MIRANDA COLE

My heart is torn in two. I ache for a prayer request I received last night. On my knees, sobbing, I cry out to the LORD to hear the cry and prayer of thousands of people on behalf of the Cole family from Jackson, Michigan. An expectant Godly couple who spent 16 months of fertility treatments to finally become pregnant with their first child were awaiting three weeks until their due date. They were traveling on Saturday when a semi-truck collided with their vehicle. The pregnant wife, Sara, sustained serious injuries and died at the hospital where their baby girl, Miranda was delivered after her death. Miranda was born without a heartbeat or breath, and was resuscitated. She was taken to U of M NICU and has been said to have little to no brain activity. It appears that tonight at 7:30pm there will be a meeting to discuss her progress or lack thereof Here is a blog the father has written since her conception.

The story saddens me deeply. I so remember those days my son was in the Holden NICU and had "little to no brain activity." I remember pleading with God to let His will be done. And like Chad, the father, I remember trusting in God's plan, 100%, and knowing that the strength and calm that I showed on the outside was just the handiwork of Christ alone. Ah, but this touching story breaks my heart. Why is it that people who have endured so much already are put into more precarious places to endure? As if this family, this man, hasn't suffered enough, he has to endure the sadness that being in a NICU brings. And 5 years later, my response to this story is endless tears. This is not just a news story, folks. Real life.

He writes: Daddy needs to be honest with you, I'm selfish. I don't want to think that your going to be with mommy and Jesus is an option. I want you right here. I don't want to ask God for a miracle, I want to demand one. I want Him to feel like he owes me this.

The desperation he shows is the same one that Jesus shows for us. Our Heavenly Father is selfish, he doesn't want to think that we are going to die without him is an option. He wants us to choose to be with Him. He doesn't want to ask you to choose Him, he wants to demand that we choose Him. But, He has allowed us the gift of that choice. His heart breaks for you to choose Him as much as and more than Chad's heart breaks to have his daughter leave him.

So, in the stream-of-consciousness type of blog here today, I just wanted to beg that you all pray for this family. Pray that God's will is done here and that this story, whether Miranda miraculously survives or whether God calls her home with her mama, pray that this story is used for the GLORY OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!

Father, I thank you so greatly that you show us so tangibly that our lives are precious and fragile. I thank you that we can readily come to you day in and day out and that we don't need an appointment to speak to you. I boldly am asking for a miracle for the Cole family and beg that you provide complete healing of Miranda. I pray that she is forever a blessing to this family and is completely devoted and dedicated to your service. I pray that her life is a testament to your love, peace and mercy. I pray that Your glory is shown above all and that people from all over see who you are and call upon your name. I pray for healing for Sara's loved ones as they mourn her untimely death, that peace that surpasses all understanding descends on them and that they see that she is blessed to be with you. I pray for a deep healing of her husband, that he is able to sustain the mental turmoil the next few years bring in raising his miracle alone or in surviving this trauma. Father, your will be done as it always is. I pray that you receive the utmost praise, because LORD, no matter what we endure, you endured the cross so that we might be saved. I praise you, LORD. In Jesus' name, AMEN!