It's amazing what a date can mean.

Two years ago today, the meaning & purpose of my life changed. Forever.

12am

I was lying in a hospital bed chatting on the phone with family members far away. I was excited. It felt like a dream.

1am

The epidural was wearing off. The nurse came to check me, I was at an 8.

1:30am

The nurse checked me again. A look of surprise. She turned to me and said,

"Don't push. Don't laugh. Don't sneeze. And if you feel anything coming out, 

yell to me!"

about 1:50am

The doctor was positioned and I was told to push. 

I pushed. Really, really hard.

I was told to breathe. I took a breath. That was much easier than pushing.

"Push!" I pushed. Even harder this time. 

So hard I thought my brain was going to pop out of the left side of my head. When it was time to breathe I asked my husband if anything was popping out of my head. He reassured me it was not.

"Push!" I pushed with every bit of energy my body could produce.

"STOP! STOP!"

I looked up and there she was. My beautiful baby girl. 

My very own little piece of heaven.

The world stood still for just one moment and when it started spinning again everything was different. Richer. Deeper. More meaningful. More precious.

Words can't express the love and purpose she has brought into my life. 

Today I celebrate her. 

Last night I watched Les Misérables. 

Translated to English this means The Miserable or The Miserable Ones. A perfect title for a movie that's all about misery. It's a raw and beautiful story portraying the battles and miseries of life. Physical battles, emotional battles, spiritual battles. Everyone in the moving was struggling with something. And to me, misunderstanding seemed to be a running theme. Because of people misunderstanding eachother there was a lot of pain and even death. One man spent his life chasing another because he couldn't forgive or believe people can change. He misunderstood a man who stole bread. Another man spent his life running because he was misunderstood. Women were tormented, abused, lonely and cast out because they were misunderstood. Kids lost their lives fighting for their rights, because they were misunderstood. A whole lot of misery which all seemed to stem from misunderstandings.

As it played out on the screen in front of me it felt familiar. It really isn't much different than the world we live in now. Misunderstandings. Unacceptance. Unforgiving. Judging. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain because we misunderstand. Pain because we ALL want to be understood and accepted. Pain because sometimes as humans we just don't know how to do so. It honestly made me sad as these thoughts swam around in my mind. But then the end of the movie came and the words to the music struck me. 

 

"Come with me where chains will never bind you, 

all your grief at last, behind you."

"There is a flame that never dies, 

even the darkest of nights will end and the sun will rise."

 

These things are just so true. There is a light for us all. There is love and hope and peace for us all. Maybe we don't know how to give it to eachother or even to ourselves. But there is One above all who does. And He offers it to all. To the man who spends his life seeking revenge, to the man who spends his life running from his past, to the women who is beat or abused or lost or alone, to the girl who loves and is never loved in return, to the children who fight standing up for whats right. All of them. All of us. We all have the same Light. We all have the same God fighting for us. He knows us. He understands us. And He has the peace that we all so often long for.

What a beautiful story that is.