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Luisa Elaine

Writer's picture: RedeemerRedeemer

Updated: Jul 7, 2020

A Story of God’s Goodness In Challenging Times


By Elaine Pratt —


10-9-8-7….3-2-1-0!


We watched the countdown numbers get to zero. Then…celebration! No, it wasn’t New Years’ Eve. Not Governor Walz’ Stay-at-Home order expiring. It was something much more personal, isolated to one small group of people, but life-changing and worthy of celebration none-the-less.

God’s faithfulness, lived out in a precious family story, played out during COVID-19 amid all the confusion, crisis, uncertainty, and panic abounding in the weeks of our pandemic. Yet, in the middle of worldwide anxiety and terror, accusation by conspiracy theorists, claims of government overreach, health care workers risking life and family safety, the early days of model projections, and the suspected shortage of ventilators, within all this hysteria and cause for fear, a baby was born—a very ordinary, natural, re-occurring event that can be passed over quickly as unremarkable. But if you take a closer look, you will see that God chose in his gracious goodness and mercy to lavish his grace on my daughter and her husband through this little one.

Behind the curtain as the “COVID-19 CRAZY” played out on the main stage, God displayed his faithfulness in this ordinary gift. And it reminded me of the timeless truth that is so easy to forget:

God is always working behind the “main stage production” in millions of ordinary ways to accomplish his good purposes. Always.

Some back story: Sarah & Luke married in 2010 and dealt with infertility for years. Sarah faced ovarian cancer in 2016 and surgery removed the possibility of her having a baby herself. My daughter and her husband mourned the loss and chose the rigorous process of adoption, jumping through hoops on so many levels, and then waiting. “We’ve been chosen!” only to have it fall through months later. “We’ve been chosen!” only to (again) have it fall through weeks later. We mourned. We waited. We hurt. We trusted.

And then entered Luisa Elaine, born March 19, 2020, with more hair than her grandma or grandpa, and a smile more precious than toilet paper during a pandemic.

And having taken her home from the hospital on March 20th with no promise of being able to keep her, Luke and Sarah loved her for seven long weeks as the birth parents considered their choice. And behind these actions in ways we can only imagine and will never fully know, God worked to knit hearts together and create a new family! On May 12, at exactly 5 p.m. (after our countdown!), the signing was finalized, and Luisa’s placement was secure!

Because God is always working behind the “main stage production” in millions of ordinary ways to accomplish his good purposes. Always.


I think this example says more broadly, “Be encouraged: His work of goodness is all around us!”

  • In the mother providing selfless care for her little one(s) day in and day out;

  • In the father sacrificing comfort and self-interest to lead and love his wife and family;

  • In the teacher learning new technology to help her classroom keep learning;

  • In the pastor praying and agonizing to love his sheep well when they are quarantined;

  • In the friend checking in on her “people” because distance does not stop her from caring;

  • In the merciful non-judgment of our own relationships when we allow others to differ from our perspective of things and still love, respect, and speak kindly to/of them;

  • In the smiling eyes of another as we observe them 6 feet away, masked and tentative, yet greeted with a friendly hello that says, “Life isn’t all bad right now!”

I am so apt to focus my eyes on the big, scary thing in front of me that I can miss the beautiful array of God’s faithfulness in countless little ways all around me.

Because God is always working behind the “main stage production” in millions of ordinary ways to accomplish his good purposes. Always.

We can take heart!

And sweet little Luisa Elaine will remain a reminder of this, a baby born during COVID-19, to fulfill the plan of God to grant the desires of one couple’s heart.

Because God is faithful. Always.


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