What? He put his baby in a gallon jar!
Enjoy this inspiring true story from my friend, Lou Vickery, author of soon to be released, Reaching Beyond: How to Jump Over Hurdles and Land on Success.
Lou writes:
My wonderful mother, Anna Ruth Vickery, is approaching her 95th birthday. Every day the weather is nice, you will find her working in her garden.
Mother was the sixteenth child born to William and Emma Wise. That’s right, number 16. All single births.
It is estimated that mother was born almost three months premature and weighed less than two pounds at birth. This was in 1923, long before incubators and top-notch neonatal care.
The doctor told my grandparents the child would not survive. My grandfather wouldn’t buy it. He was determined that he would do everything possible to give his child an opportunity for life.
He took a big-mouth gallon jar, packed cotton in the bottom, placed his newborn daughter in the jar, and put a kerosene lantern next to the jar.
Poppa William created his own incubator for his daughter. Daily he would change the cotton in the jar. He and Granny Emma fed the child with an eye drop.
It was slow go at first. But then mother turned the corner, and begin to grow and develop.
My grandfather could have taken the doctor’s advice and given up hope. But he didn’t. That is a special kind of love…one that every parent and grandparent could take to heart.
Note from Janet: For you and for that tiny baby who’s now 95, God has the same message: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
