Emerson Grace, lovingly referred to as Emmie Grace was born July 29, 2016 to an already bustling family. From the beginning Emmie, as her mother, Cassie, once said has been a beautiful complex puzzle gifted to all of us by God. When Emmie was born, it was soon discovered that this little one is special and needs special attention. Our sweet Emmie had trouble feeding with both breast milk and specialized formula. Though she was not gaining weight, she sure was gaining everyone's heart. On December 16, 2016, Emmie was admitted to Oshner's Hospital for Children with a severe case of RSV. Though RSV is what ultimately hospitalized this sweet one, her trouble with eating was looming over all of our heads. A build up of fluid in her lungs has attributed greatly to her sickness and the weeks she spent in the hospital. What could have been a cause for anger has shown all of us the immeasurable grace of God.

As a 22-year-old, I can look back throughout my life and see from a distance the provisions of God and how he was working though I couldn't see it at the time. You know the saying, "hindsight is 20-20". Though I could see that He had indeed worked in my life and the life of my friends and family, I cannot say that I have ever really seen him work right before my eyes in real time. This past week, I can say with confidence that I have watch our Sovereign Lord work daily. Through The Lord, Emmie has shown what I should have known all along at Christmas. Allow me to share those things with you:

GOD IS ULTIMATELY SOVEREIGN- Because of Emmie's difficulty with eating and gaining weight, Nick and Cassie, Emmie's parents, made an appointment in New Orleans with a gastroenterologist, a digestive specialist. God's grace has been around this family since the beginning but was right in everyone's face on December 16th when they met with the stomach specialist. Because this GI, located in New Orleans, is in such high demand, Nick and Cassie were told that they would not be able to be seen until some time in March three months from now. Praise God that He made a way for sweet Emmie to be seen so quickly after the referral. Upon seeing the doctor, it was determined that Emmie was not breathing properly. The doctors soon decided to call an ambulance to rush Emmie and her family to the Children's Hospital in New Orleans. I see clearly that only by the Grace of God was Emmie and her family placed in that doctor's path so that he could tell them of the danger she was in from her labored breathing. It was also by the Grace of God that there is a world class Children's Hospital located down the street from the doctor they were seeing. An appointment that should have been in March was moved to the perfect time to secure Emmie in the care of amazing doctors before anything tragic happened. The Lord orchestrates all things for the good of those that love him. We are praising him this Christmas for his sovereignty.

GOD'S TIMING IS PERFECT- The Lord showed His sovereignty in the timing. Whenever I tell anyone about what is happening with our Emmie Grace, the response is usually, "It's a shame it had to happen at Christmas time". While I totally understand what they mean, it's actually a beautifully timed blessing. Because of the holiday most of the family is off of work and able to share in taking care of Emmie and her family. If it had been any other time, grandparents, and aunts would have been working or otherwise occupied with the bustle of life. It would have become a real challenge to manage, but The Lord knew. He knew that we need a Christmas in the hospital to really understand. He also knew that Friday, December 16th had to be the day that Emmie was sent to the hospital. Emmie was admitted that afternoon. That first night in the hospital was a scary night for all of us when her temperature sky rocketed and her breathing became more labored than ever. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if Emmie and her parents were at home with her and this had happened outside of the safe walls of the hospital. The Lord placed them there for that specific time and in the path of that specific doctor so that Emmie could receive the care she needed then and there.

GOD GIVES US THE AMAZING GIFT OF FAMILY- Our beautiful Emmie was lucky enough to be born into a family that already has two awesome big sisters, Lilli Kate, and Adleigh. Lilli, 4 and Adleigh, 2, of course could not be with Emmie and her parents in the hospital as they made this journey of recovery. It would be traumatizing for them to see their sedated four month old sister with a ventilator and a plethora of other tubes coming out of her. But how do you keep a 2 and 4 year old away from their parents for multiple weeks while they focus on getting Emmie well? You send them to the best grandparents in the world that fill days with Christmas movies, hot chocolate, Christmas scarves, Mermaid Blanket Tails, Christmas lights, fun times with cousins, Foosackly's chicken fingers, dozens of strawberries, satsumas and bananas, and all the cuddles Aunt Katie and Aunt Anna can give! You give them the best kind of distraction there is- Christmas Joy. Through this time, I have learned that those three little girls are the greatest gift I have. Some would be frustrated that Christmas traditions must be set aside. For us, it's Christmas Eve candle-light service and Chinese take-out. It's waking up to Santa's visit in Christmas pj's and opening presents. Though those traditions have been sorely missed this year, the real gift is the improving health of the youngest member of our family. Praise God for that! I've realized that as special as family traditions are, it's a good things that all of that could be stripped away this year and our focus could be put of Christ and His birth. It is only by God's grace that Emmie Grace is progressing as I write this very minute. God chose to reveal His grace to us through the birth of His son 2000 years ago and as I sit with my sleeping Adleigh in my arms I am reminded of how important that Baby truly is.

