Psalm 139: 13-16

"For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139: 13-16

The question was asked today, "How do you reconcile that Scripture?" (In relation to CHDs) And here is my answer. :-)

Scripture is truth. It is God's word breathed out and written down for us. So, the reality of Jethro's heart does not change the truth of this Scripture. In fact, I believe that it magnifies the truth of this Scripture. God knit together Jethro's heart just as carefully as yours or mine. In that sense, while Jethro's heart has a defect, it is *not* defective, it is knit together just as God intended it to be. God has a plan and a purpose for Jethro and his heart, and that purpose could not be realized had his heart been healthy.

I stand more in awe of the wonderful creation of the human body now, after living with Jethro than I ever did before. What an amazing, breath-taking thing the human body is. What a beautiful balance of everything. So fragile and yet so resilient at the same time. Jethro's lungs were severely undeveloped because of the enlargement of his heart. But, once the size of his heart was reduced, his lungs grew! How amazing is that?

I see Jethro's heart as a physical picture of our spiritual hearts. Broken, incompatible with life, he was headed for death, until the Drs and surgeons stepped in and intervened. They "fixed" his heart so that it could be life-sustaining. We are born with spiritual hearts that are broken and incompatible with life ~ headed for eternal death. Until the Great Physician steps in and touches our heart and makes it life-giving ~ for eternity.

The journey of a CHD family is not easy. There are many hard moments, uncertainties, things that are just flat out unfair. Sometimes there is death. But I thank God for Jethro and his heart. I wouldn't have missed this for the world.