Mercies for Today

1. Kiara has remained stable all day. There were even faint flickers of improvement. They may be nothing, but they may be something. 2. Kiara’s dedicated nurse stares continuously at her beeping machines and watches her face and body for second-by-second changes. She speaks kindly to Kiara and celebrates any slight improvements she sees by letting us and the doctor know the tiniest detail. 3. Her body looks perfectly beautiful, not disfigured or discoloured in any way. 4. I still get to kiss her hands and her arms and her feet. 5. Kiara has 24-hour prayer warriors praying for her at the hospital. Some of her little friends have put in nearly 60 hours in the last 72. 6. Instead of kicking out the praying, singing crowds clogging the hallway, the hospital have given them their own ward on the first floor! (The day ward.) 7. Kiara’s sister, Jada, is processing the emotions beautifully. 8. The boys don’t seem unsettled at all. They have enjoyed their sleepovers and play dates. They are happy and sad, and full of questions, many of them brutally painful to answer. Most of all, they still love and trust in a good God. 9. My handmaidens wash my clothes and make my bed and care for my children. They give me water and feed me and hide me when I’m too tired to hug another soul. They are my bones. 10. My friend, Nicole, sang over Kiara, and her brain swelling reduced steadily from 24 to 15 and remained there. (Below 20 is necessary for adequate blood flow to the brain.) I will share the song on my Facebook page. 11. Richard and I are tenderly loving one another, and are united in every way. 12. I have no guilt or even regrets about the accident. Although I was driving, I rest assured that the accident was just that. For now, it remains in my distant memory. Today is what counts. 13. I am 100% sure that the outcome is already guaranteed. I don’t know what it is yet, but it is guaranteed to be His plan. I know this because she is so hedged in and encircled with prayer, that the only one who can get to her is God. Nothing is being stolen from us. God is good and He has a good outcome. There is no bad outcome. Either she goes to be with Jesus. Or she remains where I can kiss her feet and touch her skin and read her favourite books to her. Or she dances again on stage, and gets straight A’s for school. 14. We have chatted with our children, and we are all willing to love Kiara and care for her no matter what state she is in. I have always said I have grace for another baby. If my first baby becomes my last baby, that would be okay. 15. There are actually many more mercies to count, but I need to go to sleep and get strength for another day.