More Prospective

So I think I'm going to take picture of how you enter the NICU, the scrub in area, the check in desk...a picture of me wearing a mask and a gown...that's what it's like when you enter this area. I just happened to "de-robe" before the picture from the previous post. What I can't take pictures of is how pitiful some of the babies are. You can't stop long enough to know their name-but you see enough as you pass to know how fragile they are. There are constant bells and alarms going off-I hear them in my sleep. And each one of these kids has a story. The saddest part...there are kids in our little boy's room that I have never seen anyone sitting beside their bed. I wonder if their Mom and Dad are working so that when the baby does get to come home, they have time left to take off...or if the Mom or Dad live far away and can't get there...or if they just don't care...my mind can hardly go there. I am reminded daily of how blessed we are that we live in the city where the NICU we need is located, how blessed I am to have parents who can keep Mary Wallace and cart me back and forth to the hospital...I am so blessed...

I've met two other mothers and I wanted to share their stories and ask you to pray-I won't share their names for their privacy. Both are from out of town. One has a baby that I know is not doing well tonight. I walked back in through the waiting room tonight and her entire family was in there-looking scared to death. I didn't see her. I went into the "pumping room" and wept for her. Here I've been feeling sorry for myself at 2am for the last two nights, tired, wanting to just hold my baby and have him home-and they are obviously in a very scary situation with their little girl-likely fighting for her life. Prospective-it changes everything. So tonight-I held Preston banks close-unable to kiss him through my mask and I held Mary Wallace a little longer, squeezed her a little tighter and thanked God for my two children. I'm praying hard for this family...

Another has twin girls-one went home last week-the other one had to stay in the hospital. How in the world do you manage that? She's been staying here in Columbia at the Ronald McDonald house for a month and her husband had to go back to work in their home town. So to my Sunday School class-the items that we collected at Christmas time for the Ronald McDonald house have a whole new meaning to me now that I have a face to put with a need.

Please pray for these families and their baby girls. Please pray for me as I meet new people with difficult stories, pray that I can show them God's love...life has new meaning when you see these tiny babies fighting for their lives.