“Out of the fullness of His grace He blesses us all." ~ John
1:16
For first responders, there’s no
such thing as a normal day on the job. From
saving families from burning houses to aiding the victims of car crashes, they
adapt to whatever the situation. But it
was a cool, fall evening when Darren got the call that would change his life
forever.
It came from a woman in distress - severe abdominal
pain. When Darren and the other
firefighters arrived on scene, they quickly realized the young woman was in
labor. Though her belly was large, the
girl was dreadfully undernourished.
Darren immediately started an IV and placed the mother on oxygen. As the ambulance prepared to leave, the baby
was crowning. Without much effort, it
slid into Darren’s hands. His heart
jumped into his throat as his brain registered the meaning of what had just
happened.
The siren jolted him out of his daydream. They called for backup and rushed to the
hospital with mother and child.
While filling out routine paperwork at the hospital, Darren
learned that the homeless mom planned to put the infant up for adoption. It must have been an answer to their prayers.
They’d been trying (unsuccessfully) for a third child and
were considering adoption. Now it was in
God’s hands. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll
be!”
He walked into the woman’s hospital room and introduced
himself. Darren explained that he had
two kids, his wife was a school teacher and they wanted more children, but weren’t
able to. After a friendly chat, he swung
by the nursery and sent his wife a picture of the sweet little girl.
She jokingly texted back, “Can we keep her?” Darren knew his wife wasn’t kidding.
The next day, the whole family visited the mother in the
hospital. She was old well beyond her
youth and paying the price. She appeared
frail, exhausted, and alone.
The adult conversation went well – but it was Darren’s boys
who closed the deal; they absolutely loved her and couldn’t wait to make the
beautiful baby girl the newest addition to their family.
Terrified of returning to the streets with a child she could
not feed, clothe or care for adequately, the mother readily agreed to the
adoption.
The family named their baby girl Grace ; she’d go by Gracie. They knew the adoption was a gift from God –
having placed the fate of their family growing by another in His precious hands. And He grace-fully delivered on that prayer.
Blessed Lord, thank You for all that you’ve done
for us today. Thank You for the splendor
of Your whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the miracle of life,
and for the mystery of love. Amen
