standing in the gap

Next month it will be four years since my peanut spent nearly four weeks in the hospital for his open heart surgery.  Today I got a glimpse of what his surgery day would have looked like…

New Day is family for these kids until they have a forever family of their own.  That means that no matter how long they are hospitalized, they are never alone.  When the child checks in, a nanny comes with them for the duration of their stay.  (Occasionally if it is an extended stay after complicated surgery another nanny will come to relieve the first, but most times their regular nanny stays the whole time).

When the day of surgery arrives, a staff member and a Western intern or volunteer comes to sign the papers and to "stand in the gap" during the surgical procedure, lifting petitions to the Father during that time.

Hospitals here run very differently than they do at home, not so much better or worse, just different.  Amy and I got there earlier than anticipated (when going into the big city, you have to leave lots of extra time in case of bad traffic) and got to go up and visit with the sweet baby before he went back.  As we waited for the doctor to finish the previous surgery, we went to another floor to visit another New Day child who will hopefully be able to have her surgery tomorrow.

After one more visit with our chubby little guy he was finally called back for his surgery.  Amy signed the papers while I laid my hands on him and then took some last pictures of him in his nanny's arms before the nurse carried him back to the "operating theatre."

Then it was time to wait and stand in the gap for him.  This was when I got misty eyed as I realized that someone else did that for Daniel four years ago and now I was paying it forward for another Mama who will be grateful to learn one day that someone sat in the waiting room for her peanut during his time of need.  We got a few updates, but I spent most of the time with my nose buried in the good news or lifting requests for a successful surgery to the Father.

Eventually the doors to the recovery room opened and there he was.  His nanny quickly gathered him in her arms as Amy grabbed the IV bag and we were off to his room.  We stayed for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures of him with his eyes open, thanked the Father that the little one did well coming out of anesthesia, and then we were off.

We left the guest house this morning at 7:30 and got back just after 5.  In that time there was probably about 30 minutes total of English spoken, so it was a very introspective day.  But it is one that I wouldn't trade for the world.  I'm so grateful to have been able to be a part of this little one's healing story!