Faith Under Fire: The Darkest Trial a Parent Can Face
The Bible warns us to expect trials and tribulations this side of Heaven. And no trial tests faith more for parents than a child in a life-threatening condition. During this week's broadcast, John Stonestreet welcomes Fox News anchor, Bret Baier, whose new book, "Special Heart: A Journey of Faith, Hope, Courage and Love," looks at growing faith in the most challenging of situations.
Most of us know Bret Baier as the host of the Fox News segment, "Special Report," succeeding household name Brit Hume as one of the most recognized faces in the American news media. But to one special young boy, Baier is much more than the man on TV. He's a father who never gives up, and whose faith in God only grows with each trial their family faces together.
Bret and Amy Baier's oldest child, Paul Francis, was the most anticipated arrival of the couple's lives. What they didn't anticipate was the medical challenge their son would suffer from the beginning, and the taxing journey they would have to endure together to see him healed.
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"The day came, Amy gave birth…And we were on the highest of highs," recounts Baier. "As parents know [there's] that blissful feeling after you have a child and you're in the hospital room, and you're experiencing this first introduction to the new addition-new baby. Then a nurse noticed that he was starting to turn pale."
The next few hours saw the excitement of Paul's birth turn to agonizing fear. And an examination from a specialist confirmed the Baiers' worst fear: Paul had been born with five congenital heart defects, and would only live for a few days without surgical intervention.
That intervention took the form of multiple procedures, which occupied the first few years of Paul's life. At the lowest point, Baier says his wife suffered physical and emotional exhaustion so severe, she too had to be hospitalized. But thanks to the prayers, emails, phone calls, visits and messages the family received-sometimes even while Bret was on-air-they resolved not just to pull through for their son's sake, but to trust that God had a purpose for allowing such a storm in their family's life.
Out of this experience came a book Baier never expected to write, but which chronicles his son's journey through multiple surgeries and years of hard-won improvements.
Baier and his wife, who were both raised Catholic, say their mission to give Paul a chance at life brought them back home to practicing Christianity in a way nothing else could. And according to Bret, that faith in the God who created their son also equipped them to speak into the lives of other parents going through similar circumstances.
"We want to show all of the amazing things we got out of this," Baier says. "…we think God had a plan for us to tell this story and help others...[and] faith was part of how we got through it. It's in the book, in detail. I'm not afraid to talk about that. I can be a news anchor and also someone who believes in faith and what it can do and in the power of prayer."
Suffering-especially when parents have to watch their children experience it-is difficult enough to explain. But making sense out of it for young ears might be one of the hardest tasks a parent ever faces.
Toward the end of the series of open-heart surgeries that punctuated Paul's early childhood, Bret recalls a moment when he had to do just that.
"The last angioplasty, [Paul] turned to me-I stayed overnight with him at the hospital-and he said, 'Daddy, why do I have to do these heart things? Why do I have to do them and other kids in my class don't?'
"And I scrambled to think and said, 'Well buddy, God has a plan for you. And right now, He's testing you. And you're passing all the tests. And you're going to have an amazing life, and you're going to do amazing things.
"And he said, 'Okay Dad, I love you.' And turned over and went to bed."
By God's grace, the first chapter of Paul Baier's life story has a happy ending. And it looks like he and his family are well into the next chapter-one much brighter and full of thanks for the prayers, love and Divine grace that brought them through the crucible.
Now, it's Bret and his Amy who're having trouble keeping up with Paul.
"He's tremendous," says Baier, laughing. "He is going to be seven this summer. He's got tons of tons of energy. He's the tallest kid in his class. He plays basketball and baseball, he does karate. He's a normal kid who's been through a lot in those seven years. But you'd never know it on the playground."
Reflecting on how the experiences of the last seven years have shaped his career as a television news anchor, Baier zeroes in on the solidarity of his colleagues and fellow journalists-especially those in different political camps.
"Some stories," he says simply, "some things transcend the traditional back-and-forth."
But what about those families who're just receiving news as crushing as Bret and his wife did seven years ago? What advice does he have for parents whose joy has turned to grief, and who aren't sure where to place their faith, or to look for help?
"Put your faith in God and in the doctors and nurses," he replies. "But be your child's advocate. Ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Ask as many questions are you want to ask. Because you are the advocate for that child. And lastly, don't be afraid to accept help. Don't be too proud that you're going to get through it alone, because there are things that are bigger than you."
