Our Journey of Faith: Danielle Grace - The Journey Continues...

Yes, I know.....it has been a LONG time since we have posted anything. We got sidetracked by a lot of excitement.....and a lot of disappointment. A LOT has happened since our last post, so this one may be a little lengthy...

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Things "hoped for" things "not seen".....This is the essence of faith. If we could see and understand everything, there wouldn't be a need for faith. We can't stop blogging about our "Journey of Faith" just because the journey didn't take us where we thought we were going. This is a JOURNEY, not a destination.

One month ago today, MarySusan was rushed to the hospital for abdominal pain. To make a longer story not as long, she had serious internal bleeding and had lost a lot of blood already. They rushed her into surgery and while she was on the table, her uterus ruptured and out came our little Danielle Grace. MarySusan started hemorrhaging even more blood, but thankfully they were prepared and ready to save her life. The doctor told me later that if she had not already been on the surgical table and cut open when that happened, she would have bled to death in seconds and they would not have been able to save her. If we had been 20 minutes later getting her into surgery, she wouldn't be here today. I thank God for His perfect timing that we were where we needed to be when that happened.

As most of you know, we lost Danielle that day. Well, we didn't "lose" her....she was God's to give to us, and God's to take away. She just got to go home a lot sooner than expected. She got to skip all the pain and heartache of this world, and go straight to be with God. She is safe and filled with peace. I think the 3-year old boy of our best friends said it best... When they told him the news, he breathed a huge sigh of relief and said, "I'm happy because Uhfwoppy (what he called her) is with Jesus now and she is happy!" (He later went on to explain that it was because she got too cramped inside MarySusan, so she had more room with Jesus). God is good. In the days to follow we got to hold our little girl over and over again. That was the most AMAZING feeling I have ever experienced and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So what happened? Didn't I tell the world that Danielle was God's miracle from what happened 3 years ago? Wasn't she supposed to be the testimony of God's grace? Wasn't she supposed to be the evidence of God's working in our lives? I posted all about God being the "I AM" and being a God of miracles. Did He mess up??? So.....here's my answer..........you ready.........just scroll down.........

She is.

She is a little miracle.....a miracle we got to hold and kiss and feel. A miracle who has impacted our lives and hearts forever. She is a testimony of God's grace.....God granted us the most amazing 22 weeks and 2 days with this little wonder. She is still evidence of God working in our lives......every single day God is using her to impact not only us, but so many people all over the world. She has had more impact on more people in her few short weeks, than most of us have in our entire lives. God is still I AM. None of that has changed. God is still God. Even if we can't make sense of it all. Now......before you go all "Wow Brandon, you have such faith..." I don't. This concept is a daily...even HOURLY struggle for me. Because I don't get it....I really don't. I don't have a clue what in the world God is thinking....

But I've been reminded of something that a close friend of ours drilled in our head several years ago. Sometimes when life doesn't make sense and you don't understand what God is doing, you just have to KNOW what you KNOW. I don't FEEL like God is faithful, but I KNOW He is. I don't FEEL like God is loving me right now, but I KNOW He does. I don't FEEL like God has remembered what we're going through, but I KNOW He does. I don't FEEL like God has a plan for us, but I KNOW He does. Faith isn't based on FEELings....sometimes you just have to KNOW what you KNOW....