JOSHUA TIME 339

DO YOU SMELL THAT?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 asthe doctorwalked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She wasstill groggyfrom surgery.Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves forthe latestnews.That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forcedDiana, only 24-weekspregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple'snew daughter,Dana Lu Blessing.At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, theyalready knewshe 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 ashe could. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will livethrough the night, and eventhen, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future couldbe a very cruelone."Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctordescribed thedevastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probablybe blind,andshe would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditionsfrom cerebralpalsy 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 longdreamed of the daythey would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now,within a matter ofhours, that dream was slipping away.But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David andDiana.Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially'raw', thelightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so theycouldn'teven cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offerthe strength oftheir love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneaththe ultravioletlight in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that Godwould stay closeto 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 ofweight here and anounce of strength there.At last, when Dana turned two months old, her parents were ableto hold herin their arms for the very first time. And two months later,though doctorscontinued to gently but grimly warn that her chances ofsurviving, much lessliving any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went homefrom thehospital, just as her mother had predicted.Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girlwith glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.She showed no signswhatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she waseverything alittle girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far fromthe end of herstory.One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home inIrving,Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers ofa local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing.As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother andseveral otheradults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent . Huggingher arms acrossher chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm,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 getwet. Itsmells like rain."Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thinshoulderswith her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells likeHim.It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to playwith the otherchildren.Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed whatDiana and all themembers of the extended Blessing family had known, at least intheir hearts,all along.During those long days and nights of her first two months ofher life, whenher nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God washolding Dana onHis 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 andlet other peoplecatch the chills like you did or you can delete this and actlike it didn'ttouch your heart like it did mine.IT'S YOUR CALL!"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."This morning when the Lord opened a window to Heaven, He sawme, and Heasked: "My child, what is your greatest wish for today?" Iresponded:"Lord please, take care of the person who is reading thismessage, theirfamily and their special friends. They deserve it and I lovethem very much"The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its beginning,but not its end.ANGELS EXIST but some times, since they don't all have wings,we call themFRIENDS.