Not Coincidence - "God-incidence"

“God has carefully and graciously allowed some of my fears to come true so that I would discover that I would not disintegrate. God taught me to survive on his unfailing love.

It wasn’t fun but it was transforming”

From Breaking Free by Beth Moore.

I must confess that I found this quote on another bloggers' page (Thanks, Dusty Frame). I haven't read the book...but you can bet I'm gonna! Sounds like it's right up my alley!
"It wasn't fun, but it was transforming". Yah! Exactly!

The assignment for week 7 of The Shape Of My Faith was to tell about a time when you saw God's fingerprint on your life. The great news is...that I've had so many of them, it's hard to know where to start!
So many "God-incidences"; so many times I've looked back and said "Wow, He sure knew what He was doing!"
So many times He has prepared me for what was to come and I couldn't see it at the time.
So many times I have come before Him and said "I don't know what to do! I'm going down! Help me!" Then one hour, three hours, next morning...There it is, just what I need, wrapped in His Glory and leaving me saying "Oh, Wow!"
Going through the rough stuff isn't fun! But looking back - it was worth the lesson to prepare me for what lay ahead.

The Fingerprint of God I wanted to share today was about the birth of my second child.
I cried and begged God for this child. We'd been waiting for almost four years. "And if it wouldn't be too much trouble, Father, could you make it a girl?"

Next month, I got two pink lines. And the fun began.

Hubby lost his job. Got a new one two weeks later...at $3 an hour more AND FULL PAID HEALTH INSURANCE. WOooHooo.
Went into labor three weeks early. So baby was breech. Which saved her life.
We discovered at 9 cm dilated (almost Done!) that there were two little feet on the way out. AND that baby's heart rate was 280. Normal is 130 - 160 so YAH! We were a little spooked.
Had an emergency C-section where the anesthesiologist told me HE was scared and I started reciting the Lord's Prayer over and over because I was so terrified.
When I woke up, the recovery nurse said "You have a GIRL!" I smiled and said "Say that again!"
When I saw her, she looked like a grey cantaloupe with a baby attached to one side. Because of her heart problem, she had a pound of fluid accumulated in her abdomen. (scientific term - ascites). We spent a month in Neonatal ICU.
If she had been coming head first, the doctor on call at the hospital would have tried to go ahead and deliver her. Her swollen little tummy would not have made it through. She would have been seriously injured or killed. I praise God every day for that nightmarish C-section. It was one of the worst things I have ever experienced...yet it saved my baby girl's life.
I totally give Him the Glory for her. If it were not for His Hand, she would not be here.

Some of the experiences this precious girl has had to endure in this lifetime have been beyond what I have the capacity to comprehend. Everyone marvels at her spirit and she has a special way about her that hurting people are drawn to. Her best friend (at age 8) has diabetes. One friend is deaf. One friend wears one hearing aid. Another close friend of hers from school has just been diagnosed with cancer. And there is more...things too painful to talk about.

What a blessing she is!

All I can do is bow my head and wonder what kind of awesome, special purpose God has for this child. And how humbled I am that He has chosen me to be her parent.
ME...the one who regularly needs to relinquish her mommy license.

Oooo Wow.

Bigtime.