For this child I have prayed

First of all, NO, this is not an announcement! 

I got to go visit a friend yesterday who has a newborn son.  She has struggled with infertility, and after several years she is finally a mommy.  She adopted her son about a week ago.  She took me in to show me his nursery, and the picture hanging above her crib.  It's a picture of Hannah with Samuel, and the caption reads: "For this child I have prayed."  

I had never read or heard the story of Hannah before.  She read it to me, and I was moved to tears.  I can understand how Hannah felt, wanting a baby so badly, and how much it hurt her to have Elkanah taunt her.  Sometimes it feels like I'm being taunted by those around me.  

Our visit has been on my mind constantly for the last 24 hours or so.  It was amazing to see a woman who was meant to be a mother finally able to take up that role, after years of pain and sorrow.  And it was so healing to hold her son.  I think the best lesson I learned from it is that miracles really do happen, every day.  They take a lot of work and a lot of love, but they're all around us, and so are the angels that help keep us uplifted from day to day as we work to realize our miracles.