The Creation of Life versus the End of Our Journey – Miracles All Around

 (Annabelle and Jace hang out in the crib together.)

As I read previous blog entries about the births of my children, the creation of life is a beautiful memory! Many years ago, I vividly remember visiting my grandmother, who at the time suffered from cancer, coming to the end of her life journey. Put simply, I have often come to the extremes of individual life spans…the start and the end. I see the newfound energy of Baby Jace, my son, with his cuteness exposed in his plush red cheeks. Each family member cuts in line and argues over who will hold him next. This imagery of Jace is a drastic comparison to the grandmother I saw run a marathon for almost eighty-five years until diagnosed with cancer. She clearly struggled with the challenges of the illness. As I have experienced miracles in my life through my own survival, I have become a miracle by persisting to live. I choose to get up each day, and I choose to keep moving forward. If I can live daily without giving up the fight, then anyone who believes in this same positive mantra can do the same.  

If I am not feeling happy all the time, I sometimes look down on myself. This is neither healthy nor productive. In my day-to-day routine, I do not always feel like the character, Tigger, from the famous cartoon, Winnie-the-Pooh. In fact, I sometimes feel drastically different than how Tigger is portrayed in the show. Some days I am definitely not bouncing off walls with contagious enthusiasm.

Recently, I have witnessed that my lows are really not that low at all. Many exist in worse predicaments than all of us, even if we face adverse circumstances. I expect my daily moments to constantly feel like holding a newborn baby, fresh and exciting. This perpetual feeling thus becomes never-ending with good days every day. However, for most of us, that is not life or our own experienced reality. As the reader, please do not mistake the feeling of being down versus choosing your daily attitude, especially in hard times. These mentalities are distinctly different. Those who feel down may also choose the attitude they personify, positive or negative, for better or worse.

Most believers consider the birth of life to be a miracle. Much like birth, God consistently performs miracles for those who need healing from diseases and serious injuries. I believe the occurrence of a miracle transpires from a prayer request and in the confidence that God will answer that prayer request.

I recall asking for past miracles of healing that God may or may not have answered. These prayers resulted in emotional pleas of sorrow, confusion, and frustration. On the other hand, in the next moment, I experienced the miracle of birth that resulted in emotional prayers of gratefulness (a healthy baby). On one hand, the dualistic relationship serves as a spiritual high through the creation of life. On the flip side, I then experience down feelings of what eventually becomes inevitable for every human, death. The celebration of life mixes with a sad feeling to see one eventually go to a heavenly home.

As I have seen many times in my journey, life comes and goes with miracles through the in-between periods. Some miracle prayer requests are answered, while some remain unanswered.

If you experience misery and loathe each day, life may pass you by. And amidst the grief, you become discouraged as I have in my own past experiences. One might consider these feelings normal for human beings at certain times in life. In other words, we all feel these mixed emotions.

When you give your very best to change whatever creates this experienced misery, the miracle of God's Glory becomes magnified. If you do not give in, if you do not give up, if you do not quit, your spiritual heart knows that God has more for you. In the daily decision a person makes to get up and never give in, good things will start to come. Give God everything you got in the goals and directions that you pursue, and a favorable blessing will eventually emerge. In this pursuit, enjoy the breaks to create, celebrate, and dedicate time to those you love.

This mentality becomes vital at the beginning of one life with birth and the end of another person's life with death. Even if you do not enjoy what you do in your day-to-day routine, you will at least enjoy these precious moments with your loved ones. That may be where the real joy always lies – encountering those cherished few people you leave in the morning and those you return to in the evening. The in-between times during work hours may only serve one purpose for now - to pay the bills. Then even in a day's time, we realize that miracles come at both the beginning and the end of our days, much like the birth and death of a life.

With the experience of these beginning and end miracles, we can all become a Tigger! We can glorify God with the attitude we choose to possess by observing the good around us at the beginning and end of a hard day’s work.   

These tiny humans bring me daily joy at the beginning and end of my many hectic days. Enjoy more pictures displaying their incredible cuteness.

(Jace’s smile brightens my day.)

(When asleep, Jace is so quiet. He is not quiet most of the time while awake.)

(Annabelle rides the rhino at the Knoxville Zoo. Much like her mama, Lisa, Annabelle loves animals!)

(Annabelle was seriously tired after a half-day at the Knoxville Zoo. She clearly had a good time.)

(Jace’s feet are still so small. I try my best to cherish these moments.)

(While visiting the grandparents, G-Daddy reads Annabelle a book before bedtime.)

(Annabelle drives the firetruck at the Discovery Center Children’s Museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

(Annabelle places G-Daddy’s famed headband on Jace’s head for a photo opportunity.)

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