It was a bit too early. Little Tripp was snug in his mommy’s womb, and not quite ready to meet the world. But the doctors decided it was time for his grand debut.
My niece, Emily, developed preeclampsia in her last weeks of pregnancy. The doctors waited as long as they could, but surmised that it was best if little Tripp be welcomed into the world sooner rather than later. Emily was placed on magnesium in order to prevent the preeclampsia convulsions, and induced for pre-term labor. And while Tripp’s birth was God’s poetry in motion, he arrived with a few side affects of the magnesium on his 5 pound 12 ounce body.
Toxic magnesium levels.
Relaxed smooth muscle activity.
Reluctance to eat.
Irregular heart rate.
Tripp was swept away to the neonatal intensive care unit soon after his first cry. While we prayed for he and his mom, Stu, his dad, stayed right there with him…exactly where Emily wanted him to be.
Trip was hooked up to several monitors, including a feeding tube in his nose. At one point, his heart rate began to drop dangerously low from the 120-160 of a newborn.
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Stu held little Tripp’s hand and began to speak.
“We love you, Tripp
. Daddy’s right here with you. God’s right here with you.”
“I’ll always be with you. I know this is a scary place, but this is the best place for you right now.”
“I’ve got you. You get strong. Don’t give up. I’ve got your hand. You’re going to be OK.”
“Mommy loves you. She can’t come in here right now. She’s got to get well too. But she loves you.”
“Try to block out your surrounding and look at me. People everywhere are praying for you.”
“Keep fighting little man. You are God’s miracle to us.”
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As Tripp’s father spoke words of love and encouragement, his heart rate began to climb. In a few minutes the blood coursed through his veins at a quicken pace, pumped by two hearts joined by fingers of love.
I don’t know where your heart is today. Perhaps like little Tripp’s it is running a little sluggish. I’m not talking about your physical heart, but your spiritual heart…your emotional heart. Sluggish from sadness. Despondent from disappointment. Barely beating because of being beaten by life.
Here’s what I want you to imagine. See yourself in Tripp. See your Heavenly Father in Tripp’s earthly father. God is talking to you. Reaching for your hand.
“I love you, daughter. I’m right here with you.”
“I’ll always be with you. I know this world is a scary place, but this is the best place for you right now.”
“I’ve got you. You get strong. Don’t give up. I’ve got your hand. You’re going to be OK.”
“Try to block out your surrounding and look at me. People everywhere are praying for you.”
“Keep fighting little one. You are my miracle.”
Tripp left the NICU after 7 days. Healthy and Strong.
And friend you’re going to make it too.
Comments 20
Thank you Sharon this is amazing to hear. I’m recovering from cancer and a double mastectomy age 43 and it’s a huge struggle every day to accept what’s happened to my body. You’re such an encouragement when you remind me of God’s truth. thank you x
Dear Pamela, my thots and prayers are with you! I had a mastectomy 10 yrs ago.
Sharon: I have suffered from chronic depression since childhood and sometimes (WAY too often in the past few yrs!) I just want to go HOME! This writing REALLY spoke to my heart, going along with our pastor’s sermon Sunday. Thanx SO very much for writing and sharing these encouraging words with us! God Bless!
thank you and I pray Lord God will be with you now comforting you in your struggles. x
This is such a powerful post. Using Tripp’s story to demonstrate God’s love for us so beautifully demonstrates God’s personal & intimate love for us. I am forwarding this to my Sunday school class with your permission. Also, sending it to my sister who is a new believer. This is definitely going in my “favorites” folder. Thank you!
Thank you, dear friend. I needed to hear from God today. My heart needed to hear from Him. My soul needed to hear from Him. Thank you for being His voice.
Beautiful, Sharon. Thank you for sharing this. I had seen Tripp’s pictures on Instagram but didn’t know his story. It is the story of the power of love and the Power of a Loving God all wrapped up in one. Praise God!
A beautiful and relatable story, I love how you weave spiritual /life applications into these, my sweet friend!! Blessings to you and yours, Keep writing from your heart !!
He is right. Its better to quite the surroundings and look at Him. I am emotionally tired. Halleluiah for little Tripp father’s!
God’s timing is perfect. I have bee struggling with daily life issues with my 16 yr old son. Literally some days, I don’t know what to do … it was like that last night. Thank you Sharon for allowing God to use you. I needed this today <3
Beautiful! Wonderful words of encouragement. Thank you for letting God use you and all the Girlfriends.
Thank you for this lovely article.I pray to be a strong Women always dependant on the Lord.
