Do You Want to Know A Secret?

CHILDREN…..what a beautiful gift from God!

This past week brought back 2 beautiful memories for me, thanks to my nephews, James and Griffin. James is the son of Mary Beth (my sister) and Mike. Griffin is the son of Kelly and Keith (brother).

On Friday night, I could not stand the suspense any longer and I called Keith to see how Griffin’s baseball game was going. It was no ordinary game, which is why I couldn’t stand the suspense! I’ve told you a number of times before, I hate suspense and with any story that is suspenseful, I still read the last chapter in a book right after I read the first chapter and I fast forward to the end of a movie to make sure who is still alive. Needless to say, I pretty much avoid the ‘thriller’ category. So, since I had not heard from anyone about Griffin’s game, I called my brother at 10:45 PM to get the score. Keith answered and he said that Griffin’s team was leading 13-0 in the Naperville City Championship Game! There were only 2 more ‘outs’ and the game would be over. He had so much joy in his voice as he was telling me he had his bottle of “sparkling cider” ready to pour over the heads of the players and the coaches. The parents were thrilled that this 10-12 yr old league had managed to be the top team out of 50 other teams in the city. I could not have been happier for them. Every parent wants their kids to have those awesome moments in their lives. I was so proud of my brother when he told me the day before that he hoped that Griffin would win, but he also said that if they didn’t win, he felt it would be a very important lesson for Griffin about how to lose with grace. I know from experience that that is a tough lesson for young boys to learn. I thanked God that Griffin had the parents he has – they would help him learn that lesson with so much love. I told Keith I would pray that Griffin would get to experience the joy of winning such a huge game. My sister Bev and her daughter Courtney went to Hobby Lobby and made a big poster board card for Griffin and decorated it with scrap book decorations. It was a terrific and personalized card for Griffin. Jerry brought Paul by the office so that Paul could sign it and those who were not on hand to sign it emailed messages that Bev printed and pasted to the back of the poster board. She then rolled it up and sent it overnight to Griffin so he would receive it on the day of his big game. We wanted him to know he had our best wishes and prayers for his team to win. He really enjoyed receiving that surprise in the mail. I told him I would pray for ‘Angels in the Outfield!” Heaven heard our prayers!
Way to go Griffin – we are really proud of you. Thanks be to God for allowing my dear nephew to experience the joy of winning his Big Game!

The next morning I told Paul about Griffin and he was so happy. We spent some time talking about all the fun we used to have when the boys played baseball. It was so much fun remembering some of the happiest times we spent with our sons. Paul’s nickname back then was ‘Pablo to the Wablo’. When he played T-ball, he almost always hit the ball to the fence in the outfield. It was Uncle KEITH who first called him that. Paul still loves baseball and can tell you the names of most players on most teams during the 1990’s.

