When God Takes, He Also Gives
Randall Tschetter
January 1, 1984
When the doctor told us it was a boy, we were ecstatic. My wife, Wanette, and I had cherished the arrival of our two beautiful daughters. Now we had wanted a son. And he had come. We named him Matthew (meaning "a gift from God") Peter William-the double middle name was an heirloom of my family for four generations.
Following the doctor's routine check of our son's moving parts, we were allowed to take him back with us to the postpartum room. He nursed vigorously from his mother and we admired him with pride. He was beautiful! With joy we shared the news of his arrival with family and friends until fatigue finally caught up with us. It was 3 A.M. and I prepared to return home.
Five hours later the phone rang. It was Wanette. Something was wrong with Matthew, she said shakily. An hour earlier the attending nurse had noticed Matthew's color was not good. The doctors had quickly examined him and diagnosed the problem as either pneumonia or fetal heart circulation-a condition where the heart valve does not close and the child functions as if still inside the womb. Matthew was rushed to the intensive care nursery (ICN) unit. He lay there, helpless and alone, hooked to a multitude of machines.
We were devastated. How many times had Wanette and I walked past the ICN unit the day before and pitied the premature infants who lay there fighting gamely for life. Now Matthew lay with them, seemingly so out of place. He was so big-eight pounds, two ounces-but was now as vulnerable as the rest in their struggle for life.
For two and a half days Matthew lay there with no change in his condition. We spent much of the time talking with specialists. They and the staff people working with our son were thoughtful, considerate and kind. But they could ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
