I need a miracle.

Sometimes life can really get you down. You read about a mother being shot to death and her newborn kidnapped, about another school shooting, a suicide bomber, a young life taken by a drunk driver... it can be too much to bear. I love the things that technology can do to improve out lives, but one of the biggest downfalls of it is this non-stop bad news flowing in and out of my daily routine.

You put that on top of just a regularly crappy day and it's no wonder so many of us feel depressed. Sometimes you just need to hear a good story. Lottery winners who give their shares to help a friend in need, a soldier who sacrificed his life to save a little girl, neighbors who rally together to help a friend after their home was damaged in a storm. Those stories are heart warming. They're wonderful because in the midst of all the crap in this world, we still see the good in people.

And sometimes, you just need to see a miracle. Proof that prayer works. Proof that God is good, even in the worst circumstances. My baby sister is a miracle. She almost didn't make it when she was born. There were several months of waiting and praying and waiting some more. And she defied the odds and is now almost 10 years old, full of life, bright, sweet and kind hearted. She's a miracle.

Jonah is my best friend's first son. he was born early and has had all sorts of issues in his life. Seizures, severe speech and cognitive delays, and he wasn't able to walk. I actually remember when they told Amber he might never walk. Yet, with therapy and braces and a walker and lots of practice and prayer, when we moved home from Scotland, Jonah walked into my arms to give me a hug to welcome me home. I cried, and cried, and cried! This thing they said might never happen, happened. And he continues to make improvements! More importantly, he just has this amazing effect on people. You can't meet Jonah and not fall in love with him. Then you see how he loves others, his family, Jesus... you can't help but thank God for that little boy. Jonah is a miracle.

Tripp was a miracle. A little boy who suffered from EB, he died recently after living his short life in pain. Covered in sores that would rip open and bleed. Every time his skin was touched, a new sore would appear. But his mom loved him more fiercely than I could describe. She prayed for him as if that was her only purpose in life, sometimes praying that he would die in the night so he wouldn't be in pain anymore. I can't imagine uttering that prayer. What extreme faith! When Tripp died, I cried. I've never met him. I've never met his mom. She doesn't know I exist. But I prayed for them. And that connected us. I saw God use that little boy to bring people together, to highlight a disease that desperately needs a cure. Tripp is a miracle.

Right now, I friend of mine from college is asking for prayers for her best friend, Jillian and her baby boy, Judah. When she was pregnant they discovered some problems with Judah. His heart wasn't forming properly. They weren't sure if it would heal in the womb or if it would require surgery when he was born... it was a bombshell for Jillian. She had recently gone through two miscarriages, and now this. So I started praying for Judah and Jillian. Judah was just born and has had a rocky start, to say the least. My friend, has been posting several times throughout the day with specific requests, each one more impossible than the next, every time, with Judah's life hanging by a thread. And God has miraculously brought levels to where they should be, miraculously guided the hands of the surgeons to get results "even better than possibly expected", and has kept his brain functioning still. There are still MANY more hurdles for this little boy to jump, but God continues to take care of him. Judah is a miracle.

Moreover, Judah is my miracle. Sometimes, we struggle spiritually. We feel like we're in a rut. We just kinda, go through the motions. Praying, but maybe not believing as we should. Giving, but out of obligation rather than joyfully. And that's how I've felt lately... stuck. I've been praying for something to change, something to challenge me, something to get me out of this rut. Then came Judah, with his impossible situation and God saying to me, "just trust me". So I've been praying for Judah, trusting that God will heal him. Trusting that he will take care of this little boy who I will probably never meet. And He is. Judah is a miracle.

God is showing me, once again, just how good it is to just trust him. Miraculous.