A Lesson From the NICU

A while back, I was interning in a child life program and I was assigned to hold a little baby girl in the NICU. She was only 4 months old and had already had many surgeries, with many more to come. As I held her, trying to maneuver around the many tubes and wires connected to her tiny body, I felt the spirit touch my heart, and remind me of what we agree to when we choose to come to Earth.

Not long ago, Heavenly Father told her Spirit that she would come to Earth with all of these trials, that doctors would be fighting to keep her alive, and that the very act of breathing and living would be a struggle. And she still, knowing the difficulties of the calling, chose to come here anyway. Because mortality is that much of a blessing, that it's worth the hard times to gain the experience. It's such an important journey to take, that she was willing to temporarily leave the presence of her Heavenly Father, even though a life of pain and struggle awaited her.

That baby girl reminded me that I, too, was presented with a calling, and that I chose mortality despite the trials that I would encounter. My trials were put into perspective, and I realized that the things I face can not lessen the value of this mortal experience. I, too, told Heavenly Father that I would happily take those troubles upon me to be able to live on Earth and to return to live with Him again.

That baby girl taught me so much in an hour, and she had only been on this Earth for 4 months. I hope and pray that I always remember her and that experience.