It's been 24 hours since Daisy was stung by that very dead, completely hated scorpion. She is still sedated and is mostly asleep. Every now and then she gets agitated from the venom and starts to wiggle and thrash. It makes me ache. I want to pick her up or at least make eye contact with her. I want her to know that I am here and that she is safe. I want her to know that I will always pick her up. But I can't. I can't hold her.
We have been flooded with love today. People we don't know are praying for our baby. We've gotten emails, blog comments and text messages. Strangers are entering into our sorrow and crying out for the healing and rescue of our Daisy. It reminds me of a story I read once. A man wrote of someone in his church family who was severely injured in an accident. The church staff gathered to pray for him, mostly praying soft and given-over prayers. They knew it was hopeless. But when it came time for the janitor to pray he cried out like a man on fire. It was as if he were grabbing God by the lapels and refusing to let him go until he acted. The man said that God would have had to deny himself to NOT respond. And, tonight, I know that God will respond. His people are building one voice. We are grabbing him by the lapels and shaking him with all of our might. And God loves faith. "Faith moves God and God moves mountains."
How can I express the depth of my gratitude to those of you who have joined our heart's cry? All I can tell you is we are deeply humbled. We have wept over your words. We are so bolstered by every one of you. I don't know how many people have told me they just can't stop thinking about Daisy. She is filling our hearts. The Spirit of God is pressing into all of us and Daisy is there in the very center.
I am so touched by your emails, your voicemails, your text messages, your blog comments and your facebook messages. I am floored that youth groups in Tuscon are praying for my baby, ready to flood the hospital chapel. I am overwhelmingly grateful that an unknown church in Cottonwood is joining in our prayer tonight. I am truly amazed. We are a family who has suffered a great sadness over the last few years. We have lost the sense of community. We have felt alone and lost. But, tonight, I am so strikingly aware that we are surrounded on every side. We are covered and held. Daisy Anabelle Suzanne, the joy of our family, is being lifted up by hundreds of people; people we have never met. Thank you. To those of you who know our family, and to those of you who are now our family, thank you for standing in this with us. We love you.
Daisy smiled at me for just a second tonight. She was struggling against the tube and working her tongue trying to push it out, but as I talked and smiled at her she smiled. My mom says Daisy is telling me that she is going to be okay.
Tonight we are praying that Daisy wakes up tomorrow whole. We are praying that the venom completely leaves her system and she is one hundred percent restored. We are praying Scripture over her and I am suddenly so aware of the hovering Presence of the Creating God. The Great Physician is in this room. His hands are on my baby now just as they were on me in my darkest time. His healing wings are spread out over her and he is at work. So, don't stop praying. Miracles are taking place in my daughter. We crave your prayers. We hunger for her healing.
And I so want to hold my baby.
