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The Miracle Of A Brother's Song.Topic: Miracles, Singing, Love
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 find out that the new baby is going to be
a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister
in Mommy's tummy.
The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen, an active member of the
Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. Then the labor pains come. Every five minutes.. every minute. But complications
arise during delivery. Hours of labor. Would a C-section be required?
Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.
The days inch by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric specialist
tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, now they plan a funeral.
Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want
to sing to her," he says.
Week two in intensive care. It looks as if a funeral will come before
the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about singing to his sister, but
kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. But Karen makes up her mind.
She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn't see his
sister now, he may never see her alive.
She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. He
looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as
a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! No children are
allowed in ICU."
The mother rises up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady
glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He
is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"
Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside, followed by the irate head
nurse. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he
begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies
are gray ---" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes
calm and steady.
Keep on singing, Michael.
"You never know, dear, how much I love you, Please don't take my
sunshine away---"
The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.
Keep on singing, Michael.
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my
arms..." Michael's little sister relaxes as rest, healing rest, seems to
sweep over her. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen
glows.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine
away."
Soon, the little girl is 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.
A few weeks later, Michael's little sister was baptized at the Panther
Creek Church.