Heaven heard the prayers for my other nephew too. Last week, James woke my sister Mary Beth at around 2:30 A.M. He told her that he didn’t feel very well, that his stomach hurt. Mary Beth noted that he had a fever and took his temperature and it was a little over 99 degrees. She told him that he probably had a stomach flu and had him lay down by her. His stomach was making the noises a mother recognizes as the beginning of trouble, so Mary Beth took him to the bathroom for the expected to happen. He was now shaking really hard, due to the fever. Mary Beth took his temperature again and he was now at 104 degrees. She was very shaken about how quickly his fever had worsened. James was shaking almost uncontrollably and Mary Beth started to fill the tub with cool water to help keep the fever from climbing higher. At this point in time, James did something that you would not expect from a 10 yr old who is feeling so poorly. He started to pray to Jesus. He asked Jesus to help him not shake so hard and to please help him feel better. He talked to Jesus with the faith of a child. Mary Beth told James that he was right to pray to Jesus for help and she too asked Jesus to help them. She put James into the tub and he was so hot to the touch that she really became frightened about him going into convulsions. He vomited and so Mary Beth emptied the water and as she was cleaning up the tub, her neighbor came to help her after receiving a call from Mary Beth just a few minutes earlier. James was now rigid and not moving and was turning purple. Mary Beth said she had to fight to keep from becoming hysterical and she was praying for Jesus to help her. Her friend had brought her own son to help them and they filled the sink with ice and water and dunked towels into the icy water and then laid them on James. His temperature was now over 106 degrees according to the thermometer they had under his arm. As the towels started to cool his body down, James finally showed a tiny sign that he was responding. His eyes fluttered open momentarily. At this point the ambulance arrived and they helped stabilize James. On the way to the hospital he was hallucinating. Mary Beth was very frightened that he might have suffered brain damage. Hours later, the ER physician said that the temperature was down to 99 degrees and that while they could not say positively why the fever had shot up so quickly, they felt that James had a viral infection and they were going to discharge him. They did say that James might not have made it had Mary Beth not taken the steps she had in keeping his body cooled down. Mary Beth said that he was still not acting like he normally does and she didn’t want to take him home yet. They continued to monitor him and he had an IV going. Later, a nurse walked into the room and James called out to her, “Knock, Knock”. That was Mary Beth’s sign that he was back. He loves knock-knock jokes and is always telling them to everyone. She smiled and knew he was going to be okay. When she told me about all of this, the only thing that I stayed focused on was that he had prayed right before going unconscious. His instinct to pray really impacted me. I told Mary Beth that it immediately made me go back to the moment when James came up behind me as I knelt before the crucifix in our hallway at home. I was about ready to lose control of my emotions after looking into Paul’s bedroom and seeing his sandals by his chair and his shirt tossed on his bed. We had stopped at the house to get phone chargers and a couple other things I knew we would need at the hospital. It was going to be a long night and everyone was rushing to the hospital after receiving our calls that Paul had just been in a very serious accident. I started to cry and James took my hand. He said “It will be alright Aunt Becky.” I asked him if he would help me pray. I told him that Jesus loved the prayers of little children. He looked up at the crucifix and he prayed with a very sincere heart and a calmness I couldn’t help but notice. He said, “Please Jesus, help Paully not hurt and please help him get better really soon. Please help Paully Jesus.” He smiled at me and I thanked him for praying. We then prayed a Hail Mary and we left for the hospital. Later, while James, Mary Beth and my son James were praying in the hospital chapel, little James looked up and then said very calmly to Mary Beth, “my angel just went to Paully.” Needless to say, it was an amazing thing to hear him say that out loud! Then, as he was being driven back to our home many hours later, Mary Beth told me that he all of a sudden said, “My angel just came back and Paully is going to be alright. He has lots of angels in his room!” I have shared this story with a lot of people because it is the perfect example of how we need to be like children in our prayers and our trust in God!

It is NO SECRET that God hears our prayers and will answer them in a way that is best for us.

I go back to my first statement about how children are beautiful gifts from God and I will now share with you what has been a secret since April, 2007. Jon and Marie have been blessed by God and are expecting their first child in December! We will have our first grandchild and we have thanked God every day for the joy that news has brought into our lives at a time that we needed it. I don’t know who was more joyous about being an uncle – Paul, James or Michael. We got the news while Paul was still in the hospital and had to have the 3 surgeries in 3 days. God must have known we were all pretty much wiped out at that point and He sent the best gift we could have received. Jon and Marie wanted to wait until they were sure everything was going well and the baby was doing fine before we shared this news with everyone. Just think, all of you will have only 5 months of waiting instead of 9 to find out what God will send our family – a boy or a girl. Wish I could fast-forward to the end to see! Back to more suspense in my life...........

A great joy came to me while I was praying the first rosary after they told us. I was actually offering up my intentions for my Grandchild! I realized with amazement that I had been able to take my mind off Paul for a good while as I day dreamed about holding my grandchild. In these past months, I have spent a whole lot of time daydreaming and shopping! Bev and I went to the store the week after we found out and sent off a number of baby items to Jon and Marie. We are having so much fun together, since Bev’s daughter Becca is also expecting a baby…………….any second ! She was due 7/22 and we are praying for her to have an uncomplicated birth. She has been to the hospital this past Saturday, but was sent home. If the contractions don’t start again soon, the doctor may have to induce labor as Becca is starting to show some signs of stress to her body. She has had hard labor pains on and off for over a week and is physically worn down. As is her husband Zack. Please keep them ALL in your prayers, along with Jon, Marie and Baby Fidero. Thank you, thank you , thank you.

Dear God, you know our needs before we speak them, please heed your children’s prayer.

Blessings to everyone,
Love,
Jon and Rebecca

p.s. As always, pictures will follow……smile.