Many of you know that Rebekah was born with a heart defect and has since been through 3 open heart surgeries and at least 3 cath labs. Some parents have asked "How do you deal with that?" and my response has always been something to the effect of "I have my little girl here, alive with me. What more could I want?".
It will never cease to amaze me what the Lord thinks we as individuals and couples can handle. Just today we got a call from some friends of ours, Jeff and Corene Page. They had had their second child three months ago. (A belated) Yea!! But they found out at birth that Jameson (their son) had down syndrome. On top of that, they were recently told that he needed to undergo open heart surgery. His problem is similar to Rebekah's. They wanted comfort and advice. ("How do you deal with that?!!" comes to mind.) Well, I told them many things that helped us along the way and certain things that will make the experience more tolerable and even enjoyable. But on top of that, their situation strengthens my testimony. I know that we are all given a specific set of trials to deal with in this life and they are our tests, in a manner of speaking, for exaltation. I also believe that our trials were given to us that we might learn emphathy and sympathy for others and learn to "mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort". This is part of why we are here on this earth. Our Heavenly Father is a loving and sympathetic God. He knows and loves each one of us personally and perfectly because he learned to love in HIS earthlife.
So my heart and love go out to the Page family. This is what I believe and know - that you will be stronger and kinder for going through these things. I love my daughter and am eternally grateful that surgeons were able to put her back together enough that she could remain here on this earth with us. Your love and gratitude for the Lord and your Savior will grow to extents you didn't know of. Thank you for teaching me and giving me perspective for my testimony. We will pray for you!
3 comments:
Those are truly WORDS OF WISDOM! I often think about how selfish I can be and complain about all the little things, and then a trial comes and how grateful you become when you see the bigger picture. I have always felt that those that are born in this world with physical problems are SOO much stronger than I could ever be! My second oldest nephew was born with a hole in his heart valve. He is fifteen and has been through numerous open heart surgeries, but is such a trooper! Thanks for sharing this and especially your testimony, it really puts thing in perspecitve!
Very well put, we all need to be reminded that we are not given more than we can handle, even though at times we would disagree. I didn't know about your daughter but she sure looks beatiful and happy in the pics. I've seen!
I didnt know that about the Corenes baby! That must be so tough! There is a littl boy in our ward going through the same thing. Thanks for keeping us in the loop! We will pray for Jameson!
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