The club

As you all know, when Noah was born, he was close to death.  Never did I pray more fervently or rely on God so much as I did during that season of life.  I am forever changed by those days and understand things now that I never would have known otherwise.  My sanctification tends to be necessarily painful. 
Whenever a mother suffers now, because her baby is sick or is close to death, I know what she is going through.  I am that mother and she is me.  Our experiences certainly have differences, but we're in the same club.  It is the kind of club that no one wants to join and we don't want new members.  But, it is also a club that you can never leave once you've joined.
When I joined the club, I learned that the life we are given is out of our control. We make plans, but God has plans that we would never choose for ourselves. But, God's will, no matter how differently it looks from our own design, is always best. ALWAYS. Even in the most horrible pain and suffering imaginable, His way ought to be what we pray for and conform to. Because, in the end, His way is the most glorious and the most good. Good for me. Good for you. Good for the world.  We must always remember that Jesus suffered more than any of us, taking on the pain of the sins of the world. He, being a completely innocent man and being God, died. But now, His elect have everlasting life through His sacrifice. When we refuse to trust Him in the hard things of life we belittle the suffering of Christ and fail to understand God's character.   
When a mom that I know becomes a member of our club, I have trouble thinking about anything else (and so does the rest of the club I suspect).  I find myself praying over and over again.  Sometimes I pray the same things, sometimes the Holy Spirit gives me new things to pray.  Last night, I prayed through Psalm 91 for Baby Rowan.  This is the psalm that the Lord gave to me when Noah was very ill.  I was trying to sleep and could not, so I turned on my light, opened my Bible and prayed line by line this psalm for Baby Rowan and his family.  His mom is the newest member of the club. 
For all of my Pittsburgh friends who don't know, Baby Rowan is a newborn who is very ill and needs heart surgery.  I was good friends with Baby Rowan's mom and dad when I lived in Indiana.  Please pray for little Rowan, and pray for his mom, dad, and his 3 siblings (they are all very young as well).