Experiencing a miracle or miracles!

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.    

Albert Einstein

Each day, I receive a quote from gratefulness.org - it's a pick me up, a reminder to be thankful for the day. Sometimes (most of the time) they speak to me. Sometimes they hit me in the face as aha moments.

Most of us think of miracles in terms of the miracles that occurred in the Bible - giving the blind man sight, raising Lazarus from the dead, and the feeding of the 5,000.  Some believe in the literal interpretation, while others believe the metaphorical interpretation of these miracles. I like to believe both of them, and they both point in the direction of the divinity of Christ.

Today's quote from Albert Einstein seems to ring particularly true to me today. For in the past few weeks, Olivia and her family are experiencing a miracle of her healing from a freak accident. When her mother first starting writing her letters to all of us who were praying and following Olivia's chain of events, her letters closed with "expecting a miracle". As Olivia continued to recover from her first surgery, and the outcome was beginning to show that Olivia was going to be fine, she changed the closing of her letters from the "expecting a miracle" to "experiencing a miracle".  Olivia was definitely experiencing a miracle of healing from her freak accident.

But the miracle was more than that. The miracle expressed itself in more than the healing. It brought a community of those who know and love the family in ways to show their support of them. And it went beyond that. People who did not know the family also showed their support to them.  Some of those miracles were quiet ones, ones that no one will know how it happened. Others will be evident in how they helped the family. Then there is the miracle of those who receive the blessing of seeing the faith this family holds so deeply to their hearts, "that their light shined forth before others, that they saw their good works and praised their Father in heaven".

It is a two way street for that miracle that continues. Miracles are happening for Olivia and her family, some quite quotidian in nature, while others are the "wow" miracles. However, we too, are seeing the miracle of a family who, though, are going through tough times, are keeping the faith and have hundreds of others who are supporting them during that journey. In return, we see the  miracle that faith offers them and us.

Today, we all experience the first official day of spring. For those of us who live in the deep south, we are seeing the awakening of new life in the flowers who are blooming, and those that are ready to burst out and show us the beauty of God's glorious flower show. Spring for Olivia means new life, as her second surgery (and hopefully the last) will allow her to experience new life, that she will be ready to bloom, as God's healing powers continue to show us that miracles continue to occur in our lives, through Olivia, her family, and each and every one of us.