Uplifting Story Amongst the Horrid

…thank you for that, @Anymouse. We NEED stories that aren’t about death, destruction, and Democrats (redundant, I know) occasionally, and what an uplifting story you’ve found us!

It’s always nice to see a young man who is not daunted by what he does NOT have, but makes full use of what the Lord DID bless him with, and THIS man certainly did do THAT. What a good example for his son, but I would imagine it makes it WAY harder for his SON to say something is too difficult, because Dad would just say, “Well, Son, I was born without…”, and let’s see him top THAT!

It’s also nice to see parents that did not turn from their son, dump him, or not give him opportunities because he’s “different”. The Governor Northams of the modern world would have gone to this woman as she gazed upon her armless progeny and said, “you know, you have a choice to make”, like God’s gift to the world should be optional, to be destroyed if defective like a cheap Chinese computer!

…but no, I SAID I wouldn’t talk about Democrats, so let’\s leave them OUT of this.

But I DO have something more to contribute.

My son was born with very obvious craniofacial deficiencies, what is popularly known as cleft lip and palate. We had done all the first time Mom stuff, Mom quit smoking IMMEDIATELY (and wasn’t a drinker), exercised appropriately, took the prenatal vitamins, made sure she took extra care of herself for the baby, got the ultrasounds of the day (not as good as they have now), and we NEVER had ANY idea that there was any issue until he first faced the world…and wasn’t all there.

The doctors had all sorts of dark and portentous things to say about it. “It COULD mean he’s deaf.” “It COULD mean he’s retarded.”. “It COULD mean he’ll NEVER walk, talk, get out of diapers, or ever be anything but an increasingly difficult burden to his aging caregivers”. To this day I have NO idea where they were going with this, since Northam’s dream was not…THANK GOD…a reality then, but they REALLY wanted to lower expectations, for one reason or another.

So I have some idea what this man’s parents were thinking. It’s tough. You have to be strong in the Lord to cope with your dreams of a perfect baby gone up in smoke.

I wasn’t strong.
I did not have the Lord.

So I ran.

At first…

My new son was in the world at the mercy of this increasingly large assemblage of dour baby doctors, my wife was insensate with pain and medication (it was a long, difficult labor that was about 10 seconds from being a Caesarian, and she started the natural route but fetal distress and pain levels made that impossible), and my mother and mother-in-law were in attendance but without a frame of reference…and I left for a smoke.

I went down to the smoking area the hospital had (they still existed then), and put on a HUGE one-man pity party about how jacked up MY life had become, about how hard this would be on ME, about all the ridicule IIII would have to put up with…you see where this was.

And it must have shown on my face, to my fellow smokers, who were ALSO there with burdens of their own…but were touched by the Lord.

…Children’s Hospitals are not places you’re allowed to wallow in self-pity. Trust me, someone ELSE has it MUCH worse than YOU, and – more IMPORTANTLY – someone else’s CHILD has it MUCH worse than YOURS.

I believe God puts people in your way to push you where He wants you to go. That day, in that place, I met a man.

Whose child didn’t have a functioning heart. While MY baby was a ruddy red and strong as an ox.

…we were joined by another man.
Whose child was born prematurely, with his lungs stuck together, and needed constant care. While MY baby was almost 10 pounds and cried lustily as I left.

…Then a woman came along.
who had had a neonate in the hospital for some weeks, that was blind, among other things. While MY baby seemed to have stared accusingly at me (probably not, they don’t have great eye control then) through clear, operable eyes on both sides while I slinked away and shirked my duties towards him.

These folks had children with worse problems than MINE, and here I was disregarding MY family while OTHER folks with terrible problems with their children consoled ME.

Suitably shamed by the Lord, I left to take up my duties to my son and my wife, who needed me to be a man and not a whiny ass.

And then I read THIS story. Thank God my son had his limbs, TOO.

