Archive - February 28, 2019

[Be advised that this post contains a very disturbing yet miraculous story]. Eleven years ago this morning, we heard our newborn daughter cry. Piercing and penetrating, Victoria Grace’s cry signaled a miracle. Despite a “birth defect not compatible with life,” her cry declared that she was alive. But her cry also pointed to her grave condition. Due to the deformation of her head and brain, her cry sounded different, a reminder of her approaching death. Victoria’s cry was life and death, and our King heard.

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Memory is an amazing function of the human brain. Its capacity to enrich life abounds. Tragically, in a fallen world, the memory of past trauma haunts and hurts survivors as lasting evidence of the enemy’s aim to steal, kill, and destroy. Yet the redemption and renewal of the mind in the New Creation opens the door to new memories and healing from past trauma. Research indicates that new pathways in the brain connected to new behaviors require hundreds of repetitions. One leader shared at our missionary retreat in January that doing so in the context of play drastically reduces the number of repetitions required to take on these positive changes. Simply put, the natural play of children reminds us as older children that play plays a critical role in healing and the renewal of our minds. We already have some very special playful memories to share with you from the first two months of 2019!

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