Kevin's Watch

Menolly wrote:COD, perhaps?

lorin wrote:That dove is beautiful.

I am having trouble maintaining my shiny new positive attitude these days. I got my health insurance back last Thursdayish and it is gone again today.My paychecks have stopped as I used up all my time I had on the books. I started drawing out of my little IRA. The doctors want to fuse my spine which I won't allow. Not as long as I can walk and swim I won't allow it.

Ah well, things will resolve themselves one way or another.

We can’t find a way to speak of August without speaking of his parents Ashley and Chris. As we look over the past nine months, we can only say that is was a journey of growth. Ashley and Chris matured and grew in responsibility during this time, exceeding our expectations. When they first came to us with their news, they were fearful of what our reaction would be, however they had already developed a plan for themselves and the new life they were bringing into this world.

At six months into the pregnancy, we got the call from Ashley and Chris that she had gone to her regular doctor’s appointment and they were sending her to Savannah to the hospital. We rushed down to be with them not knowing what to expect, but certainly not expecting that they would deliver little August 3 months early at 1 pound 5 ounces. We weren’t given a lot of hope at that time. 1lb 5oz is so small and so very early. But she had this baby and he was beautiful! They named him August Orion Stewart. Two proud parents with the help of the doctors and nurses had brought this tiny life into the world and his light burned so very brightly!
Over the next few months, both Ashley and Chris took every opportunity to be at the hospital and be with August, despite the physical distance from their home and both still continuing their college education. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around and they both said,” If August isn’t coming home then we aren’t either”.

The last week was a blur of surreal activity. A call and a rush to the hospital. Sitting with August, Ashley and Chris. Praying and sending prayer requests. With the doctor’s report we knew we needed a flat out miracle. Chris and Ashley were faced with a decision that no parent should ever have to make, and it was heart wrenching for us to watch them go through it and not be able to make it better. Even with all this tragedy, even being faced with knowing that August’s life might be measured in minutes, Ashley wanted to be sure that his life was consecrated to God and asked to have him Baptized. The Chaplain, the nurses and the doctors all gathered around August’s bed for the service. The Bible verse that was read was from Matthew. “Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Multiple episodes of desperate attempts to revive this sweet life, the decision was made by these courageous and loving young parents. August had all the hoses and monitors taken off, and was swaddled and put in the arms of his parents to say goodbye. They held him, and loved him as he passed into the arms of Jesus, where he truly became perfect.

After that we all sit and wonder. We prayed for a miracle. We prayed that God would step into this moment and heal all that was going on with him. We trusted, we prayed and we all waited. And then we were left wondering. Where was God in all this? Where was the Miracle that we prayed for? We see now that the Miracle happened. It just wasn’t what we had thought that it should be. The Miracle is August Orion Stewart. A boy born at 1 lb 5 oz , who touched us all over the last 3 and a half months, who grew to 5 lbs 7 ozs. That was the true gift from God. That was the miracle.