Thursday, March 26, 2009

new friends

The first night after we arrived to visit our newborn baby girl at Egleston (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta), we were able to procure a room at the hospital. This was no small feat. There are a very limited number of rooms (and I use the term rooms lightly). They had these tiny closet-like rooms with a cot, and these were first come-first serve. The NICU waiting room receptionist snuck our name onto the list, knowing that mama who just had a C-section did not need to drive home or sleep in a waiting room chair. God bless her for that.

But it was not a proper place for us to camp out indefinitely (partially because we had to move out daily). I don't remember much about that experience, except that I was grateful for the opportunity, and I was grateful when it was over.

The next night, we had been told that my friend Valerye's mom could get us a room in the Atlanta hotel where she worked. What a blessing. While we were on our way back there, Valerye called and told us that instead, we would just stay the night with her parents whom we had never met. However, once we had arrived and introduced ourselves to Mary and Ed, they told us the most wonderful news. There was a home that was ready for us to stay in and have all to ourselves. Mary's aunt had recently passed away, and they were still working on going through her things and getting the house ready to sell. There was still power and water, and Mary and Ed had just stocked the fridge with some groceries for us. This home was to be ours for as long as we needed it to be near our baby.

The love I felt for these new friends was instant. But the feeling of being held so lovingly in my Father's arms was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my life. All the scriptures I had learned throughout my life came to me just as I needed them. A passage that I only remembered sketchily would flash through my mind, and I would look it up. These verses would minister to my heart, answer my deepest questions, and hold me up when otherwise I would have fallen. Loren and I clung to the promises, knowing that they were not promises that we would not experience deep pain or loss, but that our eternal God had a plan for Abigail's life...and for ours.

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