…and this is why I am DEATH on the Northam proposal. I would LIKE to say I can’t IMAGINE what would have happened if my son had been made comfortable and a conversation started with my groggy, weakened wife and her then-puling husband about, well, do you REALLY want this burden? REALLY? After all, the DOCTORS say there’s all KINDS of (potential) problems, maybe it’s best if you let us…

I would LIKE to say I can’t imagine, yes.

But unfortunately, I CAN. I have a pretty good idea what direction that scared, selfish, self-pitying young man who knew NOTHING about the Lord and about what life REALLY meant would have pushed the “conversation”. And it horrifies me to this DAY.

…And the blessings that my otherwise normal, healthy, non-mentally challenged, walking, talking, hearing, seeing son went on to give me as he was actually done with diapers EARLY, excelled in school from kindergarten which he started on time, graduated high in his class, learned to play the trumpet despite his deformity that SHOULD have meant he COULDN’T, lettered in baseball, learned to drive despite a TERRIBLE teacher (me) and all the OTHER joys and benefits he gave us over the years…

…would have been lost.

TO MURDER.

CONSENTED TO BY HIS PARENTS.

What a beastly, ghastly thing our modern society wants to allow!

…and then you post this story.

How easy it would be to say an armless baby has no future. It’ll be HARD, he’ll be ridiculed, scorned, unable to do anything for himself, you’ll have to take care of him his ENTIRE life, he’ll NEVER be a productive member of society…so maybe we should, you know, make a “choice”, it’s a bad deal, really, you two can try again later…

…CAN YOU SEE IT!?!

…and THIS man puts the LIE to all that kind of thinking! God equipped him to overcome adversity, to meet challenges, to do EVERYTHING he wants to do, and to smile while he does it! A life well-lived that flies in the face of those who would say it was a life not worth HAVING.

God Bless this man.

God Bless Anymouse, Claudia, and “Uncle Kenny” for bringing him to us.

We need MORE stories like this.

God decides what a human is worth, and the total is NOT calculated on what they do NOT have, but what He DID bless them with.

…and this man, my son, and many others that modern society would turn their backs on as failed fetuses, are VERY worthy indeed…

…I’ll shut up now. I always say too much on these things, and talk about myself too much, too. But I want EVERYONE to understand, that there are SOME “choices” that are just TOO awesome to be left to Man and Woman, Mother and Father, Man and Wife…and taking LIFE it indeed ONE of them.

What that baby can do is the province of God, and known ONLY to him.
No arrogance or convenience of Man, no pandering shill by Democrats, no Government that likely only wants to euthanize what it considers to be potential unproductive citizens, should be allowed to murder it.

Rant over. But I can’t promise I won’t do it again.

God Bless,
SNS

6 Comments on Uplifting Story Amongst the Horrid

Different Tim Saturday, 1 February 2020, 13:20 at 1:20 pm

Never say never! Good stuff.

8
Ann Nonymous Prime Saturday, 1 February 2020, 14:33 at 2:33 pm

Positive stories are ALWAYS needed and welcome. Thank you, Claudia.

8
Supernightshade Saturday, 1 February 2020, 14:41 at 2:41 pm

…thank you for that, @Anymouse. We NEED stories that aren’t about death, destruction, and Democrats (redundant, I know) occasionally, and what an uplifting story you’ve found us!

It’s always nice to see a young man who is not daunted by what he does NOT have, but makes full use of what the Lord DID bless him with, and THIS man certainly did do THAT. What a good example for his son, but I would imagine it makes it WAY harder for his SON to say something is too difficult, because Dad would just say, “Well, Son, I was born without…”, and let’s see him top THAT!

It’s also nice to see parents that did not turn from their son, dump him, or not give him opportunities because he’s “different”. The Governor Northams of the modern world would have gone to this woman as she gazed upon her armless progeny and said, “you know, you have a choice to make”, like God’s gift to the world should be optional, to be destroyed if defective like a cheap Chinese computer!

…but no, I SAID I wouldn’t talk about Democrats, so let’\s leave them OUT of this.

But I DO have something more to contribute.

