Inspiration

Many things have inspired us throughout our journey before, during and after Jacob’s life. 

Most of what I have written on this blog centers around the inspiration we’ve received from Holy Scripture. I have done a poor job shining a light on the inspiration we have received from a variety of other sources such as family, friends, nature and the occasional not-so-coincidental happenstance.

This morning, while reading up on  various news articles and blogs, I ran across an entry about inspirational quotes. First on the list:

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” -Mother Teresa

While we were sitting in the NICU visiting with our pastor, we discussed the fact that we had been keeping an online journal at Caringbridge.org so that others could follow the ups and downs of Jacob’s health (and ours too). Our pastor mentioned at the time that we will never know the ripple effect caused in the lives of others as they read through our posts. I’m sure he was privy to private conversations about shared struggles, pain and hurt, as well as stories of triumph and victory. His one statement caused me to press on with regular posts and to eventually transform our health journal into this blog. So, when I read this quote from Mother Teresa, you can imagine the joy in my heart to think of the ripples cause by our little “stone”, Jacob.

By the way, a few entries down the list of inspirational quotes was an entry by one of my favorite Christian authors:

“Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it.” -Charles Swindoll

I suppose I could consider this blog as part of my “90%” reaction to the impact Jacob had in our lives.  So often, I get this ratio backward and allow the thing to control me and my reaction. Then I hear stories like this one in which parents of a yet-unborn child with anechephaly (“without a brain”) made the decision to carry the baby to term, knowing the baby will not survive, so that the baby’s organs might be donated. Gut wrenching. Heart breaking. Each and every day of the remainder of the nine months that mom will carry her baby, she is reminded of what appears to be a terrible turn of events. Yet, her reaction to this is inspiring. These parents have recognized that God may have answered the prayers of another family, struggling with their own terrible diagnosis that without life-saving new organs their own child might die. These parents, through their own struggle, have made a choice that will foster a tremendous blessing to another family. Their reaction is more important than what has happened to them.

And so it is with each of us. Will we choose to see the things that happen to us as possible blessings (whether for us or others)? If so, does that change our reaction? Will that inspire us to go make some ripples?