Annette

While I was on bed rest in hospital before Mary Beth was born, I have several different room mates.  In the case of patients on bed rest, the maternity ward tries to put women together who are in the same situation, so most of my room mates were also on bed rest.  Occasionally I had a room mate who had had their baby but the baby was in the NICU.  One room mate I had for about 5 days was an elderly lady who had actually been in the women's ward after having a hysterectomy (or some type of female surgery) but that ward was closed down for Christmas and she wasn't ready to be discharged yet.  She was quite the character!!!!  But that's another story for another time :)

One of the more enjoyable room mates I had was a women by the name of Carolyn.  At 28 or 29 weeks gestation, her blood pressure was through the roof and an emergency cesarean section was performed, resulting in the very early birth of her baby girl.  She and her husband named her Annette Julianna and she was a little over 2 pounds.   After chatting for several minutes we realized that we knew some of the same people.  She lived next door to one of my brother-in-law's former girlfriends!  What a small world :)  It was nice to have a connection. What was even more special though was to know that we both served the same God.  Having a Christian room mate was such a blessing! (I managed to end up with 2 during my 5 week hospital stay).

I never kept in touch with Carolyn, but just over the weekend I saw on Facebook someone had posted a prayer request for a little girl who had been found face down in a pond.  She was on a respirator at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton.  It took me a few moments to realize this little girl was Annette.  Yesterday I found out that God had decided to take Annette home to himself.

We'll never know why God decided to take 2 year old (she would have turned 3 in mid Dec.) Annette Julianna (or any child that dies) away from her parents and siblings.  My heart is aching for this family.  I can't imagine losing my little girl.  But this is another reminder that my children are not really mine.  God has entrusted them to me and Chris here on earth to raise them in the fear and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.  God can take them (or me) home any time He sees fit.   I need to make the most of this time I have with Nathan and Mary Beth to tell them of the sacrifice Christ made on the cross to pay for our sins.