A Christmas Story by Laura Betters - Christmas Potpourri

Twelve Days of Christmas Grief Relief, Day 11

In our first years of deep grief, I found hope and encouragement in stories that showcased God's redeeming love - pictures of Him redeeming the pain and creating something beautiful out of ashes.  God instructs us throughout scripture to create "memorial stones" that remind us of His past faithfulness.  If we are wise, we periodically revisit those memorial stones, especially when the lights in our lives go out, because they will help turn our hearts toward our God.  In a moment of fear and disappointment with my diagnosis of breast cancer and in response to my cries of, "I don't understand - how did this happen?' Chuck took me on a trip down memory lane, reminding me of God's past faithfulness to assure me that we could count on Him to walk with us on this pathway, too.  I have since realized that each one of those stories is a memorial stone, erected by out God to help us trust Him when the lights in our lives go out once again. Our son's wife, Laura, shared her own story of God's redeeming love in her blog, A Blank White Page.  She calls this her ebenezer and I love reading it again and again. Let her story help turn your heart toward Jesus today.

All Resolved, A Christmas Story

by Laura Betters 



Laura and Siddhi - one of my favorite pictures of them

Today was a poignant day for me. What seemed like a routine doctor’s visit became something else altogether. It was an ebenezer, of sorts, a remembrance of where my family has come from, of where I have come from. You see, six and a half months ago I met a little girl, a beautiful but fragile little girl. On the other side of the world. In an ancient city called Pune. In a little white orphanage with cracked walls, with faded paint and a dusty cement floor. She’d been born of another woman but was ordained to be my daughter from the beginning of all time. A mystery I still can’t fathom.

I will never forget the first time her mahogany eyes looked into mine. And I will never forget how I saw myself in them, a reflection of bittersweet joy. Because I had longed to hold her for so long, and when I finally did I saw the full extent of her desperation.



Siddhi on Homecoming Day - A terrified little girl

She cried. Afraid. Terribly afraid. Not knowing who I was. Not realizing that love had finally found her. She cried because she’d borne so much pain before we’d ever met and she could only see me filtered through that filmy lens. She couldn’t see me as I was - the one who wanted to love her.

They said she was sick. They said she had failure to thrive. They said she wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t grow. And I saw the scars on her skin. The infections and discomfort. I saw the hollow look in her eyes. She was barely alive. She’d barely survived to the day that I first held her. Battled for her very existence. A miracle child.
And I carried her home. Across miles of mountainous landscape and ancient rivers. Over war torn countries and cavernous depths of ocean we flew. And she never left my arms. Even when she slept, I was there; my hand was over her. I never left her. Not once.



In the days I was trying to convince Siddhi to be happy with me!

She arrived in this strange new land with strange new people. A frightening arrival, because she didn’t know that Home had finally found her. She feared she was lost, that she would never return to the cracked walls and the dusty floor she remembered. The doctors said she was severely malnourished. Developmentally delayed. Neglected.

The Rest of the Story - All Resolved, A Christmas Story by Laura Betters

Enjoy!
In His grip - Sharon