Well, I promised a few weeks ago that I would begin a series of blogs that would explain my journey with the Lord, and I hope and pray you will be encouraged in some way by my testimony…
Did you ever feel like you had it all?
Like you were in control of everything in your life and you didn’t need anything more?
That’s how my husband and I felt before the day our baby girl was traditionally baptized, when she was just a few weeks shy of three months old. We took her to an emergency room because she had a fever--we thought she would be diagnosed with some sort of infection, we would get an antibiotic, and we would go home. As we waited in the emergency room for test results, she stopped breathing. They summonsed the trauma team, and a sound rang out throughout the entire hospital that I will never forget. Suddenly a nurse physically took her from my arms and ran her to the trauma room.
During the minutes that followed, my husband and I felt like we were in the middle of a horrible nightmare. What was going on? We just came for an antibiotic—we wanted to go home.
During those minutes that felt like hours, I don’t even think I prayed. Up until that moment, I had no frame of reference to even try to call upon the Lord for help.
Once they got her stabilized and we could see her –the tiny, 11 pound baby girl that began her day in a beautiful white baptismal gown, was now on a ventilator with multiple wires and many pieces of medical equipment connected to her.
Again, I don’t recall even trying to utter a single word of prayer.
That moment and the days that followed changed a part of who my baby girl is, and in turn, changed me as a person in more ways than I ever imagined possible….
Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy. Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com. Maria is very passionate about getting the word out to special parents that they are not alone in their journey of raising their special child; and that they were chosen by God to parent their children. Maria welcomes comments and communication as well as invitations for her to speak to your group.
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