His grace is sufficient

I've been thinking a lot this morning about my personal brush with miracles. Hubby and I weren't able to have babies and it turned out (after a long road of doctors telling me there was nothing the matter with me) I was infertile. We could have done any number of costly fertility treatments, but with stories in the news about women having five, six and seven babies at once... women who shared our religious background... we decided that wasn't for us. We opted not to do anything at least for a little while and maybe to consider adopting or becoming foster parents at a later date.

But then one Sunday our pastor asked if any had a need, to come forward and be anointed. I remember thinking how nutty it sounded at the time, but I found myself getting up. Our small congregation clustered around me and laid hands on me while the pastor put a small amount of oil on my forehead and prayed. I never told them what my need was... so he just prayed that God would hear me.

I found myself asking God not for a baby... but just for my health. By that point, I was tired of taking medication and tired of the mental process that went along with having a "condition."

Nine months later, we had a son. I still don't know whether I'm completely "cured," or if God just took pity on me and blessed us with our boy. Either way, it's a miracle and I'll take it. It doesn't matter to me even now which way it really is. His grace is sufficient for me... and I don't deserve it.

What a blessing to know that just as I love my little man now in his 16-month-old grins and giggles... just as I cuddle him and do my best to meet his needs... God does the same for me. My little boy doesn't have to do anything to get that love from me or his dad. We give it because we loved him first, before he ever knew who we were.

God has all of us in the palm of his mighty hand. He loved us first, too. He doesn't love us because we deserve it... he loves us just because.