Sweet Sounds From Heaven

The young couple had moved into town to be closer to the hospital. She was pregnant and due three days after Christmas. It was an exciting time in their lives. The first child, the first grandchild and first great grandchild. Folks on both sides of the family were very excited.

She visited her doctor regularly and followed his orders completely. Very careful about what she did. She didn’t even let the weight gain bother her, knowing this was temporary. The important thing to consider was the well being and development and delivery of the baby. Hallelujah! Everyone was excited and Christmas could not come soon enough.

The baby’s room was being prepared and decorated. The baby showers and gifts. All the planning and anticipation any soon to be mother experiences. A life changing event was on the horizon. Babies change everything and she knew that. A transformed life was in the very air she breathed.

Christmas morning she was greeted by several family members bearing gifts. They had it all planned. She was still in bed. Surprised and truly warmed by their love for her and the soon arrival of the baby, she got up and headed for the shower. On the way to the bathroom, some serious cramping occurred, so she took a quick shower and was driven to the hospital.

Placed in a small room with only her grandmother allowed, she labored alone. She did not know what to expect, but she did expect some attention. She got none. The nurses were having a party of their own, after all, it was Christmas Day. Who wants to work on Christmas Day? No doctors were even around. Her contractions were very serious from the start and grew increasingly worse as the day advanced. Her grandmother, who had delivered 9 children at home, could only shake her head and wring her hands, wishing she could help, knowing she could not.

She thought she would die, but knew people had babies every day. This had to be normal, she was thinking. Finally around 5:00pm the doctor came in to check on patients. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity. Immediately she had more attention than was appreciated. Rolled into the delivery room under all the bright lights. No doubt, given drugs to induce delivery and did within 30 minutes. Relieved in every way, she smiled.

The first words she heard from the hospital staff were, “Mrs. M., your baby was born dead, do you want to see her?” In absolute shock, and mind boggled from the stark presentation, she uttered a bewildered “no.” End of conversation. She was placed in a private room under supervision. It was a long night and this was just the beginning. Deep depression set in. Lots of questions and no answers. No one could help her. Everyone tried. Surely, this was a bad dream. But reality set in when two days later, she was sent home empty handed.

Originally, she had no plans to return to work after the baby came. Now, things were different. She needed some routine that would take her attention off of her recent knock out punch. Work was the answer. Everyone was very kind and did not speak of the trial she had just gone through. Things seemed fairly normal on the outside, the inside was a different story. Her coworkers were smart enough to know she needed time. Boy, did she ever.

Anger is a difficult emotion to properly deal with. Though she dealt with it daily, some days were tougher than others. Even though her baby was born dead, others had pictures of their children on their desk. On the really bad days, somehow she wanted to slam the pictures face down. Thank God she never did. The hurt was raging a fierce battle inside of her. God had started His healing process and it was going to be a while coming.

Somehow, she knew that reaching out and helping others was part of the healing she so desperately needed. Her coworker was planning a birthday party for her seven year old daughter. She engaged in and helped with the planning. Enjoying this interaction, she was asked to spend the night. Surprised at her response, she accepted the offer. The little seven year old was thrilled, and of course, had to sleep with her grown-up guest.

Watching all the little girls play brought healing to her severely damaged heart. The healing was taking place, and now was on the fast track. Who knew that reaching out and helping a little girl have a special birthday would be entwined with so much Heavenly Healing. Only God, I’d say. By no stretch of the imagination was she healed, but she was headed in the right direction. Now she was confident it would not rain always. The sun would shine again. The seething anger was gone. It was just a matter of time, and she would be almost well.

Today, I can say with great confidence that God is Faithful! It will soon be 34 years since that mishap. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says it best. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies, and the God of all Comfort. Who Comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to Comfort them which are in any trouble, by the Comfort wherewith we ourselves are Comforted of God.”

One thing learned through life’s experiences is that life is not fair, but God is Just. He is Just Wonderful to Help Us. Hebrews 4:16 tells us how. “Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace…the throne of God’s unmerited favor; that we may receive Mercy for our failures and find Grace to Help in Good Time for every need…appropriate Help and Well-Timed Help, Coming Just When We Need It.”

My daughter is in heaven. We’ll have a lot of catching up to do and all of Eternity in which to do it. Don’t let Life’s Knock Out Punches make you bitter. Let them make you better. God’s counting on us to show the world how to be winners, and with His Help we can. One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory making us conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, hang in there, and let the Son shine on you. He wants to rain blessings down on your parade.

Filed under: True God Stories