THE POWER OF LOVE
What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things. This story will keep you singing! Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. Karen and her spouse found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael would sing to his sister in Mommy's tummy. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown Tenn. Then the labor pains came. Every five minutes, every minute. But complications arose during delivery. Hours of labor. Finally, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, in Knoxville Tenn. The days inch by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric specialist tells the parents, "there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby girl, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister. " I want to sing to her," he says. Week two in intensive care...it looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in the Intensive Care unit. But Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive. Karen dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into the ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here NOW! No children are allowed." The mother rises up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is NOT leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live, and he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a three year old. Michael sings; "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray..." Instantly the baby girl responds. Her pulse rate becomes calm and steady. Keep singing Michael... "You never know dear how much I love you, Please don't take my sunshine away..." Her ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr. Keep singing Michael... "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms..." Michael's little sister relaxes, as rest seems to sweep over her. Keep singing Michael... Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glows. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away." Funeral plans are scrapped. The next day - the very next day - the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song." The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love! NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE and remember MUSIC IS THE LANGUAGE OF HEAVEN!
God bless you and yours.
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