"and command them saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan,...carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight...Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying 'what do these stones mean to you?'...So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." Joshua 4:3, 6 &7
God has done many things in my life for which I feel I need 'stones' to remember. But by far the most powerful of these happened two years ago this week. And for this event, God even provided me the 'stone'
On Sunday, October 26th, at 8:38 am God gave Luke and me a precious, healthy 9Ib, 20 1/2 inches long bundle of sweet baby -Sarah Michal Panter. Her mother could not have been happier that she was finally here, and therefor the daddy could not have been more relieved. They had threatened to cancel my induction, and when Luke saw that I was close to loosing my sanity he debated with the nurses till the snuck me in and proceeded to induce. On Monday, seeing all was well, we were both allowed to go home. On Tuesday, My oldest two went to school, excited about their newest addition, my dear friends picked up Lily and Abigail and took them to bible study, and with Luke in school as well, Sarah and I had some 4 hours to bond and rest. My oldest got home from school around 3:45, Luke followed (along with my mother) around 4:30pm. About 15-20 minutes later, the minute Luke walked out of the door to run some errands, I was sitting on ,my bed holding the just-fed, and happy Sarah. In an instant everything changed, and something was VERY wrong. We would later find out that I had had a ruptured aneurysm in my right Illiac artery.
For the next 44 days God would proceed to show His power in undeniable, and miraculous ways.
It has only been two years, and I still think of those events almost daily. They rocked my world in a very unexpectedly good way. I am so grateful to God for the 728 days He has given me since. For every single smile, laugh, hug, triumph He has allowed me to be a part of in the lives of my children. I am so grateful for every tear I have had the privilege to kiss away. I am so grateful for the husband God has blessed me with, who went through an unimaginable ordeal, and did so with such integrity and faith and hope. I am so grateful for a mother who prayed over me as I lay barely conscious moments after the rupture, who loved and cared for the precious new life, and comforted the four other scared and confused lives that mean so much to me. I am so grateful for ALL the family and friends God impressed to be heroes for me and for my family.
It is such an honor to have lived this miracle. And I pray that Luke and I and our children will know how to be the best possible stewards of this miraculous story. October 26th-28th will always be stones to our family. We will never forget!
Happy birthday my sweet Sarah, Happy Anniversary to you and to me!!! Glory to God today and forever!!!!!
"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil.1:21
Please consider listening to this song! I want to REMEMBER this every moment of every day!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Van2daajLvg
