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McKenzie Elizabeth Natasha
T
he call came
from the worker that
labor had begun. Christmas
preparations were in the final
stages, and the weather was
threatening our annual
celebration of Christ’s birthday.
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By the time we were called
to the hospital ice was covering
the roads, trees were dropping
under the weight of the crystal
moisture quickly accumulating on
even the tiniest of limbs.
It was a snowstorm of
artic proportions!
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As the storm subsided and only
a drifting of huge snowflakes filtered
from the sky I considered what
we should do.
Our best laid birth and adoption
plans were not playing out and
I
was puzzled over what was
to happen next.
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McKenzie had to be resuscitated at
birth. Delivery had been delayed to
long and an emergency Cesarean
Section was all that spared her life.
The prognoses seemed bleak.
According to the test results she
had frontal lobe brain damage, in
fact the entire frontal lobe was ‘black’.
There was Erb’s palsy on one side,
deafness and failure to thrive because
she would not suck swallow properly
nor take in enough formula at one
feeding to properly nourish her.
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God reminded me of He always
has a purpose and plan.
He asked us to receive this child
unconditionally and without questions.
After that spiritual reminder visited
McKenzie at the hospital and begin the
bonding process that only parent and
child are privy to experience.
We knew that McKenzie was to be
our child, and that her walk would
be uniquely different, just as all the
others before her had been.
God was in the midst of it all,
designing and building our family,
one child treasure at a time.
Still, the future was obviously
uncertain.
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When I think of the first time I saw
McKenzie all I recall are the huge
expressive eyes God gave her!
(She has since ‘grown into’ those eyes,
but at her birth they were beautiful
brown pools of expression)
They seemed to ask questions
and seek answers that
I was helpless to explain.
They were full of
soul and compassion,
even then.
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Scriptures tell us that God knows
the number of hairs on our
heads…wow! I can still fondly
recall that mop of dark thick
hair contrasted against the
stark white sheet of the hospital crib!
McKenzie was a beautiful baby and
once home,
I took great delight in making frilly
little dresses and putting matching
bows and barrettes in that
thick, nappy hair.
There was physical, speech and
occupational therapy, and more
antibiotics than I choose to recall.
Perhaps one of the most spectacular
signs of God’s hand on this special
life came in a church service when
a jolt of something liken to a bolt
of electricity flashed through my
body and that of tiny McKenzie
whom I was holding.
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It was only after the clapping
of the congregation upon the
closing words of the pro-life
speaker that I realized the
charged bolt had mended
her deafness....
she was hearing every tiny sound!
From total deafness to supernatural
hearing in an instant in time!
Finally after surgery and diet
changes we began to see a healthy
child emerge from the tangle of
tubes and tests that had launched
her life.
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Preschool years were uneventful if
you discount the constant movement
of THREE toddlers at one time.
In short order, nine months after
her birth, MeKenzie would be given
the blessing of twin brothers,
but that is another story!
Still, it is hard to tell her
story without including Nicholas
and Nathan since they have shared
every moment of life almost as triplets.
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McKenzie has tried most of the
childhood experiences from gymnastics
to vacation Bible School, but I
believe her greatest talent lies
in two diverse areas.
She has an eye for art that is still
being developed, and a gift to run like
the wind that can only be given by God.
She can run effortlessly with
incredible speed given a split
second notice. When others
return from a sprint
breathless and perspiring,
McKenzie lopes up smiling
and invigorated, ready to
challenge the next unsuspecting opponent!
We are exploring ways to develop
this area of talent.
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Today McKenzie is a beautiful
young lady. She is tall and slim
with long black braids that dance
and spin while she plays.
She loves animals and outdoors,
music and her family.
At Shady Creek Academy she will be
able to learn at her own pace and
develop life skills that she will need
as she moves onward through life.
Though there is no visual residual
of the early birth trauma there are
more subtle challenges that McKenzie
will likely spend most of her life
overcoming. She is determined to
advance academically and though it
proves to be hard work and very
frustrating for her, I am sure she
will give it her best shot.
I believe that God knew and understood
totally that she and some of her future
siblings would best go through childhood
and perhaps young adulthood within the
protective walls of our home and school.
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McKenzie’s differences in learning have
required me, as her teacher to explore
numerous curriculums, consider how we
correct and nurture our children and
expanded our ability to deal with unique
challenges allowed by God.
We have been forced out of comfort zones
and been required to grow and stretch right
along side of Kenzie.
Through it all we are becoming much more
accepting and humbled people,
in a good and positive way that only God
can put together for eternity.
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Probably the greatest lesson I have learned
from this sweet daughter is the reminder
that we are to forgive and accept others
with unconditional love.
Frequently she misunderstands our words
or our actions because of her own
limitations. When others would be
defeated by what they view as unfairness
(justified or not)
or unreasonable requests she
continues on.
She will emerge from her room
hours later full of compassion,
hugs and verbal affirmations
of ‘I love you’ to anyone she
feels has wronged her, or that
she may have hurt. Her simple
approach at life and love are
refreshing in a puzzling sort of
way to the rest of us who share
this place called home.
She is safe within this family, and
somehow in a way she could never express
in exact words, she understands that.
God has made it so.
McKenzie Elizabeth,
Dad and I love you
unconditionally
and without end.
We sit in the stands and wait
with confidence to see
what God has in store for you.
It will be more than we could
have dreamed, of that I am sure!
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