I have always regarded Molly's health success as a miracle. And I still do. Jeff and I have been extremely grateful for all the prayer and support we received during that rough time. It's difficult to dispute that Molly is a gift from God, and I always wonder what His purpose for her life will be. His grace is amazing.
That being said, you might want to skip the upcoming section. Please don't write me mean comments if you choose to read on. Asterisk applied now.
* Research supports that preterm infants weighing between 500 and 1000 grams (Molly was 7oo something) have excellent outcomes IF they are born to two parent, middle or higher SES families with access to good schooling and health care. Advantaged parents' infants score much higher on mental and motor development by year one. Only if babies from low-income households receive extensive intervention, which is usually costly and not covered, can they overcome delays. In short, good healthcare was the most important determinant of success for preterm infants.
Jeff and I fit the four determining characteristics. The deck was stacked in our favor. We had each other, a support network (including our own nurturing parenting), resources (Cincinnati Public Schools' amazing insurance at the time covered the whole thing - all 200,000 bucks or whatever it was), and access to good schooling and other stimulating experiences like violin lessons, museum and zoo memberships, etc.
It's something to think about. What makes Jeff and I so deserving of our privileged status? We didn't earn all of it. Jeff didn't earn being born to economically advantaged parents who made it possible for him to go to college and get a good job. We didn't choose being white, which carries with it a myriad of privilege in this country, including better odds of a healthy baby.
I do love the quote at the bottom of my blog, partly because I strongly identify with Sasha - wondering why "the Lion" allows painful things to happen to other people. (The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis).
I am going to also refer to a thesis put forth by Haugen in "Good News About Injustice". Injustice is a human-made problem. Sometimes God's solution to human-made problems is ... humans. He'll work through us, but we have to let Him. Maybe the insurance mess in our country is our problem. Made by our greed and excessive individualism mostly? And maybe now that we know this country's healthcare limitations, we have a duty to fix it?*
I'll stop there. In closing, THANK YOU to all of our loving family and friends who showered us with love and prayers and gifts and help. Thank you, wonderful staff at Good Samaritan NICU in Cincinnati for the state-of-the-art, top-notch medical care Molly received, and the terrific advice and support they provided Jeff and I. Thanks be to God, for Molly's life and all of our good gifts. I also want to acknowledge and remember the babies we got to know who didn't make it, or didn't make it with such success, and my heart goes out to their families, who love/loved their children as much as we love Molly.
1 comment:
Molly truly is an example of God's miracles. I personally feel blessed to have been witness to the miracle of her fight to grow and thrive. She is so special!
I think a good response to the feeling that we are blessed by God in ways that others aren't is to in return be a blessing to others who don't know Jesus, or who do know Him but have not had the same advantages as we have had. The bible even talks about this:
**(the following is not meant to offend but encourage)
Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
God doesn't withhold blessing from those who are his... we may not recognize his blessings sometimes but even those who have nothing are blessed by God... Job was a good example of this. He saw and experienced all of God's blessings and Satan accused God that the blessed nature of his life was the only reason he followed God... "Take it all away and he will curse you." But Job remained faithful and said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:6-22) Some who are so blessed socially and economically are the most lost and miserable of all because they don't acknowledge Christ or who their blessings come from. On the flip side, some who are not so privileged are actually richer than any because they give honor to their creator and the one who took the punishment for their sins. God completely takes social and economic status out of the equation in the book of Job and points out that stacked up against his holiness we are all on level playing field. He can do whatever he chooses and who are we to argue with that. But he ended up giving Job even greater blessings in the later half of his life. I am so blessed in so many ways and I can only hope that if I ever lost it all that I could respond the way that Job did. I also hope that I will be obedient to his word and care for "the least of these".
The best healthcare programs in the world will not solve the problem of the heart that is lost without Jesus. Friends of mine who are medical missionaries have said they realize the futility of ministering to the physical needs of these very sick people if they are not ministering to their spiritual need for a Savior. Yes. We need to do more to help those who are less advantaged than us but it is all in vain if the Gospel of Christ isn't central to that. I also think there are people who think they are doing a good thing by sharing the gospel with needy people but then they do nothing to meet their physical needs... both things go hand in hand.
I'm sorry that this is so long... I guess it sparked something in me. These thoughts are very present in my mind as I am preparing my heart for adoption. I can't help everyone but I can help one with God's help.
Kathy
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