CHRISTMAS IS NOT ALWAYS "CALM" AND "BRIGHT"- I think back to the first Christmas as Mary and Joseph also traveled away from home. I can imagine that it was not a spirit of calmness but of anxiety, fear, and ultimately hopefulness. It's not always rainbows and sunshine when God decides to bring Grace into the world. Our society tries to tell us that Christmas is this time when nothing bad can happen. It tells us that if your family isn't surrounding the fireplace in matching pajamas and hot chocolate, you're not doing it right. You're depriving your kids and grandkids of a true Christmas. I'm here to call bull on that. As fun as Santa and presents and family traditions are, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way, and that's okay!! It's often exhausting this time of year to keep up with what our culture mandates as a proper Christmas. At the end of the day, Christmas is about Jesus and the gift He is to us. My family is eternally grateful that the Baby that was born in Bethlehem did not stay a baby, but grew into a strong man that would eventually save humanity. "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him" -Luke 2:40. We praise God now for the beautiful future that he has for Emmie Grace. We praise God that like her future Lord and Savior, she will too grow strong and be a mighty woman of wisdom that will be used to further the Kingdom. Like her name sake, my prayer for Emmie is that The Lord will continue to show his immeasurable grace in her recovery. Though I so long for her to get better, my ultimate prayer is that other families will find comfort in her story. There is a God that loves you and like Emmie, knew you even in your mother's womb. This story of Emmie Grace is ultimately a story of the grace God shows to His people every day and the grace he showed through the birth of His son.

FAMILY GOES BEYOND DNA- I have said it for many years when someone we knew had a tragedy or hard time occur but it really is true: I don't know how unbelievers make it trough trying times. From day one when Emmie was born to realizing that her feeding was not where it should be then finally coming to this last week, our church family and the church family of our friends and family have been lifting Emmie up before the Great Healer. Mr. Stan, Cassie's father shared a beautiful story of God using his people to cry out for others. As he and Mrs. Gay, Cassie's mother, were preparing to leave Emmie's room to swap out with Nick and Cassie, a woman who works for the hospital as a custodian entered the room. They swapped pleasantries and as they got ready to leave, she stopped Mr. Stan and informed him that she herself has lifted Emmie's room up in prayer. She expressed the feeling of God's presence every time she entered her room. She even told him that her church was fasting and praying for the recovery of this dear one and that they would continue until she was to full health. This woman, far removed from anyone that my family, or Stan's family knows saw a need and was used by God for His good work of encouragement and the gift we have of prayer. The Church family and community is vital to our experiences and relationship with God. Without Christian fellowship we would be carrying the burden of Emmie's sickness alone, yet with them, we are able to share each other's burdens and eventually be able to share the victory over sickness and ultimately over sin and death. Praise God for his construction of the Church body!

I AM NOT IN CONTROL- This is a really hard one for me, guys! I have gotten to the place in my walk with The Lord that I can understand and accept suffering for what it is. The Lord uses suffering to make His name known especially when it is believers who are suffering. I can accept this in my own life and my own personal suffering, but when it comes to the suffering of an innocent four month old, God called my bluff. My initial response to all that has happened with Emmie was "just fix her, God". "You control everything so just fix her". It seemed to me that this was an acceptable response to what is happening. It took me some time- and to be honest, I'm still dealing with this- to realize that He is in control and he will make her well when He wants to and not a minute sooner. He has already shown us that He is using their time in the hospital to make His name known. He has shown me that this time will only result in a stronger family that understand each other in a deeper way and a church that can come together for the purpose of prayer.

WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN- Now, I know what you're going to say. Anna, you just said that God is in control and even uses our suffering for His glorification. Yes, yes to all of it, but The Lord has also entrusted these young souls to the care of parents and this responsibility must be kept with extreme care. Now before I go any further on this point, I would like to say that the following words are in no way a criticism of my brother, Nick, or my sister-in-law, Cassie, Emmie's parents. In a multitude of ways, I look up to Nick and Cassie and will model how I raise my future children after the way they are raising my three gorgeous nieces. These are just general thoughts and ideas about how crucial it is that godly parents in the church take the responsibility of parenthood seriously. We must fight for our children. This isn't always easy. From such a young age, our American culture ingrains in women that there is a certain standard that we must meet to be considered a good mother. It tells us that we have to have arts and crafts projects daily for our little ones and if you really love your children, you'll homeschool them until college. While I have nothing against either one of those notions, that does not make a good godly parent. So what does, you may ask me, a 22 year old unmarried non-mother. Well, in my humble opinion, it takes a strong foundation for yourself in The Lord to ever have a successful family. Praise God that Nick and Cassie are both lovers of Christ and have saturated the last week of their lives with Emmie in intense and pleading prayer. It's no ones fault that Emmie got sick. It's also no one's fault that she's still sick a week and a half later. There is no controlling the manifestation of man's sin through illness, but we can control how we let it effect us as believers. It would be so easy to blame God and allow those around us to see that response. It would be so easy for Nick and Cassie to allow exhaustion to make way for an argumentative attitude towards each other and their other two little ones. But they haven't. I look around at the state of affairs in the modern church and see that we do not know how to deal with struggle or tribulation. We are not well rooted in the trust in The Lord that the first century believers had. They depended deeply on The Lord and their fellow believers for all of their needs. Because of progress and the American dream, we no longer need God for our every minute- at least we don't see that we do. Because of this, I see more than ever that families are allowing sin to infiltrate and destroy. I see this through a divorce rate that is the exact same in the church as it is outside of the church. I see it through the lack of discipline in children because mom is trying to be super-mom instead of a God-centered mom. I urge you, my fellow believers, especially women, seek after God first before you ever decide to have a family. It is by your example that your children will learn and grow. It is by your example that they will walk away from their relationship with God (if it ever exists in the first place) or if they will rise up and call you blessed because of the example you put forth. I write all this to say that we should not measure the success of mothers by what they do on a superficial level with their children but rather the relationship with The Lord they impart on their children. Emmie Grace is lucky enough to have a core and extended family that loves and is seeking after The Lord, but this is not the case for every little one. Church, pray for the upcoming generation that they will be a force for Jesus!

NURSES ARE THE REAL MVP- Many of my friends are nurses and they have told me about their crazy hours and lovely stories about the patients they've connected with, but being in that hospital gave me a new appreciation. Emmie, being in the ICU has a personal nurse on her at all times which is amazing. These men and women are truly important (maybe most important) to the care of the children in that hospital. While the doctors are amazing and effective with care, it's usually the nurses that carry out the care. They were responsible for every sound her machines would make and responding properly to them. They bathe her and flip her from her back to stomach and back again. Every little thing that Emmie needed, they were there to give. Not only are they taking such good care of Emmie, but they're doing it with love. Every nurse that walks into Emmie's room are smiling and speaking love over her the whole time they're working. On top of loving and caring for Emmie, they're caring for Nick, Cassie, and the rest of our family. While I was there Wednesday with Cassie, she told me that she's really going to miss the nurses at Oshner's and has really formed a great relationship with them. We love you nurses! Thank you for what you do. Thank you for working on days like Christmas and New Year's Eve. You are appreciated and prayed over.

GOD CAN STILL USE YOU DURING HARD TIMES- I mentioned early about a custodian that works on the PICU floor of Oshner's. What a kind soul. She came in while I was there on Wednesday and greeted sweet Emmie with a "How's my Gracie?". I love it! Cassie soon asked her about her mother. She had shared with Cassie earlier in the week that her mother was sick and then she informed us that her mom had passed the day before. She told us that she was good and that it was her mom's time, then she asked for prayer. She wanted her siblings to come to know The Lord through this hard time and prayed for guidance with the tough decisions that were being made in the wake of her mother's death. I think sometimes as Christians, when bad things happen to us, we expect the out poor from churches and the prayers from our Christian brothers and sisters, but do we still expect to be used? I'll be honest, it took me off guard when she asked us for prayer. I was so used to receiving phone calls and Facebook messages from people saying they were praying for us that I forgot that I'm also called to lift others up before The Lord. I just had to smile to myself and silently confess my self-centeredness before The Lord. Even in our own suffering we are used. He allows us to suffer so that His name with be glorified! So we prayed for her and were able to speak grace into her life and the life of her family. Thank you Lord for giving us that opportunity!

I know that this was a really long article, so if you've made it to this point, thank you. Emerson Grace is my niece and the youngest member of our family. She is still in the PICU at Oshner's Children's Hospital recovering from a bad onset of RSV. We are eternally grateful to those who have reached out with prayers and support. She is getting better everyday, but has a long road ahead of her. I give all the glory to God for His great love for us and the grace he has shown us by healing Emmie Grace. This Christmas has not been a "normal" one, but it has been a beautiful one full of love from the Father. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!