This is from a friend of mine, it is so moving and such a testimony to God's sovereignty, His goodness and His love for each of us.
A Testimony by Laura Swenson
Emmanuelle Patience-Our little treasure in heaven
Psalm 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." We, the Swenson family, had a desire from the Lord to have a baby. In fact, it was in our hearts to have twins. So we prayed. We prayed for months that if it were the Lord's will that he would bless us with twins. And so he did. He blessed us with two little miracles.
In the first trimester I miscarried one of our babies. The day before this we had just finished reading the book of Job. After having the miscarriage, we talked about the verse Job 1:21."The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." The Lord's timing is always perfect.
This was a great opportunity to put into practice 1 Thes. 5:18 "In everything give thanks." We had a wonderful talk with our children about how we could give thanks to God about this. Then a few months later along came our precious Emmanuelle Patience. How her name alone (meaning God with us) ministered to us all those days in the hospital. I could not even look at our beautiful daughter without thinking that God IS with us, He is right here!
At the ER in St. Cloud a wonderful friend said to me, "I know that no matter what happens, God WILL see you through." These words brought comfort to me knowing God was in this and he was in complete control. When our sweet Emmanuelle was on the stretcher going into the helicopter, I saw that as her altar and God gave me one word, that word was "TRUST". Then the verse Proverbs 3:5 came to mind, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not onto they own understanding". I knew then that our job was to simply trust Jesus. God's word is such a comfort.
Knowing I don't need to understand and that I just need to trust Him. God gave us the grace to be able to trust. Trusting Jesus brought peace to us. Peace and trust go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other.
Philipians 4:6-7, "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We as a family are experiencing the peace of God which passeth all understanding. Praise the Lord. We never once had to ask God "why". God revealed to us that very first night at the ER not to lean on our own understanding and to simply trust Him.
We arrived at the U of M and we were told how amazing it was that a baby with this condition would live to be nine days ole without going into cardiac arrest. We serve an amazing God and this was just one of countless mercies he poured out on my family. This time with Emmanuelle was a gift from God and no accident that we had her home all those days. The doctors also told us the first night we got there, BEFORE they even knew the complexity or severity of Emmanuelle's condition, that she had a 50% chance of survival. Praise God that nothing is by chance with Him. God was, is and always will be in control.
This was one of those moments when Randall and I realized how empty and weak we were. When we were empty, He filled us and when we were weak, He strengthened us. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." We have always known this scripture in our heads, but now we were experiencing it in our hearts. My husband said this, "We are sitting at the feet of Jesus, clinging to Him and His word." God's grace HAS been sufficient! Moment by moment He led us and comforted us. He truly has been our all in all.
While at the hospital, Romans 5:2-5 was a verse that really spoke to us."By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience, and experience, hope." We were living out this verse.
Ephesians 5:20 says, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." God's grace enabled us to be thankful during this time.
Being able to truly give thanks in all things while at the hospital and through this time is only God's grace! God's grace in this way has been one of the most precious gifts he has given us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks." We do give thanks to our Lord Jesus for every minute we had with Emmanuelle Patience and for eternity! The first time I saw Emmanuelle in her room at the U of M I also saw a vision of her in God's right hand and Randall, the rest of our children and myself in God's other hand. He was carrying us through grey tribulation, like a grey cloud. It wasn't until our precious daughter went home to be with Jesus that I could see the complete meaning of this vision. Emmanuelle was in a separate hand from us because God was with each of us, but, Emmanuelle was always meant to go home to our Jesus. This was the Lord's will.
Six of the best days of my life were the days I gave birth to our six children. But, the most amazing day of my life was holding my precious little Emmanuelle Patience in my arms and seeing her go home to our Jesus!
Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. "
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