Okay.  So I thought this was a green starfish when Nathan first presented me with his latest creation.  My artful insight requires a little, uh…, meditation.  If he had given me a few more minutes, I’m sure I would have recognized it.  Nathan is 10 now.  Starfruit.  Looks good enough to eat.

Who dat new-dat? Nathan Blakeney*

Is this THE year for the Saints? Is it their destiny to win the Super Bowl?  As a Saints fan who can remember the days of wearing brown paper bags over the head, I sure hope so.

But do we dare express more than hope? Should we boldly proclaim as so many of the faithful, “I believe?”  Some fans are going as far as to say that when the Saints go marching in, we will be in that number… the number FOUR!

Here is a list of number-four trivia pointing to the uncanny connection between the Saints and their ownership of Super Bowl XLIV (44):

1. This is Super Bowl forty-four.
2. The Saints have been a franchise for 44 years.
3. To reach the Super Bowl, the Saints battled the Vikings’ 40-year-old quarterback, Brett Favre, whose jersey is number 4.
4. Garrett Hartley’s winning field goal to secure the Saints’ first Super Bowl bid was 40 yards long.
5. That field goal went through the uprights at 4:44 in overtime.
6. Our current president is the 44th.
7. Hurricane Katrina struck Who Dat Nation 4 years ago (Hurricane Camille was 40 years ago).
8. There are 44 days between Christmas and the Super Bowl.
9. Saints owner Tom Benson graduated from St. Aloysius (now Brother Martin) in New Orleans, Class of ’44.

Sooo…go four-ward Saints…and may the fours be with you!

Update:  On February 7, 2010, the Saints won the Super Beauxl.  How much time was left on the clock when the Colts finished their last play and had to turn the ball over to the Saints?  44 seconds.

*Saints fan Nathan Blakeney was born in New Orleans one beautiful day in April.  Did you know April is the 4th month of the year? 

Nathan Blakeney walks for the first time after spinal fusion surgery. In this moment, he was finding his courage.

If you have a child with a congenital heart defect or any other birth defect or illness, you have silently asked,”Why did this happen to my child?”

Sometimes we ask the question because we wonder if we were exposed to something toxic:  Fumes from fresh paint?  Bug spray?  Medicine taken before we knew we were pregnant?  Sometimes we wonder if we were negligent:  Did I eat too much of this?  Not enough of that?  I asked all of those questions and more after Nathan‘s birth.

But oftentimes, we are asking a bigger question.  God, why did you allow this to happen to my child?

I believe the first few verses of John 9 are meant for us:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

I don’t believe Jesus is saying that these parents and this man lived completely sin-free lives – He’s saying sin is not the reason for the affliction.  A child with health challenges is a gift, not a punishment.

Before Nathan was born, we were aware that he was not perfect.  Some parents, I’m sure, would have made the decision to terminate.  And what a terrible shame.  Nathan has been a great joy to our entire family.  We have seen “the work of God…displayed in his life.”

Walk and listen. Pray and learn.  God  has a plan for every little life.