My son was born with very obvious craniofacial deficiencies, what is popularly known as cleft lip and palate. We had done all the first time Mom stuff, Mom quit smoking IMMEDIATELY (and wasn’t a drinker), exercised appropriately, took the prenatal vitamins, made sure she took extra care of herself for the baby, got the ultrasounds of the day (not as good as they have now), and we NEVER had ANY idea that there was any issue until he first faced the world…and wasn’t all there.

The doctors had all sorts of dark and portentous things to say about it. “It COULD mean he’s deaf.” “It COULD mean he’s retarded.”. “It COULD mean he’ll NEVER walk, talk, get out of diapers, or ever be anything but an increasingly difficult burden to his aging caregivers”. To this day I have NO idea where they were going with this, since Northam’s dream was not…THANK GOD…a reality then, but they REALLY wanted to lower expectations, for one reason or another.

So I have some idea what this man’s parents were thinking. It’s tough. You have to be strong in the Lord to cope with your dreams of a perfect baby gone up in smoke.

I wasn’t strong.
I did not have the Lord.

So I ran.

At first…

My new son was in the world at the mercy of this increasingly large assemblage of dour baby doctors, my wife was insensate with pain and medication (it was a long, difficult labor that was about 10 seconds from being a Caesarian, and she started the natural route but fetal distress and pain levels made that impossible), and my mother and mother-in-law were in attendance but without a frame of reference…and I left for a smoke.

I went down to the smoking area the hospital had (they still existed then), and put on a HUGE one-man pity party about how jacked up MY life had become, about how hard this would be on ME, about all the ridicule IIII would have to put up with…you see where this was.

And it must have shown on my face, to my fellow smokers, who were ALSO there with burdens of their own…but were touched by the Lord.

…Children’s Hospitals are not places you’re allowed to wallow in self-pity. Trust me, someone ELSE has it MUCH worse than YOU, and – more IMPORTANTLY – someone else’s CHILD has it MUCH worse than YOURS.

I believe God puts people in your way to push you where He wants you to go. That day, in that place, I met a man.

Whose child didn’t have a functioning heart. While MY baby was a ruddy red and strong as an ox.

…we were joined by another man.
Whose child was born prematurely, with his lungs stuck together, and needed constant care. While MY baby was almost 10 pounds and cried lustily as I left.

…Then a woman came along.
who had had a neonate in the hospital for some weeks, that was blind, among other things. While MY baby seemed to have stared accusingly at me (probably not, they don’t have great eye control then) through clear, operable eyes on both sides while I slinked away and shirked my duties towards him.

These folks had children with worse problems than MINE, and here I was disregarding MY family while OTHER folks with terrible problems with their children consoled ME.

Suitably shamed by the Lord, I left to take up my duties to my son and my wife, who needed me to be a man and not a whiny ass.

And then I read THIS story. Thank God my son had his limbs, TOO.

…and this is why I am DEATH on the Northam proposal. I would LIKE to say I can’t IMAGINE what would have happened if my son had been made comfortable and a conversation started with my groggy, weakened wife and her then-puling husband about, well, do you REALLY want this burden? REALLY? After all, the DOCTORS say there’s all KINDS of (potential) problems, maybe it’s best if you let us…

I would LIKE to say I can’t imagine, yes.

But unfortunately, I CAN. I have a pretty good idea what direction that scared, selfish, self-pitying young man who knew NOTHING about the Lord and about what life REALLY meant would have pushed the “conversation”. And it horrifies me to this DAY.

…And the blessings that my otherwise normal, healthy, non-mentally challenged, walking, talking, hearing, seeing son went on to give me as he was actually done with diapers EARLY, excelled in school from kindergarten which he started on time, graduated high in his class, learned to play the trumpet despite his deformity that SHOULD have meant he COULDN’T, lettered in baseball, learned to drive despite a TERRIBLE teacher (me) and all the OTHER joys and benefits he gave us over the years…

…would have been lost.

TO MURDER.

