The Story of Miles

Just a few days ago I bought Nichole Nordeman's new CD "Brave." I chose to buy the special edition version (which I highly recommend) because it has four extra songs at the end which are not included in the original CD. The special edition also includes a paragraph or two with each song which explains how and why she wrote it. One song, titled "Miles," brought me to tears the first time I heard it. This is the story she told and the lyrics to the song (you'll have to hear it if you get a chance) .


Leigh and Adrian ... had a happy, healthy baby named Miles at the time their story began. Just weeks later, his story started to unravel. Just a few months after I'm admiring his newborn pictures, I'm suddenly added to a massive email chain that updates us with Miles' unbelievably grave condition. He contracted a virus. The health of his heart was greatly compromised and he needed a transplant. Miles’ story captured the hearts of thousands across the country. So many of my own middle of the night feedings with my son, Charlie, became an opportunity to sit quietly in a rocking chair and beg God to save this little life.

One day, another little life was snuffed out in that same community. A freak accident left a child named Alex, not yet a year old, dead in his mother’s arms. This same mother, whose heart could only have been paralyzed with the sort of grief that makes every mother shudder and grow cold, made one of the most courageous choices in history. She chose to donate her baby’s organs to countless recipients. His heart would ultimately go to Miles.

I wrote this song because I couldn’t stop thinking about how involved God is in every step of each person’s path ... The creator of the universe is intimately involved in our stories. He sees far into the distance --- when we barely see around the corner. The beautiful heart of Alex is beating strong today in the body of sweet Miles (who just turned one). The questions of "why?" still linger for many. And each day, for all involved, must surely be an hourly exercise in trust and surrender.


Miles

There's a mother on her knees somewhere in San Francisco,
Looking up and begging please, God, do not forget me now.
Her baby's on machines 'cause his heart can not keep beating.
She knows what desperate means 'cause the clock is ticking down, down.
And hope rushed in like waves that someone might just save the day.
And if heaven's just a prayer away then why, she cries,
would God not change things?

It may be miles and miles before the journey's clear.
There may be rivers, may be oceans of tears.
But the very Hand that shields your eyes from understanding,
Is the Hand that will be holding you for miles.

There's another mother on her knees somewhere in San Francisco,
Looking up and begging please, God, do not forget me now.
It happened like a dream, he was laughing, he was running.
Then she heard the sirens scream when her little boy fell down, down.
She had never known the agony of letting go.
A few miles down the road his heart would find a baby boy just in time.

It may be miles and miles before the journey's clear.
There may be rivers, may be oceans of tears.
But the very Hand that shields your eyes from understanding,
Is the Hand that will be holding you for miles.

One moment someone whispers thank you
Just then another heart cries, how could you?
When Jesus, who sees us, He says I hear you -- I'm near you.