Did you know that 1 in every 110 babies born in the USA is born with a congenital heart defect (CHD)? It is the most common birth defect in the United States. Of course, the children born with these defects are not common. Each one is precious and unique as are their families and their stories.
Today we were honored to join with these families to celebrate our heart kids!
We were especially honored that Auntie Libba was able to join us! We all wore super hero capes. Benaiah picked blue to match his Captain America costume and Shaddai chose pink to match the doctors scrubs' costume she'd chosen for the occasion. They loved meeting all the princesses before the race and thoroughly enjoyed crossing the finish line.
I teared up a little bit at the registration desk when the registrar asked me to spell his name. How many hundreds of times did I spell it during those long days in the hospital? And now here we are three and a half years later celebrating this incredible gift. I cannot imagine our family or our lives without him. He plays hard. He loves well. He is busy and funny and lays so still for all his heart check-ups and tests every year.
We look at our son every day as one given back to us from the dead. Only one Name under heaven has that kind of power. He alone gives and sustains life. Our hope is in Him.
Although to our knowledge Benaiah didn't die at any point in the hospitals, helicopters, or surgery, we watched him turn the gray color of death twice during the times when his little body wasn't getting enough oxygen. They were some of the longest seconds of my life, and are now etched permanently in my mind. The same One who sustained his life sustained our souls during those minutes I will never forget. After doing x-rays of his heart and lungs, doctors in the ER told us that he was just hours away from being a SIDs baby.
We will never forget those minutes or those days. We will never forget the global family that surrounded us in our first moments as a CHD family. We will never forget the inexplicable peace we experienced or the change that occurred in our hearts when we glimpsed just a shadow of what was given for us. Benaiah's life is a gift, bought with the highest price.
Please ask with us that neither he nor we would squander this gift. That in the moments we have him with us, we would put aside distractions. We would teach him well. We would love him strong. We would enjoy his laugh and savor his squinty smile. That we would listen patiently and respond lovingly. And when he leaves home, ask with us that he would stay the course, living for the glory of the One who made him, and healed him, and sustains him by His grace.
Hopefully this will be the first of many such races for our family. Go team Super Benaiah!
There's more information on CHD and super hero heart runs here & here.
