Home

Every time I saw a parent with a car seat, I knew that meant a baby was going home soon. While I knew it was an exciting moment for that family, there was a pang in my heart. Some families in the NICU asked "when," with an anticipation that their baby would be coming home. For families like mine, the question was "if" We held onto every minute, every hour, and every day with our new babe as we were told, "You're not out of the woods." She'd been given a 6% chance for survival. We took that information and confidently proclaimed that our daughter would have life or LIFE. Yet no one could look us in the eyes and tell us for sure we'd bring our daughter home.

As I waited, I reflected, What does home really mean?

My home during the NICU was a safe haven away from the beeps, dings, and alarms. A refreshing taste of normalcy, familiarity, and comfort. However, each time we saw the empty nursery, there was a gaping reminder of the normalcy we were missing. The new medical terminology, equipment, and the hospital were the opposite of familiar. All comfort and control had been stripped. I yearned to bring our daughter home.

I yearned to bring her out of this place of suffering. And then it hit me.

This world is full of suffering everywhere - not just the hospital. It hit me that I know the One who promises a place without suffering. There is LIFE offered to us in heaven. Heaven is the home I long for.

Just because we went home from the hospital doesn't mean the rest of our life will be perfect without suffering. Hospital stays, car wrecks, cancer, and death happen. We aren't to live in fear but with a healthy, realistic lens that we can hope in what's to come. If my hope is in a home on this earth, I'm forgetting that we are destined for so much more.

Whether you're waiting in the NICU to welcome your baby into your home on this earth or if you've held your child as they've passed the threshold into heaven - we pray you find overwhelming rest in the hope of our eternal home with our Savior. "Happily ever after" on this earth looks like a life clinging to our Heavenly Father and eagerly waiting for the LIFE in the better home that is yet to come.