Amazing Grace

How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. 

I can't tell you how many times I've sung those words during my lifetime.  They seem to fall off my tongue with no effort at all, they seem to be etched into the very core of my being.  I've known them since I was a little girl barely able to understand the meaning of such a phrase. Here I am a young adult, but I still feel like a little girl when I ponder these magnificent words.  Amazing Grace. 

During the past month and a half, those words have taken on a fresh meaning for those of us living in the big blue house.   On August 5th, a little boy entered our home, our arms, and our hearts.  He came to us because he would be going to his Heavenly home very soon.  The days until he met his Daddy were clearly numbered.  His caretakers had been praying for a place where he could die in peace--warm, pain-free, and loved.  The situation with Aaron, our amazing grace baby, was unique--just like every child that enters our care is unique.  Because of the nature of the situation, the doctor and nurses felt it was best that Aaron continue to be visited and held by some of the foreign staff members (normally the children in our critical care unit are off-limits for those of us who are not medical staff).  We have had the privilege of walking closely with this precious baby boy through his last weeks on earth.  Amazing Grace.

When Aaron arrived, his caretakers provided us with some photos of him along with a list of some of his favorite toys, activities and songs.  His favorite song?  Amazing Grace.  We have each spent hours cuddling this little one, singing this song of Truth over him and to him.  And while we have been holding him, God has ministered to us.  Amazing Grace.

Through this little boy, I have learned that God alone is in charge of life and death.  Each one of our days are numbered before one of them comes to be.  The end of our days will not come one moment too late...or too soon.  I have felt the urgency of time, realizing that time is fleeting whether we realize it or not.  I have been reminded that God is good.  Even when I do not understand His ways.  I am awestruck to see first hand how every life is a vessel for His glory.  Amazing Grace.

Amazing Grace Baby, you are forever etched into our hearts. We miss you on earth and are not ashamed of the tears that flow in your absence. But we take delight in looking forward to the day when ten thousand years will be a single moment in His presence.

When we've been there then thousand years

Bright shining as the Sun

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.