POST #7 From Miracles to Emmanuel – Heart Surgery
A number of weeks after we adopted Emmanuel, I reached out to Mila’s foster mom, Hermencia, to let her know that Mila was now a big sister. I sent some pictures of Mila and Emmanuel and ones of the whole family. I told her the story of how God had called us to adopt again and how much Mila was enjoying being a big sister.
Hermencia replied that she was overjoyed to hear this update and said the story and pictures moved her to tears. She then shared about a time that she had an encounter with Jesus of Nazareth and that it changed her life and the life of her family. She also shared that right before Mila’s heart surgery, she had wanted Mila to be baptized.
She said she searched high and low but couldn’t find anyone who could baptize Mila. So, she prayed asking God to give her permission, and she baptized Mila herself. She said the experience was so special for both of them. While Hermencia’s Catholic background differs from our beliefs, her encounter with Jesus is something real outside of religious traditions.
Encounters with Jesus always change someone’s life.
Hermencia and I have never discussed Mila’s heart surgery before, so it’s really interesting that she should bring it up now because Mila and I just had a special conversation about her heart.
As I was getting Mila ready for bed one night recently, I saw the scar from her heart surgery and decided to tell her the story. “Mila, do you know what this is from?” I asked as I traced the healed line across her chest.
She looked down at the scar and then back at me without responding as I continued, “When you were a baby, your heart needed to be fixed. And this is where the doctors went in and fixed your heart. And that’s when God called me to be your mommy. He saw you and your heart, and He told us to come adopt you.”
As we continued getting her ready for bed, Mila paused and began repeating what I had told her. She touched her scar and talked about the doctors and how they fixed her heart. Then she said, “Hold you me,” which means someone was holding her. I asked if I was holding her, and she said no. She said and signed, “Emmanuel.” I asked, “Emmanuel was holding you when your heart was fixed?” She said yes. “Emmanuel hold you me.”
It’s fascinating after all these years to hear about the baptism before Mila’s surgery. I think about God hearing Hermencia’s prayers during that time. For it was the same week all this was going on when God spoke to me, and I knew he was calling us to adopt.
(Here’s that story if you missed it: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17oEPG8tge/)
I had always imagined God from afar looking down on Mila during surgery and calling us to go get her. But after my recent conversation with Mila, I now picture Him holding her. What a precious image showing how our God is a father to the fatherless. Emmanuel was holding Mila during surgery. His presence has been with her for her whole life, and He has been calling others to protect and care for her since she was born.
Often we get angry with God when we see the terrible injustices, abuses, and brokenness of this world. We wonder how He could be a loving God if He allows these things to happen. But there are things that as created beings, we don’t see and understand. He is God; we are not. He asks us to trust Him. Having seen God’s heart for Mila and Emmanuel made me trust Him more. I know He is good, and I know He cares. The injustices that go on are a result of human sin, not God’s apathy or mistake. And how much of this suffering continues and perpetuates because as believers, we refuse to follow what Jesus our own Savior commanded? Jesus gave up his life. He calls us to do the same because He does care about the suffering. It’s human sin and selfishness that is to blame for the suffering. We care when it affects us. When it doesn’t, we might care a little, but not enough. Aren’t we glad Jesus didn’t feel the same way. Aren’t we glad He cared enough to come to our mess of a broken world as a sacrifice to redeem us. Not because it was good for Him, but because He loved us. I pray as followers of Jesus, we can begin to have that kind of sacrificial love. His love flowing through us is how the world is changed.
I sometimes think what Mila’s life would have looked like had we not been willing. It would have been easy to ignore. We didn’t have to say yes or take any next steps. God gives us a choice just as He has from the very beginning of time. And I wonder if God would have just moved on and called others to care for her. I also imagine what kinds of things we’d be filling our lives with to keep us busy if we hadn’t followed what God had assigned for us to do. It almost brings me to tears to think of the empty life I could be living.
It’s so easy to let the world’s pursuit of pleasure, comfort, and security seep in and choke the life of purpose God has planned for us. It’s so easy to let the fears and hardships that come with following Jesus deter us from ever saying yes. It’s like a seed never planted. From only one seed, over time there’s the potential for a whole forest, a whole garden, a whole orchard. Jesus talks about this in John 12 where He says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.”
When we refuse to walk in the plans God has for us, we are like an unplanted seed.
To those reading, I implore you to search your heart and examine your life. Are things in your life just fillers or are you living out the plans and purposes God has designed uniquely for you? Talk to God about it. Ask Him to make your heart care for the things He cares for. He will honor that prayer. But understand that as you begin to listen to Him and obey, your life will change.
Ours certainly has. And we have no regrets. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” In Matthew 16, He also says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.” In the beginning, saying yes to adoption felt like giving up our lives. But now, we can’t imagine our lives if we hadn’t said yes. God has certainly blessed us with an abundant life filled with so many reminders of Him and His presence.
The pictures in this post are ones that Hermencia sent me. Some of these are pictures from Mila’s first birthday. This whole family was present for Mila and loved her during her first two years. What a precious gift. Mila is thriving today in part to being so very loved by this family. We are so grateful.
My next post will share a short story about an unplanted seed.
