That Lily and My Lily

I am going through old blog posts to decide what I want to share next month for Lily's birth month (it's hard to believe March arrives in a few days).

Anyways, I came across this post that I have had sitting in my drafts for a couple years and wanted to finally share it.

In March 2015, a young mother and her 19-month old daughter got into a car accident. The vehicle ended up submerged upside down in a river in Utah. Tragically, the mother died as a result of the accident. Miraculously, her little girl, also named Lily, survived both the accident itself and 14 hours until someone noticed what had happened. She is doing completely fine now.

When I heard this story, my heart went out to this Lily because she has lost her mother.

One of the other first thoughts I had was how did this Lily survive all of that, but my Lily couldn't even survive what's supposed to be the safest place on Earth? How can it be that my womb was Lily Katherine's tomb?

But instead of dwelling on the seeming unfairness and bafflement of it all, I felt the Lord reminding me of His sovereignty. The miracle of this other Lily surviving what could have easily killed her is a reminder to me that if my Lily girl were meant to be here, God could have intervened. He could have gotten me to the hospital in time for her to be delivered alive. He could have ceased whatever it is that caused her death, if there was anything particular, that which I will never know. He could have done it, but He chose not to.

And just because He chose not to doesn't mean my Lily is loved any less. It doesn't mean her life holds less purpose. She isn't missing anything after all! It's me who is missing out on her presence in my daily life, but I'm not missing out on the gift of her existence.