My heart is heavy and torn. I’m not sure how to even begin to understand what the problem is, but it’s too much. I am about to celebrate my 2nd anniversary with my second husband . I never thought I would be a divorced woman, I believed I was going to have to be married to a man who was abusive emotionally and mentally. We’d had 3 beautiful kids, I had suffered a brain virus that left me with essential tremors and I had to fight to stay alive. I thought God had abandoned me. But I was still alive so He was there. I began to realize that I deserved a better life. I didn’t have to suffer my husband’s abuse. I eventually found the strength to file for divorce. I reunited with a man I knew from high school and we clicked. Over the course of our relationship we have been attacked by the enemy over and over again . I spent several years in court fighting my ex-husband. My new husband and I blended 4 kids. We have a life full of sports, work, and my not-so-great health. And my husband and I continue to be attacked. We have been robbed twice, my career has been unstable at best and we are often unconnected. A few months ago my bonus son and husband were messing around and my son accidentally scratched my husband’s eye. I didn’t realize how bad it really was until I was awakened by my husband thrashing around our bedroom at 3am. He was looking for his wallet so he could drive himself to the ER. I got up and the next thing I knew, he was yelling at me for being selfish and not taking care of him. I was shocked. The next day, I cancelled my patients, I’m a massage therapist, I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for him and took the entire day taking care of him. Well, he later told me that I filled his love cup. I had no idea that was what he needed…
Feeling alone has been a constant for me. I can’t believe how much all of my health issues have taken a toll on me. My marriage is a constant struggle. We don’t seem to connect with each other and I have no friends I feel I can turn to. I want to be close to my husband, I want to be close to God. But I feel like I am on an island. I am lost. My husband has threatened divorce 3 times in less than 2 years. I can’t go through that again . I want my husband and I to be madly in love, to be a team. I am asking for help to find a way to get this amazing God given blessing back on the right track. To find a way to love and support each other. I need MY love cup filled. I am trying to learn how to get that from God. I don’t know how to grow in God. If I do, maybe I won’t need to try and find it from my husband. I need guidance, I need to believe that God has me in his arms. That I’m not alone. Lord help me. I need some help.
Author
Hi Tammie: I am sorry you are going through this struggle. We all feel alone at one time or another. I feel alone many days when it’s just me and my computer screen. But here’s one thing we can hang our hat on. God is always there with us. Even King David felt alone (and he had a couple of wives to cheer him on). One day his whole army turned against him and the Bible tells us, “David found strength in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6) because everyone else had turned their backs on him. Even Jesus felt alone in the Garden of Gethsemane when the disciples kept falling asleep. I’m not making light of feeling lonely. I get it. I really do. So consider this a big hug from God. He sees you. He loves you. I hope you’re in a good church with a good women’s Bible study. That is one of the best places I know to find and to give encouragement. I’ve found the more I give it, the more I seem to receive it.
Sharon, bless you. God is good, a beautiful picture to me. I have been struggling with issues for a while now, and always had a hard time understanding God’s love for me. Picked up a book a while ago that I’ve had on my shelf for a long time. A touch of His Love, Charles Stanley. I think that is me. I don’t know if I’ve ever known what it is like to personally feel and know God’s love for me, like a father. How to really know that love and make it personal. This is a word picture of God’s love for me. I did pray the other night that God would reveal to me his love in a new and personal way. I pray He reveals it deeper and deeper.
Father God, you are my Abba Father. You love me more than I can know. You do have your hand on me, telling me I can make it, holding me in the storm. Helping me grow stronger. Grow a deep desire in me to find that love even more and more. May I know how deep and how vast and how wide is the love the Father has for me. Praise God for a little guy who made it through, with the love of his father, and Heavenly Father. I pray this for all my sisters here, and my family too.
I really needed these words of encouragement today. Thank you for your insight, wisdom, and encouragement.
Thank you for this post about the baby and dad.It is the best .I am using it to send to those that need to see that God is with them through all things.god bless!
Thank you-I received this in my email days ago and put off reading it because I was to busy with work.Today was the right day to read it because of things going on at work at this very moment.Of all days this was the day I needed to take time to read it-breathe and pray.
I look forward to reading your words of encouragement, even if it isn’t daily.
Thanks so much for this post!
Was very moved by it, since I had preeclampsia with my twins 36 yrs ago and also with my son four yrs later . Beautiful story of Gods love !
I’m struggling with some issues and came to this post and God has used it to direct my thoughts to him in a new way ! He is a wonderful and compassionate Father!
May you be blessed in His love!
thank you for blog posts, especially this one that I found through your more recent one, where is God when women feel forgotten.
Which is exactly how I’ve been feeling lately..and lost. Like, Tammie, my first marriage was abusive, but more verbal then anything. I’m in my second now and things are slowly going downhill and I don’t know what to do. My current husband and I have a 9-year daughter and I’m afraid she is picking up our bad habits. I’m worn from all the arguments and disrespect from my own family at home, where I believe I’m supposed to feel most comfortable. The only thing holding me together is God’s promise, my job and my church.
I learnt only recently that prayer is like breathing. I can’t be alive physically withou breathing. I also can’t live spiritually without praying. So now I pray continuously. Continuously. Non stop. All the time. Second by second. I pray for guidance. I pray for my thoughts. I pray for my words. I pray for ideas. I pray over my writing. I am praying now that these words will touch someone’s heart.
We can’t face life without praying. Breathe my sisters in Christ. Pray my sisters in Christ. And then we will hear God’s voice and then do as He says.