Celebrating a Miracle

Today as a year comes to a close and a new one begins, I am celebrating a miracle.

Wasn’t it just yesterday that we gazed at a photo of a baby girl that we knew instantly was our daughter? Didn’t we just meet her at the Holt reception center in Seoul and bring her home?

 

Weren’t we were just amazed by her math, science, and athletic abilities, her courage and bravery, her adventurous spirit and her desire to care for the least desirable?

Didn’t she just fall in love and walk down the aisle to begin a life with the man of her dreams?

Where did those years go?

Today this amazing miracle child became a mother. I struggle to find words to describe the emotions I felt when I saw her holding her own sweet miracle. This long awaited, much prayed for boy is here!

 

 

Years ago I came across this poem which I keep posted above my desk. It was written in 1995 by Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist, Ina Hughes. Often reprinted, it puts in words the reality of life for many children.

As a mom, teacher, and child advocate, this poem guides much of what I do. I am sharing it today in honor of my first grandchild. Let’s remember to pray for all children – especially those whose lives are filled with fear and poverty.

We Pray for the Children

Ina Hughes

We pray for the children…

who put chocolate everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those…

who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never “counted potatoes,”
who are born in places where we wouldn’t be caught dead,
who will never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children…

who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.

And we pray for those…

who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,

who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We pray for children…

who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church or temple and scream on the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those…

whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children…

who want to be carried and for those who must,
who we never give up on
and for those who don’t get a second chance.
For those we smother and . . .
for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

I am fortunate to own my mother’s copy of A Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field. It has been shared and loved by children in our family for years.

My favorite verse reads:

Bless other children, far and near

And keep them safe and free from fear.

As we begin this New Year, let’s continue to reach out whenever and wherever we can to make this world a better place for each little miracle.

I am grateful to Ruth Ayres who has set up this forum so that bloggers can share their celebrations, large and small. Head on over to Ruth Ayres Writes and see what others are celebrating this week.