My Davy girl is two months old today!
(Would you like a cuteness overload? Yes please.)
It’s crazy to reflect back on the last two months of my life and contemplate all that God has done in our midst.
First off, I’m grateful to our Heavenly Father that our little girl is even here with us today. At twenty weeks we learned that our Davy had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Our doctor was quick to tell us to make sure to not look on the internet and just let everything play out. So, naturally, what’s the first thing that I did? LOOK ON THE INTERNET!
It was then that I learned that 50% of babies born with CDH wouldn’t make it. This produced two emotions in me. The first was overwhelming sadness. Who wants the immense excitement that’s bound up in a first child to be drowned out by those kind of statistics? No one. The second was desperation. This was a unique kind of desperation though – it was the type of desperation that drives you into the hands of God instead of the pit of despondency.
Thirty-two weeks later our little fighter was born and she has been defying the odds, by the grace of God, ever since.
In honor of Davy’s two months, I’d like to highlight two things she has taught me about life so far.
1. There were places in my heart I didn’t know existed.
There is a quote I came across about a month ago from writer Anne Lamott that stopped me in my tracks. It states, “There are really places in your heart you don’t know exist until you love a child.” This is ABSOLUTELY true. Y’all I’m an emotional guy. I’m the guy that cries at commercials and you KNOW when I watch an episode of Parenthood that there are going to be streams flowing from my eyes. (Why do you think I coach CrossFit? I have to compensate somewhere!). Plus, I have a decently high emotional intelligence so I naturally concluded that I knew all the intricacies, crevices and depths within my own heart. Then I met my daughter and realized I was very, very wrong.
There is an unexplainable, supernatural and unconditional love I have for this little girl. I would lay my life down for her and I would take all of her pain if I could. By discovering these new places in my heart, I’ve gained new perspective and it has helped me gaze deeper into God’s love for us through the sacrifice of his son on the cross (John 3:16).
2. Life is a Fight
Since her birth two months ago my daughter has been described as feisty, rambunctious, a fighter, and strong-willed. These things get me real excited when I think about how she’ll respect herself when a young man starts to pursue her, but I’m also preparing for the many father/daughter times of “intense fellowship” we’ll share together!
Plain and simple, my daughter is fighting for her life everyday and has everyday for the last two months. Through God’s grace, an amazing medical team and her fighting spirit we continue on the long road of recovery. However, as I’ve thought about Davy’s fight I’ve realized it’s not much different from our own lives.
Spiritually, we are in a fight for our lives every single day as well. We wage war against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). We have to defend ourselves against the schemes of the devil for he is like a roaming lion looking for someone to devour (Eph. 6:11,1 Peter 5:8). On top of that, your “flesh” is waging war against your spirit and is crouching at the door waiting to control you (Rom. 8:13, Gen. 4:7).
So often we float through life – in good times and bad – forgetting that we must live in a “wartime” mindset. The enemy would love nothing more than to take out God’s children through their own flesh or his schemes because they let their guard down. So we must heed the apostle Paul’s word and “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).
The Heart of a Fighter
I’m so grateful for my daughters life. I’m grateful that she has revealed to me that my heart has more landscape that needs to be explored and watching her everyday inspires me to keep fighting.
I’m praying everyday that God would continue to cultivate my daughter’s fighting spirit and that He would do the same in me.