Bilirubin

Wow, I just noticed I haven't blogged in two months. Well, my life has been pretty busy since Christmas. I made an eight-day trip to California to see my sister and brother-in-law (and nephew and niece-in-law and great niece). My friend Sherrie started her chemotherapy, and I've been praying for her and thinking about her and talking to her a good bit. I spoke at a state conference for women, so I had to spend extended periods of time preparing for that. And, oh yeah, I had a new grandson! (Well, I didn't have him, Heather did, but I was there!)

Joshua Bryant Lee, Jr. was born on February 6. David and I arrived in Birmingham ten hours before he was born, and I stayed 12 days after to help Heather and Josh with the adjustment to a newborn. Bryant and I spent some special hours together, mainly in the middle of the night.

The hardest part of those first days was that Bryant's bilirubin was too high. Elevated bilirubin causes jaundice and jaundice causes some other unwanted things, so we had to do everything the doctor advised to get Bryant's bilirubin down. The pediatrician prescribed a "tanning bed" sort of contraption for Bryant to lie on every minute he wasn't eating or being changed. Here's a picture of him in the tanning bed. The turquise "blanket" and arms were sort of like a snuggie you put on him. The back of it was open, and it velcroed to the base, which was a light. So while he lay there in a sort of straight jacket, he was getting light from behind. The light supposedly drew out the bilirubin into his pee and poop so he could get rid of it. (Of course, that's the scientific explanation!)



After two days on the light, his bilirubin was down enough for us to quit. Praise the Lord!! The doctor advised us to still set him in direct sunlight for 20 minutes three times a day. We did that for a few days more, and he was as good as new, precious and whole.

I don't think there's a spiritual lesson in this, but there is a good analogy. Exposure to the Light helps pull out the wicked ways in us and dispose of them. I love these verses about light:
"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).