Season of Thanks, Day Eighteen

Today is my youngest grandson's 15th birthday.

He should not have seen this day.

But Ashton is a miracle!

Oh, I know, all babies, all children are miracles.

But Ashton, Ashton is a medical miracle of God!

A causing-the-lame-to walk-and-the-blind-to-see kind of miracle.

You see, there were some difficulties with Kim's labor.

And the antibiotic she should have received

to prevent his contraction of her strep B virus

was overlooked in the emergency.

And so, just a few hours after his birth,

Ashton went to NICU where he remained for several weeks.

Now whether he was born with the heart defect

or whether it was caused by the meningitis he had,

no one knows.

But there it was.

And it was very serious.

By the age of two he was in desperate need of a new heart.

We never knew when today would be the last day.

He was a very sick little boy.

Finally, he was scheduled to go to Lubbock Children's Hospital

where he would be until he either got a new heart

or Jesus took him home.

Two days before he was to go,

Ashton went to bed the lethargic, swollen little boy we had come to love.

But the next morning, he wakened full of energy,

with good color and no swelling.

He went for his scheduled last doc visit in Amarillo -

 a final check-up before the "trip" that was going to be risky.

The doc listened to his heart.

Listened again.

And again.

So did the other doctors in the practice.

They did some tests.

Then did some more.

And no heart defect!

And sick little Ashton became a miracle!

A healthy, normally active little boy

 who put any other two-year-old to shame with his antics!

Happy birthday, Ashton!

Today, I am more than grateful for miracles!