How can this not be a miracle?????

This past weekend, I had a person ask me if I truly believe that what has happened to Abby the past 3 months is a miracle.  They said that if there can be 4 heart transplants in less than 2 months at one hospital, then what makes Abby's story be a miracle??  How can it be a miracle when it happens all the time??  All I had to do was to look back at some of the events of the past 3 months again......

First, let's just think about the timing of some of the things that have taken place:
 
-May 18th was one of a just a few days that year that I wasn't in school....thank goodness I wasn't there, that would have been a fiasco
-I had just signed Britt in for her surgery-they were just getting ready to take her back and put her under anesthesia when I got the call
-My classes had just finished all of their CRT testing the day before and I had already finished finalizing all of my grades
-My parents had their car packed for a trip to San Francisco and were just pulling out of the driveway to head to Vegas to catch their plane when they got the call to go to the emergency room
-Abby just happened to collapse and her heart stop beating in PE, as she was running right past her coach who had completed a CPR training a few months earlier. She could have collapsed anywhere at anytime and there wouldn't have been anyone around, this is such a miracle!!!
- I didn't have to worry about missing school, there was only one week left until summer vacation
-Abby got her heart July 12th, one month before Britt and Brock had to be back to St. George for school, they were able to spend time with her during that critical time.
-I have to be back to teaching the first part of November so I don't lose my insurance.  The date we were told we could probably move back if things keep looking good just happened to be......the first part of November.
-We found a place to stay in Salt Lake that just happened to be only 8 minutes away from PCMC, was vacant, was furnished, was only one story (Abby couldn't do stairs) and was right next door to the owner who was willing to help us out with what she charged for rent-thanks Shiela, you're a lifesaver!!
-We found someone that wanted to live in our house in St. George (thanks Vandermydes!!) and are willing just to stay until we are ready to move back.  They also offered to pay exactly what we were asked to pay in Salt lake, hmmmm.....coincidence??
-We could be back, living in our house in St.George only 5 months after abby collapsed-definitely ahead of my Christmas prediction!!
-The first weekend we were allowed to spend in St. George was the same weekend as Brock's season opener football game!
-Abby was up walking around only 2 days after her transplant and left the hospital after only 10 days!!!  4 weeks later she was able to walk a mile and kick the soccer ball again!
*****This one is my favorite-We got the call that there was a heart for Abby only 10 hours after Brittany and Brock got to Salt Lake after being in Hawaii for 10 days.

Here are some other things that I think are miracles too:

-2 of the officers that arrived at the scene and helped to save Abby told me that they were pretty certain she wasn't going to make it, it didn't look good.  But then, after 2 shocks, her heart finally started beating again-they both told me it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.
-Abby's heart that was 2 1/2 times the normal size, and so sick and damaged, sustained her for almost 12 years.
-There were 4 people at the school who knew how to do CPR and were ready to assist when needed.
-My sister-in-law has worked for Intermountain Organ Donation for many years and was able to help us understand many things we didn't know.
-I moved schools just last year, and that wasn't an easy decision....now I know why I needed to.
-I spent the school year forming close relationships with many people that became so important through all of this.  Every one of them played a vital part in all of this in different ways.
-We moved to St. George 6 years ago.  This is important...we've really needed the support we've gotten from our community, I know we wouldn't have gotten that support anywhere else.
-We just happen to have a lot of family and friends in Salt lake.  We definitely needed that support while we were there too! It would have been so much harder for me without having all of you there for us.
-I went through the temple just last September, it had only been 8 months.  This greatly influenced my understanding of the events that took place, I would have had a much harder time understanding and accepting what happened and is still happening.
-We have survived this and are still hanging in there today.  When I look back at some of the things we've been through in the last 3 months, I'm shocked that we are still standing strong. 

But the very greatest miracles to me are:

-Abby's experience that she talked about a little bit on the Mormon Times show on KSL.  There's much more to this story, and she'll be ready to share it with more people soon, right now it's just too sacred and personal.
-The decision that someone had to make to donate a heart of their loved one after they passed away. This decision saved Abby's life.
-The fact that Abby has another human beings heart beating inside her right now and that once it was placed in her body it just knew what to do.  It was created to know how to function on it's own.
-Abby.  Enough said.  Her attitude and determination and happiness through all of this is definitely a miracle.

You decide.  To me, each of these events are miracles, although some of them I also consider tender mercies from the Lord.  I look back at what's happened to us and I think, "how can this not be a miracle??"