Morgan is a 3-month-old girl who I’ve never met. She is the daughter of our dear but rarely seen friend, Jennifer — a warm, bubbly, caring woman who we instantly befriended during a Disciple class we took back in ’06-’07.

Unfortunately, Morgan has been fighting for her life for weeks now due to an undiagnosed severe lung infection. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, they are unsure of what the condition even is, and all the varied attempts at treatment have been ineffective.

My three beautiful miracles before heading off to a Vacation Bible School celebration.

So Morgan will be removed from her heart-lung bypass machine tomorrow. “We choose this day because the Lord gave Morgan to us, and we will return her on His day,” wrote daddy Kyle on Facebook.

Barring a miracle — which have been known to happen — Morgan will be going to be with Jesus soon, so please pray for her and those she will leave behind. Morgan will be missed by her parents, two sisters, grandparents and others who were blessed to love her during her brief, but cherished life.

Since the blog begins on such a serious note, I wasn’t going to mention some of the things I had originally planned to write about, like Zeke’s naughty-behavior issues of as late; the return of Houston and Gabe’s cough; and my slow, but steady progress in conquering the backyard kudzu.

Parents like to comfort themselves by saying, “Sure, I’m not the perfect mom, but I don’t think my kid will grow up to be an ax murder.” Well, maybe we need to rethink that one with Zeke : )

But then I realized these seeming irrelevant items prove the larger point that we are definitely not in control. God is. It is He that wove Zeke into a strong-willed child — definitely a characteristic that served him well when fighting for his life in utero, in the NICU and during his lobectomy surgery.

Obviously, we’ll continue to discipline and try to shape Zeke into a more obedient, respectful child, but God will ultimately be the authority on to what level we succeed. And perhaps his willful nature will again serve him in some greater capacity later in life. Only God knows.

Likewise, try as you may to do seemingly simple tasks, such as help your children get over a common cold or eradicate a pesky weed from your property, God is the final arbiter of even the smallest things that touch our lives. His plan is the plan, no matter how hard we sometimes fight it.

This reminds me of something I read in an article recently published in Greenhouse, the e-zine of North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE).

Four eyes are fashionable: Houston models Daddy’s glasses.

“As I went downstairs, I thought of Frodo (the protagonist in Lord of the Rings), who when the weight of carrying the ring becomes too much for him, says to Sam, ‘I can’t do this anymore,'” writes homeschool mom, Konnie Hall.

“I was so bent over with the heavy weight of my children’s education that the top of my head could have landed right on the kitchen counter. I must have looked like a wilted French fry.

“I said, ‘Lord, I can’t do this anymore. Ten years of it. I’m exhausted. I’ve failed them. Just plant the big letter F right on my chest for all to see!

“And then I heard the gentlest voice tenderly say, ‘Of course you can’t do this, my dearest one. You never could. Do you remember what I said?

“If I have called you to do this, I will also bring it to pass. Rest. Relax. I will take the full responsibility of the children’s education on my strong shoulders. Your burden is light.'”

“I want to be just like Daddy,” says Gabriel.

No, I haven’t already gotten to Hall’s point of frustration with homeschooling, but I do get burned out on just being a mom sometimes. It’s an ever-challenging and always-changing job, but it’s what God has called me to do.

He wouldn’t have blessed me with the 3 Amigos if He didn’t know I could handle them, warts and all. And most times, I do love being a mom and do a pretty good job. But with every job comes stresses, headaches and hassles … and yes, lots of mistakes.

So, learning to relax and put things in God’s hands is always the best antidote to a thorny situation. Example: Getting frustrated when one of the boys backtalks. My gut feeling is to say, “Oh, you WILL respect me!”

Or getting angry when someone exhibits irrational behavior and yelling to try to fix it. Well, that’s pride, not parenting. And I need to use the tools God has given me to better cope with such inescapable struggles, thus, increasing my peace and perspective.

Rebecca & baby Rorie: Auntie Merdy and Uncle Greg’s beautiful miracle, who survived the trials of being born 10 weeks premature.

“Be prepared and keep it simple,” says The Successful Homeschool Handbook, by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. That uncomplicated truism can work not only in homeschooling, but also for parenting and living in general. After all, it’s probably the only thing we really can control.

If you would, please pray for two other loved ones: Grumps and Grandma Bobby. The boys and I made impromptu midweek trips to see both of them recently. (Gotta love the flexibility of homeschooling.)

Grumps has had a couple falls and can’t travel anymore, so we trekked to the mountains to visit him and Granny a couple weeks back. His’ spirits are up, but he is exhausted and hurting physically.

Then this past week, we drove to Virginia to see Grandma Bobby, who is the boys’ great grandmother. She is not only weak and in pain, but she is also demoralized. Please pray that both Grumps and Grandma find some comfort and peace. Thanks.