323. Miracle as a Process, not just an Event

This week marks almost exactly half a year since our family decided to continue providing active treatment for my mom’s recovery from stroke, instead of comfort care. So, it might be a good time to give an update on my mom’s condition.

On Mother’s Day, my family visited my mom, and we were surprised to see the progress she was making. Until then, she was still making good progress, such as moving her arms, tracking people with her eyes. But that Sunday marked a vastly different level of progress, as she stretched out her hands toward us, as if she was asking for a hug with a visible (yet still subtle) grin. So, we all got to not just give a hug but receive one from her. It was certainly a special moment.

Currently, a speech therapist is working with her, and she can communicate simple decisions by choosing responses on cue sheets. She can emulate and do gestures on demand, such as giving a high-five and waving hands to say bye. She also started to draw on a marker board and the drawing is recognizable, not random.

But the hospital doesn’t clearly say how much of her level of consciousness is back, or if she is fully conscious and recovering her lost brain functions. As we have been praying for a miraculous “event” of her recovering her consciousness, we have been a bit puzzled how to interpret the progress she is making.

But even though the progression is a bit different from what we expected, I have come to realize that miracle can come as a “process”, not a one-time event. In that sense, what we are witnessing is a miracle, and it is a process.

If a miracle can be a process not just an event, we might also be living out a miracle every day as the life that is given us to live that day came from the miracle working God. So, instead of limiting a miracle to an event that can only happen later, remember that we can witness miracles long before they are fully realized.