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Quote of the Day
No matter what the statistics say, there's always a way.
---- Bernard Siegel
Verse of the Day 
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
–Matthew 17:20
And then. . .
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old
son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after
night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even
met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United
Methodist Church in Morristown, TN. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes,
every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a
C-section be required?
Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling
in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.
The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared
for the worst."
Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their
new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.
Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister.
"I want to sing to her," he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael
kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen made up her mind, though. She would take
Michael whether they liked it or not! If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an over-sized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking
laundry basket. But the head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, "Get that kid out of here now! No children are allowed."
The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered
lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen
towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the
pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray ---"
Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on singing, Michael," encouraged
Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, Please don't take my sunshine away-" As Michael sang to his sister,
the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on singing, Sweetheart!!!" "The other night, dear, as I lay
sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms..." Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her. "Keep
on singing, Michael."
Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed. "You are my sunshine, my only Sunshine. Please don't, take my
sunshine away..."
The next, day...the very next day...the little girl was well enough to go home! Woman's Day Magazine called it "The Miracle of a Brother's
Song."
The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love!
Last update: 1/29/00
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