Special Gifts from God

My oldest daughter shared a blog post with me yesterday from a woman who planned for and expected the perfect life and family. However, God saw fit to give her a challenge by sending her a special gift from heaven by way of her second child.

You can find this post, here.

Please read this uplifting message from her. It's long, but if you walk away without red eyes or at least a sniffling nose then you may have to rethink your values in life. It is well worth the time to read. I loved her beautiful message maybe because I too received a gift from God that was one of the most wonderful experience in my life.

My first child was this gift that I wish was still in my life at this time but I was only allowed to have her on this earth for just under 4 years. Those 4 years were full of heartache but most of all they were joyful moments filled with love. I wouldn't trade them for anything except the opportunity to have more moments like those.

I remember thinking why was this happening to me. I just couldn't understand why this was happening with my baby. I remember the first moment I realized that my baby really was sick. When I walked through the ICU in Birmingham Children's Hospital I remember thinking why is my child in here; she wasn't as sick as these other children, but she was. It was a wake up call to how precious life really was.

I am so grateful for every minute I had with her. There were some tough moments, a couple of those were stop and go moments, but the time we did have with her were the best. I learned so much from her and I will be forever grateful. I guess I can't say that enough.

But after she returned home to Heavenly Father I remember getting angry at Him. There were so many times that she had bad episodes and he could have taken her at that time but he took her at a time when she was doing so well. Her meds were under control, we saw new growth in her abilities to master minor skills because she was going to a new school, and she was trying to communicate better. I was so happy, then she was gone. I just didn't understand what happened.

I remember feeling at peace right after her death though because I knew I was being carried in the arms of my Savior during this time but once it was all over and I began to wake up from this dream, I began to feel the anger. It was my mother's aunt who helped me see the whole picture.

She helped me realize that we are all God's children and we were here on loan until it was our time. She helped me see that we all had our time to return home to Him, she helped me think of all the good things I had been blessed with and that it was not a punishment for anything I did wrong in the past.

And most of all, she helped me remember that we were sealed for all eternity and we would be together again; and I was promised that I would be able to finish raising her in the Millennium. I then began to be grateful to a Heavenly Father who understood the love of a mourning parent by giving us the gift of eternal families. He knew about losing children because so many of us refuse to turn our hearts to Him. He knew the heartache and planned to make it better for us as long as we did our part.

Oh, how my love for Him grew. I knew I had some heavy duty praying to do, I needed to know He forgave me for my anger. I wanted Him to know I understood and would except His will in all things and that I was so very grateful for the plan of Happiness and eternal families. I knew He forgave me for my shortcomings and weaknesses and that He loved me. I knew everything was going to be ok after that. I would still feel the heartache but I knew I was going to be ok and there were promises of eternity.

Life goes on and I am glad to have had my sweet baby girl for the time that I had her. I pray for all those who have had losses or will have losses in their lives. I pray that they will know that He loves them and that everything will be ok; that they just need to keep the faith and trust in Him that all is well. Take the time to tell all your loved ones how much you love them daily and accept God's plan for you if He sends you one of His Special Ones; for that is one of the greatest blessings ever; to know He trusts you with the care of this very special spirit.