Based on a True Story

It is hard to believe we have been home for three weeks now. Looking back at that chapter of our lives called the NICU, I am filled with a flood of emotions. Some of those emotions are gratitude. Some are exhaustion. Some are still tender places I am processing with the Lord.

For starters, I have a much deeper respect for parents. I now know firsthand what real sleep deprivation feels like. I understand what it is like to listen for every sound, watch every breath, and feel your heart respond to every cry. I also know a new kind of love, one only a parent can truly understand. It is a love that is fierce, protective, tender, and overwhelming all at the same time.

Recently, God has been placing a thought in my heart. When we hear that something is “based on a true story,” it carries greater significance. It hits deeper than a story based on fiction because we know someone actually lived it. Someone walked through it. Someone cried through it. Someone survived it. Someone came out on the other side with a testimony.

The more I have thought about that, the more I believe God wanted me to understand something powerful: every one of us has a testimony that is based on a true story.

His story and ours.

Our lives are not random scenes thrown together without meaning. They are not disconnected chapters with no purpose. When we belong to Christ, our story becomes connected to His greater story of redemption, grace, mercy, healing, and restoration. The things we walk through may be painful, but they are not pointless. The tears may be real, but they are not wasted. The chapters may be hard, but God is still the Author.

Right now, our life feels like some bad dream that does not want to end. We just got back from the pediatric emergency room, where we found out Sydney now has viral pneumonia. While we are thankful it was not RSV or something worse, the news was still discouraging. After everything she has already been through, after a month in the NICU, after finally getting her home, hearing that she is now dealing with pneumonia felt like another punch to the heart.

As we sat in the room waiting for test results, my mind started doing what fear loves to make it do. I began playing out bad-news scenarios. I started imagining what could happen, what might happen, and what we would do if things got worse. Before I knew it, I was carrying burdens God had never asked me to pick up.

Then I finally caught myself.

I remembered that the same God who was with us in the NICU was with us in that emergency room.

The same God who watched over Sydney there is watching over her now.

The same God who carried us through those long hospital days is still carrying us through this new challenge.

The same God who answered prayers before is still listening now.

In that moment, I realized the fear and anxiety trying to weigh me down were wasted emotions. They were not helping Sydney. They were not changing the report. They were not giving me peace. They were only trying to pull my focus away from the One who has been faithful every step of the way.

That does not mean fear is not real. It is. Any parent who has watched their child struggle knows how quickly fear can rise up. But fear does not get to lead. Fear does not get to write the story. Fear does not get the final word.

God was already at work before we ever walked into that ER. He was already with Sydney. He was already guiding the doctors. He was already giving us the strength we needed for that moment. And even though this chapter of our lives feels like it is turning into a whole book, I believe it is still a book based on a true story of God’s goodness and mercy.

Psalm 23:6 says, Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

That means His goodness is not only present on the easy days. His mercy does not disappear when life gets hard. His love does not step away when we receive discouraging news. His faithfulness is not limited to the moments when everything makes sense.

He has supplied all our needs, and I know that even in this latest development, He is at work.

No matter what we are walking through, He is already preparing a way through it. Even in our darkest hour and deepest heartache, He can make a way where there seems to be no way. He can bring peace into panic. He can bring strength into weakness. He can bring hope into discouragement. He can bring testimony out of trauma.

God knows the heart of a parent. He understands what it means to love a child deeply. He knows what it feels like to watch His Son suffer. He is not distant from our pain. His heart is tender toward us. When our hearts break, He is near.

Psalm 34:18 says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

That promise has become very personal to me. I have felt Him close in hospital rooms. I have felt Him close in sleepless nights. I have felt Him close when I was too tired to pray eloquent prayers and could only whisper, “Lord, help us.” I have felt Him close when I did not have answers, but somehow still had peace.

I have to believe that God would not allow any of this without a divine purpose. I may not always understand that purpose in the moment. I may not always see what He is doing. I may not always know why one hard chapter seems to lead into another. But I do know His character. I know He is good. I know He is faithful. I know He loves Sydney even more than I do. I know He is working in ways I cannot see.

Even when I cannot trace His hand, I can trust His heart.

That is where faith becomes more than a phrase. Faith is not just believing when everything looks good. Faith is trusting when life feels uncertain, when the report is discouraging, when the waiting is exhausting, and when the next chapter does not look the way we hoped it would. Faith says, “God, I do not understand this, but I still believe You are working.”

Our story is still being written. Sydney’s story is still being written. And what gives me hope is knowing that God is not finished. What feels like another hard chapter may one day become another testimony of His faithfulness. What feels like another setback may become another place where His grace carried us. What feels like another moment of fear may become another opportunity to declare that Jesus was with us the whole time.

This is why I have to keep telling the story.

Not because every part of it is easy.

Not because every chapter makes sense.

Not because I have all the answers.

But because it is true.

It is true that God carried us through the NICU.

It is true that He made a way when we did not know what to do.

It is true that He provided strength when we were weak.

It is true that He surrounded us with people who prayed, encouraged, helped, and loved us.

It is true that He brought Sydney home.

And it is true that He is still with us now.

When a movie says it is based on a true story, people lean in because reality has weight. Testimony has weight too. When we tell what God has done, we are not sharing fiction. We are sharing evidence of His mercy. We are sharing proof of His nearness. We are sharing a living reminder that pain does not get the final word when God is still writing the ending.

Maybe that is part of what God is teaching me through all of this. Our testimony is not only built after the battle is over. Sometimes it is being formed while we are still in the middle of it. Sometimes the story is being written while we are still tired, still praying, still waiting, still hoping, and still choosing to believe.

So, even now, I will trust Him.

I will trust Him with Sydney’s healing.

I will trust Him with her lungs.

I will trust Him with the doctors, the test results, and the next steps.

I will trust Him with our tired hearts and our exhausted bodies.

I will trust Him with the chapters I would not have chosen and the outcome I cannot control.

Because this story belongs to Him.

And if my life is going to be based on a true story, I want that story to point people back to the goodness, mercy, and faithfulness of God.

All I can do is trust Him, keep walking, keep praying, keep believing, and keep telling the true story of what He has done.