We Are The Chosen Ones

It's been over three years since I've had open heart surgery and I will never take another day for granted. If I told you that my perspective on life hasn't changed since open heart surgery I would be lying to you. Most people tell you to never take anything for granted, but when you look death in the face and overcome such a horrible yet beautiful thing, how can you not want to seize the day and appreciate the extraordinary life that God has given you?

Every year or so I have to go back to MUSC just to get a check up and make sure that my ticker is still ticking the way it should. These appointments are pretty routine and it's always the same thing. Weight, height, blood pressure, oxygen levels, EKG and the very last thing is an echocardiogram (3D Ultrasound of the Heart). After waiting in the waiting room, seeing many different people come and go it was clear to me that there were so many people like me. As the nurse called me back to get all of the routine things done I couldn't help but to notice a little girl with a princess tiara and one of those awesome mermaid blankets (I must confess I want one terribly and yes I am 17 years old) waiting in the waiting room as well. Once those were done we came back to sit down until I could be called back for the echocardiogram with the little girl and her mom sitting right across from me.

There will be times in our lives that God is so evident that it's scary, our prayers answered, our struggles extinguished, even our deepest regrets forgiven. This was definitely one of those days that God was at hand.

Sitting there together waiting to be called back, the mom of the little girl spoke up and asked me, "Have you had heart surgery?" Noticing I was wearing a shirt the exposed the top of my scar I replied, "Yes ma'am I have!" What she was going to ask me next literally blew me away. She asked, "Can you talk to my daughter about her scar, she has been feeling really self-conscious about it and it seems that you wear yours proudly!" I replied with an "Absolutely!" I then went over to this cute little girl that couldn't be more than 4 and started talking to her and her mom about our heart stories. Her mom told me that her daughter has had many surgeries, one when she was just a few days old, months old and she said that she would have to have another one in the future. This absolutely broke my heart, with just being 4 years old she has already been through more than most people in a lifetime ever will. As I poured into this shy little girl I could see her start to come out of her shell. She called her scar her "angel kiss" because God had his angels give her this, sweetest thing ever!! Having a scar has taught me many things, things that I poured into this little girl because I was in her place at one point when it comes to being self-conscious but I told her this, "God chooses the strongest and most special people to give this beautiful scar to, we are all beautiful and we are so grateful to have a scar that is not only a story that we get to tell but also a badge of honor we get to share with the world! God has you in everything that you do and we have a story to tell that some people will never have, so all in all we are the ones who win even if things get hard!"

After a few minutes talking with the little girl and her mom it was so clear to me that God was at work in not only their lives but in mine as well. Earlier in the morning before the appointment we weren't sure if I was even going to go, there had been an opening for another appointment at a better time and a closer location, but something told me to go and I am so glad that I did. If I wouldn't have gone I would have missed out on pouring into such a sweet little girl about confidence and our part in God's story. But I also would have missed out on such a special time for me to open my eyes and to really see the deep impact that God makes on so many people. We often fill our lives with clutter, things that aren't important yet we keep occupying our time with it, but when we peel everything back we get down to the root. The root that we are left with is the opportunity to see God in everything and witness his divine gifts. So often many of us pray for God to show us or let us hear him and yet we plug up our ears because sometimes what God wants and what we want are two totally different things. But I learned so many things from that one conversation with that little girl and her mom, it was so amazing because God's presence is everywhere, we just have to take off the blinders and un-stuff our ears to witness it.

Today forward I will never take another day for granted, it's so crazy to live this life full of what-ifs and should haves when you can live this life with a heck yes and an absolutely! If I didn't have open heart surgery I wouldn't have changed my perspective on life, I would be doing what everyone else in high school is doing but since God gave me this badge of honor I have more to do with my journey because he raised me up and gave me life....

#love #heartstory #mermaids #God #letgoletGod #thankyou