One of my closest friends is John Crawford. I met him in 1980 at UGA when we were both in the Redcoat Band. Our lives have many intersecting points. I am his insurance client. He is my real estate client. My wife works for him. But more than anything, he has been a spiritual mentor for me for 40 years. John has four sons, and the oldest is Luke. Luke is married to Elizabeth, and 9 months ago they were excited to announce that they were pregnant with a child, which would be John's first grandchild. Shortly after that, the family was saddened to find out that their baby had a condition called Anencephaly. Anencephaly is a rare, serious condition where the baby's brain does not develop completely and cannot survive for long outside of the womb. Many, if not most parents, would make the decision to end the pregnancy. Luke and Elizabeth never considered that option. They wanted the opportunity to hold their baby and love it for any time that they could. Last week, baby Nathaniel was born and loved as much as any baby could be loved for a full hour before passing into the loving arms of Jesus. The family was grateful for the time they had with Nathaniel and recognized that Nathaniel was one of the few children that never experienced any pain or sadness on earth. We all praise God for that, and I praise God for the value that Luke and Elizabeth placed on Nathaniel's life. Their story is a miracle for me.
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