Our Christmas Miracle

This time last year we were celebrating that Cooper had recovered from meningitis, a miracle I will be forever grateful for, not to mention the miracle that he was even born at all, when I was 44. This Christmas he brought us another sort of miracle, smaller but not insignificant to us.

When Cooper was born he had a skin tag on the lobe of his left ear. From the shape and location of it, it looked like a small, round pierced earring, the color of his skin. Nothing major, but it bugged me.

His pediatrician didn't want to try to remove it herself. She had never seen anything quite like it and wasn't sure how to handle it. She referred us to a plastic surgeon. I took Cooper there a few months back. I spent an hour and a half in the waiting room. During that time, I saw patients with much worse deformities than what Cooper had, which reminded me that we were dealing with a very small problem. When we finally saw the doctor, he said he could remove it . . . with surgery under general anesthesia, followed by a round of antibiotics. Total charge: around $5,000, which happens to be our deductible on our insurance. Total price for 5-minute visit with plastic surgeon: $300.

Not only was the money an issue, but needless to say, we didn't want to put Cooper through all the surgery and drugs when it wasn't really necessary. It still bugged me, but I began to wonder if God may have put it there for a reason. I never really prayed about it too much, except to ask for guidance about what we should do. The answer seemed to be "wait," so that's what we decided to do. Maybe a dermatologist could provide a simpler solution when he was older.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed it was getting bigger and redder. He also developed a fever, so we took him to the doctor, thinking he may have an ear infection that was causing him to pull on his ear, irritating the bump. The doctor said his ears were fine; he had a viral sore throat. She thought he may have just noticed the bump and had started messing with it.

Over the next few days it continued to grow and got even more red. I never really saw him messing with it, other than just touching it a couple of times. Then it started going from red to purple. We still weren't overly concerned, as he didn't seem to be in pain, and the area around it didn't show any signs of infection, so we left it alone. Then it went from purple to black and got smaller and hard. I decided it was time for me to "mess" with it.

Yesterday morning I pulled on just a little bit, and it popped off! He cried for a moment, but not as if it had really hurt him. It didn't even bleed. We don't know for sure what it will do from here, but from the looks of it, it seems it will heal up and be completely unnoticeable.

Was it there for a reason? I have recently felt my faith was weak and asked God to make Himself real to me. Maybe that little bump was there so He could remind us that we just need to trust Him, especially in situations that are out of our control, and He will take care of them in His own time.

At any rate, I am thankful.