Nate began this life as a miracle. A baby who without God moving mightily, wouldn't have been here. You see, in the womb at 20 weeks when you are suppose to find out the sex of the baby, we found out our baby had complete heart block. Thus began the road for weekly sonograms, specialist after specialist visits, and much prayer! They said if his heart beat dropped below 60, he could die at any moment. And when we went to another specialist with higher technology, we found out that his heart rate was already below 60 (it should be 120-160 for a baby in the womb).
So, for 5 more months we would fight for his life - joined with many wonderful people who prayed, and believed God for our first born to 'live and not die'. They said he would never be born on his due date. They said he could develop all of these problems. Fluid began to form around his various organs and they said without his heart rate going up - it would only get worse. They said he would never thrive in the womb. And of course weekly, they said he could die at any moment and told me how to count his kicks, etc.
BUT,
God said he would be born EXACTLY on his due date
God said he would have NO other problems in the womb
God said the fluid would leave and we watched it gradually leave each and every organ through those
sonograms though his heart rate remained the same
God said he would thrive in the womb!
And God said, he would LIVE!
That was the beginning of this little fighter and compassionate son of mine. Since then, he has had to have a pacemaker one day after birth, and 3 days later he came home. That pacemaker broke when he was 1 1/2 year old and he had to have open heart surgery to put a new one in again. And unfortunately, again it broke when he was 6 and another pacemaker was put in (although a new procedure at Duke so hopefully now going to last and NOT break). Those pacemakers should have lasted 5 years of battery life, so he wasn't supppose to have 3 by the time he was 6.....but it has NOT slowed him down.
He remains a miracle!
Fast forward to his kindergarten year last year, when he begged me to tell him about Egypt, about China, and all the countries and proceeded to tell me we needed to go there to tell them about Jesus. We would go in Chinese restaurant and he would want me to show them where their Buddah was and how he wanted to tell them about Jesus. At 5, his heart was burning for the nations!
When he began 1st grade, we found out about ministries that take bibles to other countries, and Nate was hooked. At first we read about how you could be involved in actually mailing out the bibles and watching their progress online (the mailing out has been discountinued) and it just seemed soo great for Nate to 'do' something to help his passion.
And now, with just finishing 1st grade, his passion remains and we know it's not a passing thing but a real burning desire.
I never pushed him to do this, I never even dreamed we'd be on this road (I shy away from approaching strangers and asking them to hear his tale and possibly help the cause) so it's not comfortable, but I have no question it's God, so I am willing because I long to 'train up a child in the way HE should go'.
He is one special little boy with a big heart! And he will be knocking on doors and sitting behind his table at various places, and now knocking on the door of internet friends as well. May God move mightily and may the Word of God spread like never before!
