Dealing with God's will

Today I read two different stories about babies. One of those being my wife's blog post about our 3 month old son Liam. Liam is a treasure to us. A blessing from God to a family without any merit to know him. He's a gift we cherish daily, and just the thought of his little grins, coos, and hand-motions makes me smile. I thank God for the safe pregnancy that my wife had, and for the safe labor as well. All of these were undeserved privileges. God has mercy on whom he will have mercy.

Then there was the other story. A woman who is involved in our school is pregnant with her second child. She is due this Spring. She and her husband have been dealing with the diagnosis of their unborn daughter, Janessa, who has severe developmental issues. These are not just mere deformities, but almost guaranteed fatal ones. Janessa's condition and prognosis is that, if she even survives pregnancy, that she will quickly die after birth. The severe situation of her health problems affects her brain's ability to enable her to perform any life functions. This is compounded by a heart condition that will inevitably cause congenital heart failure shortly after birth. The story ends with notes of praise, as they rejoice in the possibility of being able to meet their daughter before she dies.

I can't even fathom for a moment the sort of emotional torment that these people are going through, and yet they still find rays of sunshine in the news. As a parent of two healthy children, the second story is torture to me. And yet, I can't help to see that these people, who still choose to praise God for the little time that he could give them with their daughter, have chosen to accept God's will for them and their daughter in such a circumstance.

That second story humbles me greatly. It shows me how much I need to be thankful for, and how little faith and hope I really possess. Let me end this post with an inspirational excerpt from the letter :

So, needless to say, we have many things to think and pray about. We
are so thankful for the wonderful care we received at CHOP. We are
confident that what we were told is exactly what is wrong with
Janessa. We feel encouraged that we will probably get to meet our
little girl and share some time with her (that has been our biggest
desire since we learned of her condition). We also feel very sad that
we will lose her at some point in the future, and preparing for that
loss is hard to think about. We realize the importance of planning
for all possible outcomes: complete healing (should God choose to do
that), or losing our little girl (should God choose to do that). We
have no way of knowing what God's will is, and so we will just have to
wait and see what He does. We do know that He is able to do miracles,
and also that He sometimes chooses not to. We realize that in either
situation, it is a matter of bringing honor and glory to Him. We are
very glad we can have confidence in the fact that God is Good. He
loves us, and He desires for everyone to come to know Him. If God
chooses to let Janessa live, so that others can come to know Him
through her life- GREAT! If God chooses to let Janessa die, so that
others can come to know Him through her death- GREAT! The God we
serve doesn't change depending on our circumstances. He is the same-
yesterday, today and forever. Our lives are in His hands.