Sweet 16

Ezrah May, you’re 16 today.  It’s safe to say that you are fully aware of how big this day is for you.  Not only have you reached a milestone that every single normal teenager can’t wait to reach, but you reached it in a way that we never knew would happen.

16 years ago – we were told that these years would be the super hard years.  We were told that by the time you reach highschool, you would be homeschooled, living in and out of the hospital.  Too sick to play sports, too sick to have events to go to on the weekend, too sick to think about school dances, too sick to think about a boyfriend…too sick to dream.

I remember watching a movie or show one time and a family was given a grim prognosis for their family member and the mom’s response to the Dr was “science can only go so far, the rest is up to God”.  I took that little phrase and challenged my heart and mind to say this OUTLOUD through the years as I recalled or was handed papers or news that left us clinging to “the rest is up to God”, through the years with Ez.

I don’t need to rehash the years that were molding and shaping our faith…because you can just read past blogs about life with Cystic Fibrosis and how we faced the ups and downs.

What I want to say is that this year has been quite frankly the most normal and YET supernatural year to date.

I watched Ezzy make Varsity basketball…the most heavily attended sport in our town.  I watched her ride the bench game after game.  And you know what, the bench was the best spot she could have ever been, because her character was seen.  She spent 15 years rarely getting to go to things because of her compromised health, the sidelines, the bench – she took the bench as having a front row seat, to her closely held dreams.  She turned our family motto that year “the bench makes you BETTER!”, into her own mantra AND her sportsmanship garnered her being a starting 5 for regions. 

I watched Ezzy have her first real boyfriend and we learned how to let her go in another way that we didn’t dare to dream…we were told by so many parents that teens with CF struggle having relationships because of the toll of their health and constant sickness/hospitalizations make it hard for peers to fully understand.

It’s safe to say, that even God took care of that too.  Who would have thought that all those years I was begging for God to grant her atleast one boyfriend in her limited lifespan…he would send the most empathetic, compassionate, tenderhearted and full of MERCY young man in her life.

I have had the priviledge of watching Ezzy go after things that I never even thought would happen.   If you had told the scared mom 16 years ago, that was told we would be living COVID protocols for her entire life and that some how she would be wrestling her sophomore year…I wouldn’t have believed you.

Ezrah May…your tenacity and also perseverance to dream bigger than jaded adult brains…it’s your super power to all the things you’re doing now…

There have been moments where Richard and I have sat in wonder as we watched you do things that our scared and self-protecting hearts didn’t allow us to imagine.

But what I want to say has made me the proudest mom to date about my miracle.

It’s her FAITH and DEDICATION to Jesus.

If you had told me that I would have a living and dinning room full of teens EVERY single week, gathering around my table, bibles open, hearts hungry & souls searching…because of Ezzy…I wouldn’t have believed you.

Remember – Ezzy spent most of her childhood, restricted and had to be so careful who she was around, because kids are germy!

Those teens, surrounded her, prayed outloud over her and are learning WHO Jehovah Rapha (the God WHO HEALS) is.  Because whether or not they realize it, they are doing life with a daily miracle.

Ezrah May – God is continually showing me how I put limits on Him.  He is continually showing me the areas I need to let Him grow my faith in.  Because pain – pain makes us jaded.  Pain holds us back from HOPE.

Today we are celebrating our miracle.  But truth be told, it’s not just today.  We have been living  this miracle the last year and half and are so thankful for modern medicine and the power of prayer.

Science explains the HOW, but God explains the WHY.

Ezrah May, since you breathed your first breath, the world has tried to write your story for you.  Yet the world forgot who the AUTHOR of every story is, Jesus.  I am so thankful that God entrusted you to us, so that we would be reminded of our daily need of Jesus.  So that we would find ourselves humbled at times, by our humanity that required our FAITH to wait and watch GOD do what only He could.  Gratitude, love – words that don’t convey how we feel about her medical team and those who chose to walk a “limited lifestyle” so they could be a part of your safe circle. We have been blessed and never alone on this journey.

Don’t be afraid to ASK God for the BIG scary things.

December 26^th – started the biggest faith journey of my life to date AND guess what, God has been FAITHFUL to my girl and to us EVERY SINGLE BREATH she has taken.

ASK Him.  

Miracles still happen.

Just look at Ezrah May Harney

Happy sweet 16 Ezzy – we love you and safe to say, so many others do as well!  If you didn’t have a chance to read the article our paper did on her last week, here you go!