It's a Matter of Honor

Strength and Dignity are her Clothing; She Smiles at the Future


Tonight was Laura's time to shine as we refelected on the end of the kid's first year in public school. Laura was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. She was chosen to be a part of the society based on her achievements in academics, leadership, character and service/citizenship.

I still marvel when I look at her when I remember all the medical community spoke over her when she was born. Just 8 days after she was born she was looking severely jaundiced so I took her into the hospital where she was admitted to the NICU. THe doctors could not find the source of her jaundice and told us her biliruben levels were through the roof. After several hours of checking her levels while under UV therapy her levels were continuing to climb. We were told she would need a total and complete blood transfusion if she were to survive this ordeal.

We called our church and began a prayer chain for Laura. The doctors told us we needed to go ahead and call family together and begin to make final arrangements because they did not feel that Laura would survive the night. My blood ran cold and my spirit completely REJECTED what the doctor was telling us. I remember telling him, "You don't know our God!"...and we continued to pray. Within the hour they came and told us that her biliruben levels had taken an amazing turn and started to drop--so "for now" they said we were out of the woods for needing the transfusion.

As God would have it, the next few days continued to confuse and confound the medical professionals, while the church continued to pray.

I was just 8 days out from having a c-section with her and Brad & I refused to leave the hospital. We literally had blankets and pillows and slept on the floor of the ICU waiting room so that we could go into the NICU every 3-4 hours during the night...and they bent the rules several times on the night they told us she would not make it through the night and we were at that isolet almost every minute of that night...rocking her , touching her, singing over her and praying.

The next few days brought improvement with no "medical" explanation. We continued to tell them we had a praying church. Within a week of being admitted, we were going home with a perfectly health child and doctors scratching their heads! They did warn us , though, that since her biliruben levels had been so elevated for so long that we should be braced for permanent brain damage, hearing loss and severe learning disabilities. They assured us she would never be a "normal" child developmentally.

It was not until her one year old check up that I b egan to question the doctors further about her "developmental delays" that were diagnosed at birth. The doctor looked confused. This was a new doc in pediatrics and not the NICU doctor who had seen her. So he flipped through her chart and said "THIS is the baby they still talk about in the NICU?" It was then that the doctor explained that Laura had the second highest biliruben levels of a child that survived ever recorded in the 100 year history of Scott & White Hospital and she was the ONLY one who did not have permanent brain damage and severe disability as a result. I was thankful this was told to me a year AFTER the fact, because that kind of info just might have done me in during the midst of the crisis!!

So here we are 12 years later at her induction into the National Junior Honor Society and I am still amazed at the mighty hand of God that has been upon her since birth! The doctors spoke death and severe brain damage over her...but God used her for HIS GLORY. Not only did Laura NOT have severe learning disabilities, she began reading 2 months after she turned 4 years old. By age 5 she was reading the unabridged classics like The Secret Garden and Little Women...and 5 was also the age she fell in love with Nancy Drew! She was an independant reader of chapter books by age 5!

We homeschooled for 8 years and when she went to public school last year they tested her and then advanced her a full grade level. So not only has she excelled in academics and character, she is still a full year younger than her grade level peers.

She is truly a young woman of great integrity and a love for her Lord Jesus. She is a true joy in my life. I used to wonder where she got her strong competitive spirit that could conquer anything...and now I wonder if it could be GOD GIVEN...to teach ME something.

Laura was combating the medical garbage that was spoken over her life even before she was a month old...and she has been a victorious warrior ever since. I could learn a thing or two from this honor student!!

She is my hero!! Her name "Laura Ashley" actually means ABUNDANT VICTORIES...and she has truly lived up to her name sake!

From her grateful mom,
Dawn