Ordinary Miracle

Often throughout the day we are bombarded with so many distractions. We have so much "stuff" to do. We go, go, go. Between the diaper changes and preparing meals, keeping the kids playing and entertained and keeping the house in order, working and commuting, going to school and studying, we don't stop to admire the ordinary miracles throughout the day. The single rose that just bloomed in your otherwise empty garden. The splash of clouds on a beautifully sunny day. The large tree shading a nice grassy area on a scorching hot summer day. The pounding rain that soothes your child to sleep. The clap of thunder that sends your child running into your arms for comfort. 

We let these miracles slip by without a thought. Seeing them as inconveniences. Wishing them away.

Although there are many glorious, unrepeatable miracles God has given us, there are many miracles so ordinary, we forget to thank God for these gifts. We forget to stop and smell the roses in our heavily saturated world of distractions from the truly important moments in life. Instead of embracing those moments

of your child's embrace that will be quickly outgrown, seeing each meal as one step in their growth, knowing the rain will bring forth many blessings, and feeling the warmth of the sun keeping us warm, we forget that God is showing us Himself and His love for us.

As Saint Bonaventure said, "If there is anyone who is not enlightened by this sublime magnificence of created things, he is blind. If there is anyone who, seeing all these works of God, does not praise Him, he is dumb; if there is anyone who, from so many signs, cannot perceive God, that man is foolish."

And, 

"In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within. "

Embrace your ordinary miracles this week and Praise God!

 

 

 

The power of touch

One of my husband's best friends was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a brain bleed. He is 34 years old and there was little to no idea that he had such high blood pressure that could cause the bleeding. His wife rushed him the the emergency room when he woke up early yesterday morning. He and his wife have only been married for 2 and a half weeks, the actually got married on our first anniversary. We spent yesterday in the hospital surrounded by people who were there to support their friend and await his recovery. Currently he's in a drug induced coma and the doctor's tell us it will be a waiting game to see if he'll recover and if so, what the extent of the damage will be. Events like this of course make everyone stop and realize how precious life is. We don't know how long we're here on earth or when we'll have to say goodbye to someone we love. It always reminds people to say "I love you" to those certain people so that you're sure they know how you feel. I realized all of this yesterday but I had a really unique experience at one point in the day. My husband's friend's wife went back to see him in ICU and she asked if I wanted to go with her. Many people had been back to see him, but I had not. As part of the healing process the doctor's have placed him in a drug induced coma and put him on a ventilator so that his body doesn't have to do a lot of work and instead can rest and hopefully the bleeding will clot and then stop. They want his blood pressure to be 115-122 over 60 - just a normal pressure. His wife and I were watching the blood pressure machine to see how he was doing. It was fluctuating between 120-123. Then she went to touch him and it slowed down. It stayed between about 117-119. He needed to his wife. He needed to feel her calming touch. She was there with him, he could relax. I know the Lord is working on him and I know of course the power of the Lord is infinitely greater than ours, but I was also reminded yesterday that a simple touch of the hand can sooth the heart. His parent's are very faithful and hoping for a miracle. At the end of the day his mother told us all - for those of you that believe in God, you're expecting a miracle, and for those of you that don't your about to see one. What a wonderful woman of God, testifying to His greatness even in the midst of tragedy. We'll continue to pray for him and his family, most especially for his new wife. It really brings the vows "in sickness and in health" to life.