Baby Shower!

Happy 2-month birthday, Celia!

Today we celebrated this beautiful life with a baby shower

Today our house was filled with many special friends and family members.  We had a wonderful time celebrating Celia's birth!  Originally, this shower was scheduled for September 1, 2012, but being that Celia showed up about 4 days earlier than that, we had to postpone.  After the night of her birth, we didn't really think there would be a baby shower to celebrate her birth, and instead we prepared our minds for a funeral.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman (Mark 5:21-43)

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders,named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask,‘Who touched me?’ ”
³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
³⁶ Overhearing^[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her,“Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

After Celia was born, we were told by doctors that her intestines were not good quality, that they would turn black and that this beautiful baby girl was going to die.  We will never know why God has chosen to perform a miracle in Celia's life. What we do know is that He is good and He has a plan.

Did you read that scripture above? Did you see that not only did He heal the dead girl, but also the sick woman?  He was on His way to the girl's house and a woman scouted Him out on the path and touched Him.  I have heard each of these ancient miracle stories in Sunday school growing up, but never realized that they happened at the same time.  Like a ton of bricks, this passage hit me today.  I am that woman.  I was going on faith that God existed, seeking him, but really was struggling with my intimacy with Him.  I reached for his cloak in my weakness and His power filled me on his way to perform a miracle.  I cannot help but think that I am not the only person that reached out to Him during these past two months.  God has started a holy fire and I am praying that he will never extinguish it.  He is good.  Not only does He have a plan for Celia's life, but also has a plan for your and my life.  Have you touched His cloak yet? You won't regret it.