We Need a Miracle

Many years ago, my daughter Emily was performing in her first Road Show.  Now, for anyone who does not know or remember what a Road Show is, it is a play that is put on by the wards in the church.  The youth are the ones who perform it, and the leaders usually write the script.  It can be a lot of fun for the youth, and a lot of work for everyone else!  Don't get me wrong, I have directed a couple of them and they were amazing!  Still, this was Emily's chance and she was really excited about it.
This particular play was the story about the pioneers and the trial of the grasshoppers or 'Mormon crickets' as they were sometimes called.  This play dipicted one of the most dramatic and famous moments in early Mormon pioneer history.  The plague of crickets occurred in 1848 when the pioneers were getting ready to harvest their first crops in the Salt Lake Valley.  The crickets came out of the sky by the thousands and devoured field after field of needed food.  The settlers fought the ravenous insects by every possible means. Then, when it appeared that all was lost, in answer to a prayer, a white cloud of seagulls flew in and devoured the crickets. This miracle was told in the journals as well as through verbal accounts that were later written down.  Many pioneers observed it and remembered it and told their children and grand children. It became a faith-promoting tale that was often retold and appropriately called, the miracle of the gulls.
Emily had a small part in the play.  She played a pioneer woman who was devastated by the loss and was a witness to the miracle. 
At the time of this play, I was pregnant with a child.  There were 12 years between Emily and this baby.  We did not know what we were going to name the baby and it was a very time consuming process to think up the name.  We could not agree on anything.  Finally, I started suggesting unusual names.  We teased each other and the kids on different names and finally decided on a name for a girl that was different and expressed how we felt.  And surprisingly, we both loved it.  We let the older siblings know the name we decided on and put up with a little bit of disgruntlement over the name. Not surprising, everyone in our family had an opinion, and were not afraid to let us have it!
Emily wanted a baby sister in the worst way.  She asked at every doctor appointment.  She wanted to know the sex of the baby.  She really wanted a sister and was quite adamant that the baby had to be a girl.  At the same time Emily got her first line in the show, we let her know the name of the baby if it was a girl. 
Emily's one line in the entire show was:  "We need a miracle!" 
She was supposed to say this in total seriousness and despair.  She could not even begin to manage that.  You see, the name we had decided on for a girl baby was Miracle.  Every time Emily said her line she would start laughing.  The directors finally had her cover her face with her hands and say the line as if she were sobbing into her hands.  Hopefully her laughter would sound like tears and all would be well.
The play was amazing.  Emily came over to the chairs in the front where I sat in all my discomforts and leaned over to whisper, "we need a Miracle, mom".  
The day finally came when that small baby was born.  As the nurse took the baby from the doctor, she wrapped and swaddled her, laid her on my stomach and said, "She's a Miracle".  There were many tears of joy that day as we witnessed one of Heavenly Fathers most common and yet still amazing miracles.  I never cease to marvel about the miracle of life.  Each child who has been born has been a total miracle to me.
Emily was so happy!  Miracle became, in the way of siblings, partly Emily's new baby.  The entire family used to joke, when Miracle was a little girl, that she had FIVE mothers.  Four significantly older sisters and her mom.  She never lacked for attention and love.  Her cries were always silenced quickly, and she knew that she was truly, a Miracle. 

Everyone one of us have seen and experienced miracles in our own lives.  There are things that happen that have no other explanation than the knowledge that a miracle occurred.   Miracles come to all of us, if we will only look and acknowledge them for what they truly are.  Just like the pioneers, we have the opportunity to write about miracles in our journals.  We have the opportunity to share the stories with our families.  These written and verbal records can be handed down to our children as testimonies that the Lord lives, loves us, and is mindful of each one of us, His children.  We might not always talk about those most precious things to strangers, but they are there to teach us and uplift us. 
What are the miracles that you have in your life?  What has happened to you or others that you have seen and witnessed and that bears testimony to you of your Heavenly Father's love?
My challenge to you today is to share one miracle with your children.  Teach them to see your Heavenly Father through your eyes.