Another Rescue

When our children are born, I pray a Psalm from the Bible over them as a blessing.  The one I chose for Kendall had a lot to do with her birth story.  She came with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.  She was blue and quiet.  I still remember looking from my friend and doula, Guinever, to my mother as the nurse worked with her.  She started crying and the blue was replaced by a welcomed rosy pink. 

This part of Psalm 18 stood out to me about Kendall:

"The cords of death entangled me;
     the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me...
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
     He drew me out of deep waters...
He rescued me..."

The cord that had maintained Kendall's life had strangely and ironically threatened her.  Yet, God saw her struggle.  He rescued her from her suffocation and restored breath.  I think of this often with such gratitude.  Her happy, kind life amazes me!

We just read back over Psalm 18 in Bible Study Fellowship because David wrote it.  We are studying about the end of his life now and the events of passing along the kingdom to his son, Solomon.  Psalm 18 is essentially repeated in 2 Samuel 22 which is right where we were last week in the Bible.

As I read the whole thing again, I had new spiritual eyes and ears based on our circumstances with Wylie.  Read this powerful language that describes how David's cry brought God's action:

In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning, he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
    at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He was on the move!  One of his own was in trouble and He was ready to act.  Allowing this response to wash over me again, I prayed for our Wylie.  I knew she desperately needed what came next:

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Wylie has enemies that are too strong for her and as best as we can tell, God has acted.  We know that He has been holding us near, maintaining our peace, and protecting our hope.  These graces are more than enough for us to survive this trial!  God has not stopped with those blessings, however.  With our own eyes, we have witnessed another deliverance that has left us utterly stunned.

On Thursday, we went to see Dr. Bezould at the UK Congenital Heart Clinic.  The oh-so-friendly Tish was our sonographer again.  She took all the pictures while we admired our wiggly Wylie.  She left for a moment to check if she had gotten all the doctor needed.  No, he needed her to take a few more shots.  The reason?  They saw absolutely no evidence of regurgitation from her tricuspid valve.

We joined Dr. Bezould in the consultation room.  He was amazed.  "This is something I absolutely did not expect," he explained.  Wylie's "severe" valve problem was now "trivial"!  This change is tremendous for her.  Repairing a valve is difficult and complicated.  The Lord did it for her!  She still has her hole in her heart, but it seems like it will impact her much less at birth than the malfunctioning valve.

I love the verse my friend shared right after I told her what happened:

"He is the One you praise; He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes."  (Deuteronomy 10:21)

Some of you may have seen pictures of the Build-a-Bear experience we had with our family recently.  Dr. Ragsdale gave us a little device at our appointment last Friday with which we were able to record Wylie's heartbeat.  We took those precious beats to the mall and placed it within an adorable little stuffed bear.  Before "Maggie" was sewn up, all of us kissed a little satin heart that was included in all that fluffy white stuffing.

I told my sister, "All those kisses found their way to Wylie's real heart."  Certainly, all the love and prayers we have received have mattered so much and have had an astounding effect.  We praise God for a healed heart and we praise God for each of you who will give of your time and your heart to read these words and continue to walk this journey with us.