Have you ever witnessed a miracle?

I did the other day. It may have been small, but it was a miracle and I was there. It was simply amazing.

I was holding my niece in the kitchen as she was getting ready to leave with her mommy and daddy. Up to this point, my niece’s words have consisted of Mama, Dada, “pree” (pretty), “ha” and “bah” (her southern belle versions of “hi” and “bye”). These have usually been uttered only by much coaxing and usually as a repetition after someone else says the word first. Anyway, my little brother had gone outside to the back patio where there is a basketball goal and was shooting baskets. Halleigh (who just turned 1 last month), caught sight of the basketball through the kitchen window and uttered one word, “Baw.” She repeated it a couple of times and then proceeded to point out the window to where the “Baw” was occasionally coming within view on its journey to the goal. Up to this point, “Baw” had not been a part of her vocabulary.

I know this happens all the time with babies as they mature, but it delighted me to a point that words cannot express. I witnessed this miracle, where a little brain thinks a thought and finds the correct word to communicate what that little brain is thinking to the rest of the world in the language used by that grown-up world. (Soon I'll be having heart-to-heart conversations with her. Heck, maybe I'll even have her write my blog since she seems to be so good at putting thoughts and words together in a way that is so simple, clear and direct.) I don’t care what you say or think. You can call this commonplace, but I’m telling you it’s a miracle. Good job, God.

Well, it's late and I must go. "Bah."