that God gave us during those 18 years, bringing us to the point of acceptance that if God’s will was for us not to have a child, with that we would be satisfied. This way of thinking will not change with the birth of Anna. Sometimes God may choose not to give us certain desires of our hearts for reasons known only to Him. If so, we have learned, and are continuing to learn, what the Apostle Paul learned when the Lord denied his prayer request three times and answered Paul by saying, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians12: 8,9)

By His Grace,

Let me no more my comfort draw
From my frail grasp of Thee;
In this alone rejoice with awe
Thy mighty grasp of me!

                       —Unknown

Slow to suspect—quick to trust,
Slow to condemn—quick to justify,
Slow to offend—quick to defend,
Slow to expose—quick to shield,
Slow to reprimand—quick to forbear,
Slow to belittle—quick to appreciate,
Slow to demand—quick to give,
Slow to provoke—quick to help,
Slow to resent—quick to forgive.

—Author Unknown

A beautiful lesson comes to us from Proverbs 30:26. "The conies are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks."

The cony is a weak, timid little animal like our rabbit or hare. He has no means of defense in himself, so when his foes, the vulture or the eagle, come in sight the cony does not turn at bay and do all he can to defend himself ere he flees. If he did he would be torn to pieces in an instant by his fierce enemies of the air. Nay, the cony has learned a wiser course than this. He knows he is a "feeble folk," so he rushes straight to "the rocks." He lets the rocks defend him, without attempting any defense whatever in his own strength, which is but weakness. Likewise is it with us. Our only course is to learn the cony lesson — to fly straight to our Rock, Christ Jesus, in prayer, and trust the Rock to keep us. —James H. McConkey

There was a prudent man who brushed his teeth twice a day, wore boots in wet weather, did his daily dozen, slept with windows open, was careful with his diet, had a medical examination twice a year, never smoked, drank or indulged in any kind of excess. He was set to live to be one hundred years old. The funeral was held last Wednesday. He is survived by eighteen specialists, four health institutions, six gymnasiums and numerous manufacturers of health food and antiseptics. He forgot to look out for a train at a crossing.   —Robert G. Lee