Perfection

This is the image that I had been waiting to see.  The image of my baby brother holding his baby girl.  He is a Daddy.  You can just feel the tenderness of his heart as he gazes onto his sleeping Abigail.  In his eyes she's perfect.  No wires, no machine, no doctor can convince him otherwise.

These photos have brought me great joy.  Seeing the smiles on their faces sends of wave of warmth and an enlightenment of perspective.  They are a family, an eternal family.

I have been consumed by this trial and have thought greatly about Jesse and Jani and what they have been experiencing and what they may be feeling.  I spoke to my Daddy on the phone after he had spoken to Jesse.  He related to me how Jesse had spoken with several doctors regarding surgery for Abigail.  How the first doctor had not been very optimistic, to which they asked for a second opinion.  The second was very positive and related a journey of surgeries but one with hope.  I thought of Jesse and how he has been thrust into fatherhood.  He was now the one speaking to the doctors about life-important decisions regarding His own family, not my Dad.  He was the Dad.  He is the patriarch of his home.  He is the one Abigail will turn to for protection, for safety, for counsel.

I thought of Jani and what she must have felt being exhausted, traumatized, and left behind at the hospital.  I was reminded of the times I have been able to spend with her and have been amazed at her optimism and her wise counsel.  I was grateful for the coping skills and emotional strength that she acquired through teaching these same principles to those young men and women whom she came in contact with in her employment.  I thought of her supportive family by her side.  I thought of her faith and undeviating testimony that she was a daughter of God, who loves her.  And loves her baby, more than she could possibly understand.  Yet if she felt as I did, that at that moment your baby first arrived, you could comprehend greater than ever before the vastness and unending nature of the love Our Father in Heaven has for us, his children.  I pray for continued strength, faith, and hope to my valiant baby brother, his magnificent wife, and their perfect baby girl.

***UPDATE - Baby Abigail will be having a MRI at 5pm today.  She will most likely be having surgery tomorrow.  If that is the case, I would invite anyone interested in joining us tomorrow in a family fast {read here about the purpose of fasting}.  

A photo of his baby girl taken by Jesse this morning

***UPDATE Wed. Jul 6 7:41 am.  The cardiologist team is meeting this morning to make some final decisions.  We should know within a couple of hours the results of the MRI and plans for surgery.  Thank you to those of you who have still chosen to fast today.  Such power is felt through that!  We have been uplifted by the overwhelming response of love and support we have received from so many.  It is needed!  Thank you.