The Right Place

This week I was privy to an amazing event. I showed up to a women's meeting for my church called Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Meeting. (Usually we get together and learn how to improve our spiritual and temporal lives. We also share with each other our talents and tips to great living.)


Well, this particular night I sat listening to the spiritual message when my cell phone rang. (Note: My cell phone never rings except when I expect it too. My kids, calling to just say hi, was not expected.) Feeling embarrassed I remained in the foyer of the building. I intended to stay there until I saw a natural break in the proceedings. A few minutes had passed when I noticed several people exit the meeting room. As I walked toward the door to rejoin the other sisters (a name we call each other in the Relief Society), I overheard a friend telling the Bishop about her newest grand baby. I didn't catch the details, but heard enough to note that the news wasn't good. The baby was sick.


I joined the rest of the sisters for the other practical-tip sessions and then we all sojourned to another room to enjoy some craft-time. Before I got too involved in my craft I asked my friend if her grand baby's condition was life-threatening. She said they didn't know what was wrong. The baby was born healthy. Then a few hours later started showing signs of shallow breathing--his nose would flare with every breath. Nose flaring? Wow, that sounded so familiar...too familiar. I immediately cut her off and shared with her the experience I had with my oldest son. Just a few hours after his birth he was showing similar symptoms. The doctor was not sure what was wrong with him either.


She said they thought her grand baby had some sort of infection. I told her my baby was first diagnosed with a heart defect that warranted further testing at a more sophisticated facility. She wasn't sure what tests they had given her grand baby.


When I related my baby's final diagnosis, she quickly called her son to make him aware of the possibility that it could be the same thing--Beta Strep or Group B Streptococcus. We started working on our crafts hoping that the "coincidence" of information was not such a coincidence after all. Hopefully they would discover it was Beta Strep and be able to treat it sooner than later.


Re-living the emotional roller coaster that I experienced with my first baby started to invoke my own anxious feelings. I prayed that everything would work out for this new mom and that she wouldn't have to experience the same. Emotions weren't the only things revisited though, I was able to recall more details of the illness. I realized that with my baby the doctors were shocked to hear that the Beta Strep was passed to him after I had tested negative (after a routine screening). It was also curious that he was infected with the virus when he had been born Cesarean. In order to "cover all the bases", my friend informed her son that the testing may have been incorrect for her daughter-in-law as well.


As she left me that night she mentioned that she felt more at peace than she'd felt in several hours and just knew things would work out. I petitioned her to call me and let me know as soon as she could about the outcome.


Two days later...


My friend called me and told me that her grand baby had been diagnosed with Beta Strep. He had been treated with antibiotics soon after her son had talked with her that night. The baby responded immediately and was now perfectly fine. One more day in the hospital and it was Home, Sweet, Home for this new family.


Coincidence? No, God knows our needs. I feel so grateful for having been at the right place.