We worked together for a couple of years, and then she went on to bigger and better things, and I didn't see her for many years, until I had the wonderful joy of running into her again, just days after Laynie had been born. I was an obnoxious grandma, carrying books of baby pictures and telling Laynie's story to everyone that would sit still 3 1/2 minutes to listen. Haley intensely listened to me and didn't offer much comment. She was uncommonly quiet, and little did I know what was going on in the beautiful head of hers.
The point of this blog is you NEVER know how you can impact someone. NEVER EVER.
Weeks later, Haley emailed me. She told me that she had read all of Laynie's blogs I had written (and I was writing like a crazy woman during that time. http://lauradeaton.blogspot.com/) and that my words, and Laynie's life had changed the course of her life. She continued to tell me that she had been so MAD at God. She had been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for something like 72 months. And she was BLAMING God. "I'm so mad at God", she told me... "And after I've been reading about Laynie, my whole perspective has changed. Everything is different. I've changed my attitude, and Laura, I'm pregnant!!!!" Well, even re-living this and typing it almost 3 years after the fact, I still get choked up. God's timing is Perfect, and it is so evident in Haley's case. She gave birth to the sweetest little gumdrop on the planet,
Lawson Crue
and I have thrilled at every single picture of him she shares on facebook, (and the occasional video she messages me). He is just the yummiest baby ever. I adore her husband too, he is the real deal. Together they make a pretty delicious looking family....
As Elvis and Priscilla at Halloween!
But it gets better, if you can even believe that. They were having the wordly pressures of life (as life will) bear down on them, and Haley found herself in church with Lawson at the urging of her good friend. In her own words "I haven't missed a Sunday or Wednesday since". It's amazing to see God work His will in this wonderful family.
I love seeing LC's daily pics hit on Facebook. Makes my day.
Haley is one of the biggest Laynie fans out there. She loves for me to share stories and especially the one of Laynie's passing with her. She says it's one of her biggest "Ah-Ha" moments. How we were listening to worship music and praising God as Laynie recieved her wings. How God carried us through that time, and how God has stayed so present and real two years later. She took up running a few months back, and this is what she texted me last night as she was running (preparing for Laynie's run on March 31 in El Reno)
"Just had a holy ghost filled run on the treadmill. Wow. All over a baby that lived 29 months and one that lived 40 seconds. I never met either. But they changed my life forever. John 12:24 "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, It produces MANY seeds." I don't' know if this is sweat I'm covered in or tears. I just ran 3 miles and I'm drenched. And can't be hot because of the cold chills. A little light went on and I had a mental slideshow of Lacey praising Jesus while holding her lifeless baby...And of my pastors wife doing the same....And I'm like... "HOLY CRAP... I'm a SEED! How can you have the words in RED preached to you by a 29 month old and NOT run like the wind?"
Well, I'm a mess just typing that. It's coming on 2 years that Laynie got her wings, and she still is present in so many people. I gaze at her sweet visage in pictures every morning from my desk and thank the Lord that he sent us such a precious gift. Because SEEDS are planted when you least expect it.
That's what Faith Can Do.....
God is good, all the time.
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