Life with Cooper-Part 1: The sovereignty of God

Cooper's story really begins several years before he was much more than a hope in my heart. After having Cole in December of 1996, I knew that I wanted to have more children. I was 22 when he was born and just assumed that Scott and I would eventually have one or two more kids. Life went on. We commenced to raising a rambunctious, rotten, beautiful little boy (who we absolutely adored!) and did what all young couples do: worked hard toward the life that we wanted. While I was making my little human plans for the future, God was preparing me for what was to come: the future he had set before me.

The sovereignty of God is an amazing, mind boggling, hard to understand power that, I believe, is present on this earth and in the life of each and every one of us. There are many things that I look back on during the 8 year period between Cole's birth and Cooper's arrival that point to that force in my life. Two things stand out in my mind that, at the time, seemed like ordinary events, but now are oh so obviously the supernatural workings of my Heavenly Father on my behalf.

The first one is so hard to believe...well, you'll see. After graduating from high school with the equivalent of a C+ GPA (That is a fact that bothers me to this day- I never applied myself. I would love to travel back in time and shake some sense into my teenage self! But, I digress...) and no chance for scholarships or grants, further education was not an option for me. This left two choices for work for kids like myself in our area: restaurants or textile factories. I worked my share of both, eventually settling into a position as a sewing machine operator at a t-shirt factory. My job was "set collar". Yep, I sewed collars onto t-shirts. After Cole was born, I moved to second shift where I ran a machine that sewed the sleeves on the shirts (a move up! I was so proud!-wink). So, there I was: A happy young wife and mother who was really, really unhappy with her job.

My greatest desire at the time was to somehow work my way into an office position. ( I had taken a 1 year course in secretarial/office work through Walter State in 1993-94, but didn't have much luck finding anything in that field-so back to the factories I went) Then, rumors started to circulate that their was a possibility the factory where I worked might be closing. Sure enough, first second shift and eventually the entire plant was shut down due to the NAFTA law. This law opened up trade between  US, Canada and Mexico. Much of the textile production in the US was shifted to these other countries due to the manufacturing cost being much less there. A NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance Program was established to assist workers who lost their jobs as a result of the NAFTA law. Through this program, affected workers were to be retrained and/or reemployed. The guidelines were very rigid: I had a certain amount of time to benefit from this retraining and, if I chose to go back to school (which was one of several options), I had to enroll in a program that did not exceed 2 calendar years. Basically, my choices were limited to the medical field. I had absolutely NO interest in the medical field! If I had went to college, my one and only choice would have been teaching. But, this was an opportunity that I did not want to pass me by.

I chose respiratory therapy for no other reason than I didn't want to be a nurse and a girl I had grown up with had just completed the program and recommended it to me. I completed the program in 1999 and, with the help of a Pell grant, (I did much better in school this time, maintaining a 4.0 GPA) graduated in 2000 from Southeast Community College with an associates of applied science degree! I went to work at a hospital and later went into home care. The medical knowledge I gained through my education and subsequent work in patient care has been invaluable to me as Cooper's parent, caretaker, advocate and voice dealing with the medical professionals who have been involved with his case over the years. Only God could have orchestrated all that! That I would be in a position-at that specific time-to benefit from that random law...you can't tell me that was anything other than a miracle! An ordinary, everyday miracle? Maybe. But a miracle just the same, and one I thank God for every. single. day.

The second one happened when Cole was 3 or 4. Three times during that year I was given the opportunity to hear the testimony of a lady from our church named Brenda Robbins. Brenda's story is hers to tell, (it's an A-Mazing story. If you ever get the opportunity to hear it, you will never forget it!) but the part that impacted me the most was the fact that Brenda had raised, not one, but two severely handicapped sons to adulthood. One of her boys had went home to be with the Lord shortly before, and the other one is still with her to this very day. These boys were completely dependent on Brenda for their total care. As their bodies grew, their cognitive function remained that of an infant. I was totally blown away by her story, but more so by the joy she exhibited. This woman was happy! She had such faith! Such peace! I just could not understand it. To hear the complete telling of her life was to hear that she had experienced a lot of tragedy and loss in addition to the circumstances with her two boys. And yet, here she stood: this beautiful, Godly woman testifying to how much she loved the Lord. Praising Him for the strength He gave her daily to care for her children. I remember thinking to myself with tears streaming down my face and a lump in my throat so big I could barely swallow, "How can she not be angry with God? How can she still love Him after all the pain, disappointment and difficulty she has experienced? I could never live through what she has lived through and feel that way!" Little did I know that God would bring her story back to my mind time and time again. On my most difficult days, during the darkest hours of the longest nights, he would remind me. It was as if he were whispering right into my spirit, "I was with her every minute of every day. I still am. I will be with you too." And He has been faithful to do just that.

So you see, this journey started for me long before I knew I was on it. But God knew. And He was guiding and preparing me every step of the way.