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--- Begin Message ---
�
"THE SMELL OF RAIN"
> >
> > This is a true story. We looked it up on Truth or
Fiction, also on
> > Snopes.com. It will give you chills.
> >
> >
> > THE SMELL OF RAIN
�
At the end of this story, it gives you two options.....
> > I think you will figure out what option I chose.
> >
> > A cold March wind danced around the dead of night
in Dallas as the
> > doctor walked into the small hospital room of
Diana Blessing. She
was
> > still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David,
held her hand as
they
> > braced themselves for the latest news.
> >
> > That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications
had forced Diana,
only
> > 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency
Caesarean to deliver the
> > couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing. At 12
inches long and
> > weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they
already knew she was
> > perilously premature.
> >
> > Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.
"I don't think
> > she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he
could. "There's
only
> > a 10-percent chance she will live through the
night, and even then,
if
> > by some slim chance she does make it, her future
could be a very
cruel
> one".
> >
> > Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as
the doctor
described
> > the devastating problems Dana would likely face if
she survived.
She
> > would never walk, she would never talk, she would
probably be
blind,
> > and she would certainly be prone to other
catastrophic condit ions
> > from cerebral palsy to complete mental
retardation, and on and on.
> >
> > "No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David,
with their
> > 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed ! of the
day they would
have a
> > daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a
matter of hours,
> > that dream was slipping away.
> >
> > Through the dark hours of morning as Dana held
onto life by the
> > thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of
sleep, growing more
and
> > more determined that their tiny daughter would
live and live to be
a
> > healthy, happy young girl.
> >
> > But David, fully awake and listening to additional
dire details of
> > their daughter's chances of ever leaving the
hospital alive, much
less
> > healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the
inevitable. David
> > walked in and said that we needed to talk about
making funeral
> arrangements.
> >
> > Diana felt so bad for him because he was doing
everything to try to
> > include her in what was going on, but she just
wouldn't listen, She
> > couldn't listen. She said, "No, that is not going
to happen, no
way! I
> > don't care what the doctors s! ay. Dana is not going
to die! One day
she
> > will be just fine, and she will be coming home
with us!"
> > As if willed to live by Diana's determination,
Dana clung to life
hour
> > after hour, with the help of every medical machine
and marvel her
> > miniature body could endure. But as those first
days passed, a new
> > agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's
underdeveloped
> > nervous system was essentially 'raw,' the lightest
kiss or caress
only
> > intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even
cradle their tiny
> > baby girl against their chests to offer the
strength of their love.
> > All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath
the ultraviolet
> > light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to
pray that God would
> > stay close to their precious little girl.
> >
> > There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew
stronger. But as
the
> > weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of
weight here and an
> > ounce of strength there. At last, when Dana turned
two months old,
her
> > parents were able to hold her in their arms for
the very first
time.
> > And two months later, though doctors continued to
gently but grimly
> > warn that her chances of surviving, much less
living any kind of
> > normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home
from the� hospital,
just
> as
> her mother had predicted.
> >
> > Today, five years later, Dana is a petite but
feisty young girl
with
> > glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for
life. She shows
no
> > signs whatsoever of any mental or physical
impairment. Simply, she
is
> > everything a little girl can be and more. But that
happy ending is
far
&g! t; > from the end of her story.
> >
> > One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996
near her home in
> > Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's
lap in the
bleachers
> > of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's
baseball team was
> > practicing.� As always, Dana was chattering
nonstop with her mother
> > and several other adults sitting nearby when she
suddenly fell
silent.
> > Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana
asked, "Do you smell
> that?"
> >
> > Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a
hunderstorm,
Diana
> > replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."
> >
> > Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you
smell that?"
> >
> > Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think
we're about to get
wet.
> > It smells like rain."
> >
> > Still caught i! n the moment, Dana shook her head,
patted her thin
> > shoulders with her small hands and loudly
announced, "No, it smells
> > like Him. It smells like God when you lay your
head on His chest."
> >
> > Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped
down to play with
> > the other children. Before the rains came, her
daughter's words
> > confirmed what Diana and all the members of the
extended Blessing
> > family had known, at least in their hearts, all
along. During those
> > long days and nights of her first two months of
her life, when her
> > nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her,
God was holding�
Dana
> > on His chest and it is His loving scent that she
remembers so well.
> >
> > You now have 1 of 2 choices.
> >
> > You can either pass ! this on and let other people
catch the chills
> > li! ke you did, or you can delete this and act like
it didn't touch
your
> > heart like it did mine. IT'S YOUR CALL!
> >
> > "I can do all things through Him which strengthen
me." (Phil. 4:13)
> >
> > Smell the rain!
_____
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