The Puzzle of Elijah - страница 16

“Previously, these babies had been dying right after birth. But 30 years ago, the doctors began doing surgeries to correct such problems. Usually they do an open-heart surgery on the first day of the baby’s life. Then, another surgery at six months, and the third one at the age of three years. The recovery is very difficult and not many babies survive these surgeries,” the doctor answered with a sad tone.

I was devastated and shocked by the news and could not believe this was happening. Why had God allowed me to survive the risk of miscarriage, to let this happen to my child? I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle this situation, but just because I thought this, it didn’t make the problems of my pregnancy go away. “What if I could not handle this situation emotionally or physically? What about our other children?” The questions raced through my mind. Then reality grabbed me. No matter how many questions I had, none of the answers would take away the harsh reality of this pregnancy.

“Olga, I am referring you to a high-risk pregnancy specialist, in case you consider an abortion,” the doctor continued.

“I can’t do an abortion. This is our baby, whom we already love so much.”

All in tears I left the doctor’s office. Outside, shaking, crying, and having a hard time concentrating, I called Oleg at work and told him the devastating news.

“Our baby is a boy, who is having many heart issues. He will die if we don’t do the surgeries. Why did God let it happen to us?”

“Olga, God will help us. We should trust in His will,” Oleg said with a calm voice.

But I thought reality is reality and miracles just don’t happen in today’s world. Men often hide their feelings and don’t talk about them as much as women do. I wondered whether this was Oleg’ true feeling or if he was telling me what I needed to hear.

…….

That minute I remembered the Bible story of Job that Oleg and I had recently read. Job was a blameless, upright person, who feared God and shunned evil. Satan thought that Job was righteous because God had blessed him.

“If you take everything away from Job, I will prove to You that Job will curse you,” Satan told God.

“I let you test Job. I am sure he will not curse Me. He is a righteous and blameless person,” God replied to Satan.

With God’s permission Satan tested Job, by destroying his wealth, killing all his children and taking his health away from Job. But Job didn’t curse God. He remained loyal to Him. Satan was proved wrong and God blessed Job even more than before, by giving him more children and wealth. I wondered if God was testing us, as He had tested Job?

I drove directly to Mom’s house to see and talk to her. I knew her comfort would be forth coming.

“Our baby has very serious heart issues and may be born very ill,” I broke in tears. “He may not even survive…”

“Daughter, please don’t cry. Give your worry to God. He is in charge of everything and He will help you. We will be praying for your baby,” hugging me, Mom tried to calm me down.

I picked up our children and went home. Later that evening, Oleg and I talked to our children.

“David, Kristina and Michael, we have news for you!”

The kids came and sat next to us, ready to listen.

“The baby in Mama’s womb is a boy. You will have a little brother!” Oleg said.

David and Michael jumped up, being so happy about baby brother.