Blessings Come In Many Different Ways

On July 9, 2015, our grandson, Hudson, was born deaf. In the middle of our joy over his birth, we were devastated to hear our grandson was deaf. What would this mean for him? How would he navigate life? What kind of hardship would this put on him and his family? 

Those questions, like all the “what-ifs” we contemplate and stress over, were soon alleviated. Looking at our perfectly formed grandson, we knew God would bless him and his family beyond measure. He would be our joy in all life’s circumstances.

Within months of his birth, his parents were already talking to specialists and looking into ways to help Hudson live beyond his deafness in the fullness of God’s blessings. But Hudson’s options were limited.

Cochlear implants were brought up for consideration. There was a lot of prayer and research, more prayer, more talking to specialists, more prayer before Hudson’s parents decided to proceed with cochlear implants.

The first surgical attempt failed, leaving everyone dismayed and disillusioned. In the healing time before another attempt to implant the cochlears, there was a lot of tears and prayers, a lot more talks with specialists, more research, more tears, and then the final decision to proceed with a second attempt.

On January 24, 2017 Hudson went back into surgery. His parents watched their eighteen-month old son being wheeled back into surgery. Questions and “what-ifs” poured over them, but they stood tall in their faith and in their decision through prayer to proceed with surgery #2. 

Hudson rebounded from the surgery which the surgeon acknowledged was a success surgically. Now began the wait to see if they would work for Hudson. There were no guarantees. Prayers continued, acknowledged by people far and wide who had started praying for Hudson soon after he was born and continued to pray for him through his surgeries. 

At first, we weren’t sure the cochlear were going to work, even though the specialist acknowledged that their testing showed the cochlear were responding to Hudson’s brain waves and vice-versa. I admit I was skeptical. For months I saw little response.

Then it happened. All of a sudden Hudson was responding. His verbal skills were minimal, but we understood that would happen as the cochlear and brain began responding. To Hudson’s parents and family, the blessing was a miracle. Our baby boy would one day be able to communicate with others. He would be able to hear the words, “I love you!” (That was my daughter’s first concern. “Mama, will he ever hear my voice? Will he ever hear me say, “I love you!”)

In March 2018, Hudson began going to a special preschool established by the deaf school in Norfolk, VA. The preschool, set up in a normal elementary school, would have hearing impaired children, children with cochlear implants, and children with full hearing capabilities. We worried about Hudson integrating into the situation run by therapists and support personnel in a strange setting. He was not even three years old. 

Well, that baby walked right into that school with his backpack over his shoulder and waved his mother a goodbye. He loved school from the beginning. 

Fourteen months later on May 15, 2019, my daughter received a note from Hudson’s teacher.

“We love to hear the kids talking! However, today Hudson was talking during stories, poems, and other listening activities. We don’t want him to miss out on a new language. So we are working on having him wait to make comments in group settings.

(Did you ever think you’d get a note like this 3 years ago?)” 😊

Blessings. They come in many different ways. Sometimes they come through raindrops and always in God’s timing.

My daughter’s tears and laughter during her phone conversation with me over Hudson’s “letter home from the teacher” confirmed God’s blessings over Hudson. We sense it all the time. When he prays before meals or at bedtime. When he says, “I love you!” When he pats the couch and says, “Read to me.”

I’m reminded of Laura Story’s powerful song, “Blessings”. 

It’s all about those “what-if” moments when you’re standing on a precipice; they’re deciding factors defining everything you know and don’t know about who you are and who you can be. One small step forward or backward changes everything.

For Hudson . . . his parents stood tall and dropped the “what-ifs” and fell on their knees before the God of love, pleading for their son to be all He would have Hudson to be.

Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings,

We pray for peace.

Comfort for family; protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity.

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

And all the while, You hear each spoken need;

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re real?

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

What if my greatest disappointments, or aching of this life,

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy.

What if trials of this life,

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise?

Blessings.

Sometimes blessings come in small, penetrating sounds of an angel choir singing sweet words of praise to the Father that wake you and fill you with promises.

Sometimes blessings come in the form of a letter from a teacher reminding a mother that blessings come in many different ways.

Blessings.

“I trust in Your unfailing love;

My heart rejoices in Your salvation,

I will sing the Lord’s praise,

For He has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6

God bless you always,

Angela

Blessed Quiet

I love the quiet, those moments when I sit with Christ to listen and be amazed.

