You Intended to Harm Me, But God Intended it for Good.

  I don't want to burn myself out by writing another blog right after my weekly one, but I met someone today that deserves to be written about.

  Let me tell you his story so far.

  Joseph was born on Monday. Not a Monday, but Monday. As in, five days ago.

  His mother is young. I have never met her, and I have no idea what state her heart is in, only that she was so lost when she made a decision shortly after giving birth to Joseph.

  That decision was to drop her baby boy into a hole in the ground intended to be used for a toilet just a couple of days after he was born.

  Oh what a way to start a life.

  He was found by a member of the community in which he was born and brought to a hospital about 40 minutes away from where I live.

  He is healthy and strong, with only minor physical injuries and harm from his fall into that pit.

  I had the amazing opportunity, along with my mom and a good friend of our family, Mxolisi, of meeting baby Joseph today.

  He is so small. He has to be under a neonatal warming light because he is a bit jaundiced. He is connected to an IV to rehydrate him.

  But he is alive.

  Oh praise the Lord he is alive!

  To my knowledge the baby was not given a name at birth, but when my mom heard the story of how his life started, she knew he was Joseph. She remembered Joseph from the bible, whose brothers threw him into a pit and left him for dead, but who God refused to let go of, keeping him on earth so he could live out the huge plans God had for him.

  I believe, and my mom believes, and I hope you, after reading this blog and hearing Joseph's amazing, amazing story, believe that God also has huge plans for this Joseph.

  I could hear, with every breath that tiny boy took, his will.

  I could feel, as his tiny fingers wrapped around one of mine, his strength.

  And I could sense, in my heart and soul, God's huge presence right there in that little hospital room, and in an even more astounding way, in Joseph's heart and life.

  I trust with all that I am that even while Joseph lay in that pit, the Lord was thinking and planning amazing things for this little boy to do for him and his kingdom.

  My God is a big God. He is big enough to see Joseph, to plan for his life, to work in his mother's heart and to change it. I believe Joseph will do great hings, and I thank the Lord that I had the opportunity to meet him while he is still young and small and innocent.

  I know that I will never, ever forget him and his incredible story, and I hope that the few minutes I held him close to me and prayed silent prayers over him somehow, in whatever tiny way, made up for some of that time he was in the darkness of that pit.

  Though, he was never truly alone, even then.

  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

~Genesis 50:20

Never mind the quality...just look at that beautiful boy!