CONSENTED TO BY HIS PARENTS.

What a beastly, ghastly thing our modern society wants to allow!

…and then you post this story.

How easy it would be to say an armless baby has no future. It’ll be HARD, he’ll be ridiculed, scorned, unable to do anything for himself, you’ll have to take care of him his ENTIRE life, he’ll NEVER be a productive member of society…so maybe we should, you know, make a “choice”, it’s a bad deal, really, you two can try again later…

…CAN YOU SEE IT!?!

…and THIS man puts the LIE to all that kind of thinking! God equipped him to overcome adversity, to meet challenges, to do EVERYTHING he wants to do, and to smile while he does it! A life well-lived that flies in the face of those who would say it was a life not worth HAVING.

God Bless this man.

God Bless Anymouse, Claudia, and “Uncle Kenny” for bringing him to us.

We need MORE stories like this.

God decides what a human is worth, and the total is NOT calculated on what they do NOT have, but what He DID bless them with.

…and this man, my son, and many others that modern society would turn their backs on as failed fetuses, are VERY worthy indeed…

…I’ll shut up now. I always say too much on these things, and talk about myself too much, too. But I want EVERYONE to understand, that there are SOME “choices” that are just TOO awesome to be left to Man and Woman, Mother and Father, Man and Wife…and taking LIFE it indeed ONE of them.

What that baby can do is the province of God, and known ONLY to him.
No arrogance or convenience of Man, no pandering shill by Democrats, no Government that likely only wants to euthanize what it considers to be potential unproductive citizens, should be allowed to murder it.

Rant over. But I can’t promise I won’t do it again.

God Bless,
SNS

15
JDHasty Saturday, 1 February 2020, 15:20 at 3:20 pm

News flash: Democrats propose to tax people who play musical instruments using their feet

4
pianamusic Saturday, 1 February 2020, 16:03 at 4:03 pm

BTW.

SNS definitely has talent as a writer. Especially one who can grab attention from the beginning and walk one through to the end of the story without an open space.

And, I will bet that I am not the only one who has stood up and took notice of this. Sort of like an uninterrupted symphony from the beginning to the ending without a single sour note.

6
Supernightshade Saturday, 1 February 2020, 18:03 at 6:03 pm

…that is very kind of you, @pianamusic, but my muse is my Lord, and to Him be the glory. On those rare occasions when something I say touches another, if there’s anything good in it, it’s something He gave me.

Me? I’m just a guy who cusses too much and makes fun of things in the world from here because it’s cheaper than therapy.

When I serious up and give these vignettes of my life here, it’s usually to the point of trying to flag something dumb I’ve done so OTHERS can avoid the same pitfalls, with the DUMBEST thing I’ve done EASILY been not accepting the Lord when I was younger, or to decry some evil in the world as I do today, or sometimes both those things together.

I spent many years with my back to Him even when the physical peril was greatest, but in His mercy, He protected me even then, without my asking or even acknowledging Him, because He wanted me to have the chance to turn to Him, as He knew I eventually would.

I owe Him everything, so the least I can do is recount my life lessons like this, and give Him place in them.

This isn’t a Bible blog, but our hosts have always been open to praise and prayer here, even initiating them when they feel it’s warranted. That’s what drew me here after bannings elsewhere (part of my handle commemerates them), and the odd mix of silly and serious, profane and prayerful that appears here is something of the mix I am myself, so we are akin in that.

…and along the way, I can enjoy the comments of kindred souls such as yourself, even have a little back-and-fourth as you and I have before, and with many others of similar mind, and we can reassure each other that the WHOLE world isn’t crazy YET.

And many can express thoughts in a few words that I can’t in a column. I admire that ability even as I don’t have it, it’s another difference that makes this a great place to be.

So again, thank you for your graciousness in recognizing my meager efforts, but here I am just another candle contributing to a greater flame.

And always, if you see anything good in me, it’s to the glory of my Lord in Heaven, and I thank Him for any words I may have that ever move you.

God Bless,
SNS

3