Memorial Box

Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity (a fabulous blog that I stalk obsessively follow regularly) does a fun post called Memorial Box Monday. I highly recommend you check her blog out, she is an amazing woman with a wonderful heart for God. I really want to meet her in real life and hug her neck and sit and have a long chat.

Anywhoo.

In a nutshell, a Memorial Box is a place where we can have physical reminders of God's faithfulness to us. In a longer version, it is explained HERE.

So here it is, my very first Memorial Box Monday. You know, on Thursday. Cuz we all know I don't follow rules well.

Grant was born with clogged tear ducts in both eyes, but primarily the left one was a problem. He also has a roseacea (sp?) birthmark, or a red spot on his left eyelid. The doctor said that the clogged duct was something that usually heals itself on it's own, but if it was still there after a year they would have to do surgery. The birthmark might fade or it might not. I knew it would either resolve itself or not, so I didn't worry about it. I'm not really a stress-out-about-things-you-can't-control person.

(Ben is on top, and Grant on the bottom)

I trusted God that His will would be done. I prayed that Grant would be safe, and that either resolution (either healing on it's own or surgery) would work well and that there would be no complications. I prayed for Grant's safety and God's will be done.

(Grant is on the left, Ben on the right)

After a year, he was still having problems. Every morning he would wake up with eye goop that would sometimes bind his eyelids together so that he could not open one eye. I was constantly getting warm washcloths to loosen up the mucous and clean it, it was necessary several times a day. We made the decision to do surgery when it was apparent that it was not going to resolve on it's own.
We had the initial pre-surgery consultation, and I was pleased with the doctor and comfortable with the procedure. I hated the thought of my sweet fourteen-month-old being put under anesthesia, but I trusted God that all would be well. We scheduled surgery for the following Thursday.

It suddenly hit me, two days before Grant's surgery, that I had not prayed for healing of Grant's eye, just for God's will and our peace and Grant's safety. That night, as I put my sweet boy to sleep in his crib, I prayed over him for healing of his clogged tear duct and to be able to cancel the surgery. I went to bed that night not really thinking anything of it, and still believing that God would do His will and that I would be content with whatever the outcome was.

Grant woke up the next morning with a perfectly clear eye. None of the goopiness that had plagued him for the previous fourteen months was there. I looked at my bright eyed boy for the first time, finally without the crud and redness that went with the constant wiping and cleaning, and heard God speak clearly to my heart: "All you had to do was ask."

(Grant on the left, Ben on the right)

I tend to do that, to pray that things will work out for the good of all involved, and that I will have peace regardless of the outcome, but I don't tend to pray for what I want. I don't know why that is, that I don't ask for what I want, but that is something that I have been working on. God wants to give us the desires of our hearts, but we have to ask.

I canceled the surgery, and Grant's eyes have been clear ever since.

In our Memorial box I have placed the appointment card for the eye doctor, as a reminder of Grant's healing.

And I'm learning to ask. I don't know why I struggle with it, but I do. I am reminded of the Sunday school song I used to sing as a kid, "ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find, knock, and the door shall be opened unto you, hallelu, hallelujah."

Thank you, Lord, for showing me your strength and your power and your love. Help me to recognize you when you are at work.

Head on over to A Place Called Simplicity to see more Memorial Box stories!