Pausing and reflecting on God’s nature and His blessings settles my soul. I soak in a Holy marinade of His Words that pour out over my spirit, easing those things I cannot control until my clenched fingers spring open in freedom.

Quiet-pauses restore, renew, and reestablish our mindfulness of our Holy Creator.

When was the last time you paused in the quiet with the Father?

I invite you to do it more often. It is a life-changing, freedom-calling experience.

God bless you, Angela

Thanksgiving Blessings, Tragedy, and God's Grace

On November 19^th, my husband and I drove to Gatlinburg, TN to begin a week of thanksgiving and gratitude to our Savior. It was a long 500 mile trip, but the expectation of seeing the mountains and hoping for a little leftover color kept our hopes high.

God showed up in a mighty way! As we wound around one curve after another, we oohed and ahhed. Red, orange, and yellow clung to the trees. When the thicket of trees thinned, the valley was still ablaze, rich in color. My heart beat faster, my prayers came in worship. Creation sang its endless song to the Father, and I sat amazed with wonderment and joy. God provided.

When we pulled up to the rental cabin, it was nestled in the side of a mountain. The sweetest little cabin I’d ever seen. I wanted to cry. And when we got inside I almost did. It was a nightmare. Half the furniture was gone. It was filthy, and there were dead bugs on the floor. Our daughter and her family met us there. Disappointment was an understatement.

Three hours later, we were in another cabin on another mountain top, and it was the cabin we had envisioned staying in over Thanksgiving. But we couldn’t. We could only stay there until the day before Thanksgiving. The cabin assistant worked earnestly in order to get us into another cabin by late Wednesday.

All of us chose not to be discouraged and to head out and see as much of Gatlinburg as we could. I hadn’t been to Gatlinburg in a few years and couldn’t wait to see the village, go Christmas shopping, and take the tram up the mountain to see more of God’s glory. We went hard for three days.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, we were faced with a dilemma – either we get into another cabin or we travel home. At the eleventh hour the assistant called and we moved into our third cabin. Glory Hallelujah! Thanksgiving in the Smokies!!! God provided.

Thanksgiving was joyous! I managed to find a grocery store the night before, and presented a decent meal the next day. All twelve of us sat around the table giving thanks to God for all His intervention in our lives. We lifted up my grandson, Hudson, who would be having surgery on December 5. Life was grand! God was good! The color was still hanging on, and outside the gorgeous full-length windows, we sat amazed and humbled by God’s blessings. God provision.

Here’s a picture of a beautiful Smoky Mountain sunrise (and my granddaughter taking pictures)

Within twenty-four hours, the fire that had threatened the Smokies raged and grew. When eighty-plus miles per hour winds hit on Monday night, the ashes swirled around the mountaintops, landing, and creating more fires. By ten o’clock, an evacuation was called for our area. Smoke thickened, and visibility was limited to only a few feet. We could see the red glow of the fires in the mountains. All the beauty turned into a beast, a fiery beast threatening everything in its path.

Below is a pictures taken of the thick smoke.

I cried at the loss. My heart sank thinking about the locals and visitors who were scrambling to get off the mountain and into safety. We chose to leave early Tuesday morning. Images of downed trees and backed-up traffic on the TV kept us back. It was a harrowing night filled with fear.

Tragedy. As I stood and looked out over the smoke and fire, I cried again. The landscape would never look the same. The cabins lining the mountaintops were gone or burned too badly to be saved. On the tram ride we took earlier in the week, we sadly realized our images of a peaceful mountain town were gone forever. Now everything was in chaos and destruction.

I prayed. And as I prayed, God revealed His blessings, one-by-one, providing for His people and eliminating my fear.

Volunteer helpers poured into the area. Firefighters from all over Tennessee and adjacent states arrived and went right to work. Churches opened their doors for evacuees. Money began to pour into the coffers of the Red Cross and local food banks. Blessings heaped upon blessings that were broadcast during the night. We watched and marveled at God’s people laying down their commitments and lifting up their resources to help a needy mountain area. God provided.

Tragedy to blessings. God was on that mountain. His hands and feet were working miracles. Many people were saved from perishing. A lot of establishments were saved from destruction. Even the eagles at Dollywood were taken care of. The acts of courage and kindness continued. The hands and feet of Jesus moved throughout the area.

Every day we are called to be a blessing. Opportunities abound. Even small gifts of kindness are multiplied and the harvest grows. God provides.

Many blessings to you. In Christ’s name I pray,