oxygen

"Peace is the oxygen of Heaven."
My life... deeply impacted by those words.

Funny...
Contrary to worldly opinion...
I've learned more about breathing peace...
From walking the coals...
Than sailing the smooth seas.

This princess...

A teaching tool.

Spending her first half year of life...

Dependent...

Relying on artificial mechanisms.

Tubes in her nose...

Filling her lungs with air she was unable to inhale on her own.

So thankful for life support...

Very aware that it is not Papa's plan A.

Many days I wondered if she would ever open up...

Believe that she could breathe deep for herself.

It was a painful process...

To watch...

To wait...

To live.

For the first four months of her life...

Just being alive almost killed her.

It's surreal watching your child almost die on a daily basis...

Holding them in your arms as life escapes.

It can terrify in ways... that if allowed...

Would suffocate peace... steal life.

I am thankful for the many miracles in my life...

Believing in more yet to be seen.

Today...

I am reminded...

Her life...

Her story...

It has been a loaded gun...

Killing off harmful fumes...

In me...

In our family.

Lately...

Pastor and I have noticed her new found passion for examining...

Alive with curiosity.

Unlike her preemie days...

It's independence she craves...

Do not let her small package and innocent face fool you...

She is a warrior...

She fights with the best of them...

She comes in power...

This chapter's weapons....

Peace...

Joy...

And laughter.

No doubt the enemy wants to keep her valuable story out of the Gem City.

She is a diamond in the rough.

And... she is ready now.

Breathing on her own...

Stronger everyday...

The nurses at the NICU named her Charli Pepper...

She is quite a fighter...

Her story will forever wage war against the toxic air breathed out by enemy.

Desiring more of Heaven's oxygen... right here on earth.

Choosing to celebrate the hard that brings the best.

Thankful that He would count us worthy of stewarding such gifts.

In the midst of creating atmospheres of peace...

I laugh...

Seems our smalls have an affection for weapons these days...

Guessing there is more to that than meets the eye.

Just like our little Charli Pepper.