miracle in the making.

Pardon my blog absence and please excuse the lack of routine postings. However, I feel confident you will easily forgive my shift in priorities. I have been calling the maternity ward my second home over the past week and a half as my dear friend Kori (along with her husband, Jon) has been fighting for her precious baby's life.

Smith Randle Bailey was born twelve weeks premature on Thursday, April 29, 2010 @ 3:14 AM. He clocks in at a mere 1 pound, 8 ounces and measures 12.5 inches long.

Words cannot describe the surreal feeling that overwhelms me as I viewed pictures of this fragile life while at the hospital. His little diaper is no bigger (if even a bit smaller) than a pocket-size pack of Kleenex. It truly is a miracle he is even here and ever breath that he takes (be it with or without assistance) is God breathing for and through Him.

We serve a sovereign God and the faith demonstrated over these past eleven days has been an encouragement and has strengthened my own faith. There is no doubt that Christ has conquered the grave and we have no fear in death.

I'm typically not so blatantly public on the blog, especially when it comes to other people's lives, but I thought I would make an exception. If you are reading this, I ask you would join us in prayer for baby Smith, Kori, Jon and the entire family.

1. That he will have no bleeding on the brain. That usually happens within the first week if it’s going to do so.
2. That his lungs would begin to produce a fluid that they need for him to breathe on his own
3. There is a vein in the area of his heart and lungs, a connector vein that normally closes up on its own in full-term births. We need that vein to close so he will not have to have surgery.
4. His blood sugar needs to stay at a stable level; little or no fluctuation
5. His blood pressure needs to stay up and stabilize
6. Wisdom for all the nurses, doctors, specialist that work on Smith
7. Jon and Kori – for strength to face the coming days

The family's prayer all along for Smith, Kori and Jon has been Psalms 105: 1-11. We have, in prayer, “looked to the Lord and his strength and sought his face. We have reminded him of the promises he made with Abraham and that they are ours because of Christ. We have asked for our portion (vs. 11) of that promise; nothing more, just our portion.”

We continue to ask and claim this for Smith, Jon, Kori and our entire family.