shoot-n-lead
10-09-2016, 10:53 PM
I just want to give thanks, where it is due. Tomorrow, will be my daughter, Kimberly's, 22nd birthday.
She came into the world 2 months early, due to a placenta abruption that forced an emergency
cesarean at about 5am on 10/10/94. Being early, she was not fully developed and was transported
by a special ambulance that was equipped with a ventilator as she could not breath on her own.
My wife had to stay at our local hospital and I followed the ambulance to Savannah, where
Kimberly was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, where she stayed until she was able to
come home. I won't go into the many details of her time there and my time staying, alone, with her because
her mother was not allowed to travel to the hospital for 2wks. But, despite the difficult circumstances, it was one of the best experiences that I have ever had in my life. Kimberly came home with a 24hr a day heart monitor and taking breathing treatments every 4hrs. She wore this monitor for 8 months and continued those breathing treatments for the better part of 2yrs. We finally got her to a pediatric pulmonologist that insisted
that the breathing treatments be stopped to give her lungs the opportunity to learn to function
on there own. The reason for the heart monitor gradually corrected itself and after 8 months
it was taken off. With these changes in her medical situation, we saw a child begin to thrive and
she has continued that path, from then until today.
Kimberly, despite having started off with breathing and heart problems, grew into a great athlete. She played
softball, soccer, and basketball until her Jr. year in high school, when she added cross country to
her list of sports. She loved soccer and poured herself more into it than the other sports
and earned a college scholarship for her efforts. She was also a great student and was an
Honor Graduate. She kept her scholarship until her Jr. year of college, when she had to
give it up because she could not schedule classes in a manner that would allow to meet the
requirements of the soccer team.
So, she gave up soccer and promptly set about improving her running and sought out the Track coach and
hounded him into giving her the opportunity to compete for a running scholarship. He relented and
gave her the opportunity and she was successful at earning a Track and Field scholarship to replace soccer. She is now in her senior year and working her way toward a Nurse Practitioner degree that will take an additional 2yrs.
But, the most important thing that she has done in her life was accepting Jesus Christ as her
LORD and SAVIOR when she was in middle school. She has lived a Christian life since, has gone
on multiple missions trips and serves as President of her Baptist Collegiate Ministry chapter this year. She
has always been a great Christian role model for her peers...younger and older.
I want to thank GOD for blessing us with Kimberly, and her brother...Christopher, that we
adopted at birth, 3 months before we learned that my wife was pregnant with Kimberly. I want to
thank GOD for the way he has blessed them, they have been the best children that any parents
could ask for and they are the best people that I know. I want to thank GOD for bringing both of these
children to salvation, early in life.
Happy Birthday, Kimberly
Thank you, LORD.
She came into the world 2 months early, due to a placenta abruption that forced an emergency
cesarean at about 5am on 10/10/94. Being early, she was not fully developed and was transported
by a special ambulance that was equipped with a ventilator as she could not breath on her own.
My wife had to stay at our local hospital and I followed the ambulance to Savannah, where
Kimberly was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, where she stayed until she was able to
come home. I won't go into the many details of her time there and my time staying, alone, with her because
her mother was not allowed to travel to the hospital for 2wks. But, despite the difficult circumstances, it was one of the best experiences that I have ever had in my life. Kimberly came home with a 24hr a day heart monitor and taking breathing treatments every 4hrs. She wore this monitor for 8 months and continued those breathing treatments for the better part of 2yrs. We finally got her to a pediatric pulmonologist that insisted
that the breathing treatments be stopped to give her lungs the opportunity to learn to function
on there own. The reason for the heart monitor gradually corrected itself and after 8 months
it was taken off. With these changes in her medical situation, we saw a child begin to thrive and
she has continued that path, from then until today.
Kimberly, despite having started off with breathing and heart problems, grew into a great athlete. She played
softball, soccer, and basketball until her Jr. year in high school, when she added cross country to
her list of sports. She loved soccer and poured herself more into it than the other sports
and earned a college scholarship for her efforts. She was also a great student and was an
Honor Graduate. She kept her scholarship until her Jr. year of college, when she had to
give it up because she could not schedule classes in a manner that would allow to meet the
requirements of the soccer team.
So, she gave up soccer and promptly set about improving her running and sought out the Track coach and
hounded him into giving her the opportunity to compete for a running scholarship. He relented and
gave her the opportunity and she was successful at earning a Track and Field scholarship to replace soccer. She is now in her senior year and working her way toward a Nurse Practitioner degree that will take an additional 2yrs.
But, the most important thing that she has done in her life was accepting Jesus Christ as her
LORD and SAVIOR when she was in middle school. She has lived a Christian life since, has gone
on multiple missions trips and serves as President of her Baptist Collegiate Ministry chapter this year. She
has always been a great Christian role model for her peers...younger and older.
I want to thank GOD for blessing us with Kimberly, and her brother...Christopher, that we
adopted at birth, 3 months before we learned that my wife was pregnant with Kimberly. I want to
thank GOD for the way he has blessed them, they have been the best children that any parents
could ask for and they are the best people that I know. I want to thank GOD for bringing both of these
children to salvation, early in life.
Happy Birthday, Kimberly
Thank you, LORD.