Miracles

What a profound thought.

What is a miracle? According to Webster’s 800 year old dictionary that I have at work:

Miracle –n. 1. An event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws. 2. A remarkable thing.

So I ask again what is a miracle?

A friend on facebook today made a profound comment. Maybe not to most of you reading this, but to her, and those that know her family know how true and life changing this statement was and is.

I believe in miracles.

She believes in them, because without them, her daughter, who turned 4 several weeks ago, would be spending her days with God. Dani was born premature, and her mother May, faced life-threatening pre-eclampsia. We very nearly lost them both. In the weeks that followed Dani’s birth, May saw and lived through a miracle; the miracle of her daughter growing and getting stronger and eventually going home with her.

I believe in miracles too.

I saw them several times, when my grandfather was having heart problems and the doctors couldn’t understand what was causing it, or how to fix it. There were several nights that we should have lost him – but we didn’t.

My husband had a wreck. A car pulled out in front of him, and he T-boned it. It should have been a lot worse, and all he had was a heck of a headache, torn rotator cuff, and dislocated shoulder. Yeah, it was bad, but it could have been worse; the same for the people in the car that he hit. It was bad, but it should have been worse.

My father had two heart attacks within weeks of each other. They should have been fatal. But they weren’t.

I was reminded today that sometimes we focus on all the things that are wrong in our life that we often forget about the things that are good. I have been guilty of that here lately. I have been so focused on what is missing in my life that I have forgotten the “miracles” that I have in my life, that I have taken for granted, as well as the people.

Sometimes with school, and work, and a family it’s hard to remember that there are miracles all around us. A facebook friend of mine, who has struggled with infertility and has 4-year-old triplets, just found out that she is expecting a baby. With no doctor intervention. While most people would think that she is nuts having another baby with 3 kids already, I know, better than most, what a miracle this is for her.

Apparently I spend way too much time on facebook.

And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

And sometimes we forget that miracles happen in hindsight.

And sometimes we forget that even the good things falling apart are miracles in themselves. It’s a blessing in disguise. How many times have you lost your job and something better comes along? Losing the job was most definitely not a miracle, especially the days and weeks following losing it. But when that awesome new job came along, hopefully you realized that the job you lost was giving you the opportunity to find the better one. Because now you can look back and see what a blessing it was.

My husband lost a job that he loved. They fired him with no warning. We moved home, to where we both grew up. Although we have regretted the move, we don’t regret him losing the job, especially now that another company who provides the exact same product, is “taking over the world”. He would be losing his customer’s, which would hurt his bonus, which would hurt him in general, as he is big on customer satisfaction and service. Losing that particular job – definite miracle.

But ole Webster only has it partly right. Maybe a miracle should be defined as simply a remarkable thing. Just like faith should be defined as simply believing. The rest is up to you.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.” ~Albert Einstein