I watched Ilana take baby Liam up the hill today to pick some fruit off the pear tree. How can this be? After 2 of the hardest years of all our lives, I watch as he walks beside her, laughing, and thrilled to have something to put in his basket. He is so excited to show me what he has treasured in his bundle. A boy that was said to never walk, talk, or be able to understand just held out his hand to me motioning for me to try his tasty treat.
The handiwork of a masterpiece sits right in front of me.
No matter how hard I wished or dreamt that Liam be functioning, it was never going to happen if I was the only power involved. No mind could make up or force healing to happen on its own. Only the power of God and his mercy to answer prayer could move such a mountain. When you are missing 1.6 million pieces of your chromosome and 27 genes..it take a Big God to do such a Big thing. When they told us Liam would be a simple person with a simple mind, we wondered what our future and his would look like. Every day though there has been a hope spoken to my heart, that makes my mind fill so full with faith. Its as though, a limited life for Liam is just not what the Lord intends for him. After time, I have learned to not only say but react as though I believe this to be absolutely true. Liam just wasn't created to be "simple."
Actually everything about him has been incredibly complex. From his eating and breathing all the way to his muscle tone, each bit has been complicated and above what the Dr's have experienced in the past. Many times he has been called a, "hard case." Then, above the prayers and tears, there is God who stands up from His throne, reaches to Liam and does something. He does Big Somethings. Like the time he healed his spine...2 X rays showed spinal deformities, a month later 3 X rays showed no deformities at all. God stood the time when Liam had a hole in his lung causing a fierce pneumonia that staked his life, then by morning it was gone. Not the pneumonia...the hole...completely gone! I remember the day we went to surgery for Liam's feeding tube, his diagnosis was Strider, Laryngomalacia, and an added Tracheomalasia, for 2 weeks we had proof of these diagnosis and was treating them. During surgery, while having a investigative look at his esophagus, there was the determination that he had none of the above. When Liam's cranial plates closed early the surgeon told us to prepare. They predicted that they would have toremove Liam's skull around the frame of his face, reconstruct it and replace it back on to his body!! We were terrified! A few weeks later we came into have a repeat evaluation and it was determined that it was no longer needed. His head had shaped into it properly leaving no reason for surgery after all.
These are just some stories that God has given us to be connected to Liam's life. I am so grateful to eat a pear with this little guy. The things he still struggles with will be repaired by God and end up as a part of this wonderful healing story. I'm just glad that through Liam God has increased our faith as a family and changed our prayer life.
After years of infertility and miscarriage, I have come to the determination that nothing is by accident, and if I could gather all those years of pain into a bowl, I would consume it a million time over to have the family that I have now. I'm so glad for Gods Big Somethings and having a moment of remembrance today of what He can do.
