Miracle Baby

This week we ventured back to “his home” at the orphanage to give them
an update on all of the medical procedures that took place while we were
in Yaounde. They informed me that they had found the actual birth
mother of Elliott and his sister Cathy Praise and that she had visited
them while we were away. (Elliott and Cathy Praise were abandoned on
Dec. 16, 2001 – ten days after their birth.)

As it turns out, their mother has given birth to 9 children. Cathy
Praise was number 8 and Elliot was number 9. Sadly, 6 of her 9 children
were DEAD and the only other living child was ill. This jolted me. What
do you mean, I asked? Were they still born? Did they have an illness?
Does the mother or father have some disease?

The Orphanage staff couldn’t answer these questions for me. These were
not answers that they were looking for. The father of Elliott and Cathy
isn’t the same father as the other children, so one would assume that
their is something genetic with the mother.

Because of the deaths of her other children, Elliott’s mother tried to
have an abortion 2 months after finding out she was pregnant. I have no
idea how many months along she was when she attempted this. I only know
that she wasn’t successful. Miracle number 2.

Mom found out about the orphanage and went “for a visit” while she was
pregnant. She took food and gifts for the children there and asked for a
tour. She was satisfied that the orphanage was a good place for
children to grow up and she secretly made plans to bring her child here
after giving birth. Miracle number 3.

At the time of the attempted abortion, mom didn’t know that she was
carrying twins. Complications with the attempted abortion prompted her
to seek medical attention and it was then that she found out and decided
to keep the children. Sometime later she went into labor and had
serious complications. She had to have a C-section and she and the
children were hospitalized for 10 days. When she left the hospital, she
and her sister made the short drive to the orphanage. Mom stood at the
main road while the sister took the children and dropped them off at the
orphanage. She told the orphanage staff that she was the aunt and the
mother was dead. (They told their family that the children had died in
the hospital.)

The orphanage took the children and gave them a home but various things
happened that made them suspicious about the actual identities of the
children and the woman who dropped them off. Miracle number 4.

After Elliott became sick, the orphanage staff took measures to find the
woman who dropped off the children and to get the truth about the
situation. They were finally able to locate her and the birth mother 2
weeks ago and the truth came out. Miracle number 5.

All of these things left my mind reeling. During the various hospital
visits, I have been asked about the pregnancy and birth of Elliott. Were
there complications? Was there trauma to his head? Something had to
cause the Tetanus and there are no signs as to why he had it… He also
has significant brain damage that appears to be caused by trauma but the
doctor’s can’t be sure. Suddenly, I have a way to get the answers…
Except that when we call the mother her phone isn’t going through. We
call her family members and they tell us that she hasn’t been seen in a
while, she has traveled. No one can tell us where but they promised to
look for her and have her come… We are still waiting…

In the meantime, I get angrier and angrier. I have spent a lot of time
angry over how much Elliott has suffered and the injustice that is done
to many children, all over the world. God and I have had some serious
conversations…

It wasn’t until yesterday that I started to let go of the anger and look
at all of the blessings that have been a part of Elliott’s life. He is
still alive. He has people all over the world who are praying for him
and helping financially with his medical care and upkeep, He has a
Pediatric Neurologist in Cameroon who made himself available on his off
days to see him, his body is no longer stiff as a board and he can eat
normally and put his fingers in his mouth, etc., etc. etc.

While he continues to have problems, he is still defying the odds of what the doctors’ say he can and cannot do.

Three days ago, he started having a different type of seizure. His eyes
rolled up in his head and went, round and round and round. His legs and
arms were slightly raised but he wasn’t convulsing… This happened at
least 4 times with the last seizure lasting a good 5 minutes… NOT
good. Today it happened again and I called the Neurologist. He has asked
us to come back to Yaounde for treatment. AARGH… I was tempted to get
angry all over again and I had to stop myself. God is still good, He
still loves Elliott and He still loves me. I am fortunate to have the
Neurologists cell phone number to reach him quickly to find out what to
do…

I shifted from anger to Praise. Thank you Lord that you have provided
for Elliott. Thank you that we are able to go to Yaounde and we have
housing and drivers and translators already in place. Thank you, Thank
you, Thank you for all that you have done thus far and will continue to
do on behalf of your child… etc., etc, etc.

So as I prepare myself to gather all of his things and pack again and
wait for the unknown, I trust God. I love Him and I know He only wants
the best for His children. I refuse to get angry. I will just wait with
anticipation for the next set of miracles in Elliott’s life.

I hold on to Hebrews 13:5b and 6
for He, God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor  let you down,  or relax My hold on you, Assuredly not!