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We had our first child, a boy, on May 2, 2007.  The delivery was normal and and we were discharged a couple of hours after. I happily drove our new bundle of joy, Kuku, home. That night, we had our first baptism, albeit unpleasant, into parenthood. Kuku cried throughout the night, and you can imagine our frustration at not knowing exactly what was happening to him, novices as we were! We were so much at loss that, at a point, fears of losing him crossed mind! In my frustration I asked God, “Why do you give us this baby with no operations and troubleshooting manual? “Having been working in the technology sector for a while, I was used to operations and troubleshooting manuals, datasheets and frequently-asked-questions (FAQS)! Babies come with none of these!
Somehow, we survived that night by just hoping and praying. We rushed Kuku back to the hospital early the next morning! It was then we were told he was uncomfortable due to colic – tummy pain caused by lactose intolerance or sensitivity to certain foods in Mom’s diet, for breastfed children! We were introduced to Infacol by the matron, and later discovered Bonisan, a plant based solution that has been our companion till today!
That incident would become just one of very many of such incidents over the years! We have had situations where a child became ill, we took him to the hospital and doctors would indicate the child was dehydrated but whatever they did, they could not find a blood vessel to give  intravenous infusion! On one occasion, all doctors tried but failed and called the lead doctor, Dr. Tetteh! Even he could not find the blood vessel and had to refer us to Korle Bu! If the medics, the professionals, were frustrated, you can imagine what we felt! Whenever we got to those levels, the only thing we did was to pray and hope for a miracle. 
There were also countless occasions when a child is running high temperature, we took him to the hospital and gets detained and stabilized. Then we get discharged, or right in the hospital there, the temperature comes back with vengeance! We would do all we could, from giving paracetamol, ibuprofen, baths in turpid water, wraps in lightly warm and wet towels etc and nothing works! They try stabilizing them through intravenous infusions and still doesn’t work. Whenever we get to those stages, we could only pray and hope for the best.
Just recently, all three children were running temperature. It started with the youngest, my daughter Ngozi, and lab results showed nothing, yet she was running temperature! The doctor said he did not trust the results! When i quizzed him about which one he trusts, he said, “MDS Lancet.” but quickly added, “Even they have started misbehaving!” Now, where does that leave us? If we cannot trust lab results, how can we trust the diagnoses based on them? Well, he assumed it might be a viral infection after all and gave her some antibiotics to ward off any superimposed infections! It was all guess work, speculation and anticipation.
One of the children was running serious and  unrelenting temperature on one occasion, the night after we were treated and discharged. So I had to keep vigil and keep going through the cooling routines. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep without knowing when. I woke up with a jolt, after about an hour, and immediately rushed to check on the child! The child was sleeping calmly, and the temperature had also stabilized! My strength waned but, while I was asleep, God took took care of all I was anxious about. 
 I came to learn that at certain points in life, human wisdom and expertise just doesn’t work anymore, and you have to trust in God. 
That is the one lesson parenting taught me; to trust in God!

MEMORY VERSE
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” (John 14:1)

Written by:
BENNY MALM

For:
TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL