135 ~ I Had Hope

By Kay Heitsch

I was excited when our son-in-law, Joe, called and said our daughter, Shannon, was at the hospital about to deliver Noah.

Bill was on the road, so I made the trip to see them by myself. I was excited when Shannon handed me Noah. I knew immediately something wasn't right.

It wasn't long before all the hospital doctors also knew something wasn't right. They put different labels on Noah, like failure to thrive, floppy baby syndrome. Finally, they called him "Mystery Baby."

Noah had a lot of problems, one being that he couldn't suck. So they put a feeding tube in right away. Even with the feeding tube, Noah would throw up everything. It wasn't long, and Noah had surgery too. There are no words to describe this tragic situation.

Watching your children go through this isn't easy, but God helped me.

I came home, and a person I hadn't seen in at least 40 years contacted me on FB. Cathy wanted to know if I would like to play a game online called Farm Town. I had no idea what it was, but I decided to try playing it.

Our kids really didn't want other people to know how bad Noah was, so I had to keep his dire situation to myself and from anyone who might know them.

As I look back, I remember how I made a farm called "Let the Son Shine!". On my farm, I put a playground for Noah. I had hope that one day, Noah would be able to play on a playground, even though at the time, I wasn't sure he was even going to live.

God brought me many friends on Farm Town. While playing this game, you could chat with people. They asked about the name of my farm, so I shared my faith. Plus, they asked about the playground. I was able to share with them my hope of seeing Noah one day play in a playground.

Noah not only played on a playground but also participated in several sports with the Special Olympics. To God be the glory!

Noah was finally diagnosed, at age 15, with a syndrome that only 50 people in the world have been diagnosed with. No wonder he was called "Mystery Baby."

I'm so thankful I had hope! God knew what I needed and brought total strangers into my life to help me during this tragic time.

As you can see, God turned a triumph out of a tragedy!

Remember how I led you on this long journey. Deuteronomy 8:2