A Miracle Baby

 

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. – Psalm 113:9 KJV

  Babies are very, very dear to my heart. My heart aches for women who are unable to have children, or who have lost children. I think of Hannah in the book of I Samuel and ask the Lord to give the ladies with empty arms a baby, as He did Hannah. He did it for her and He can do it for them. I wanted to share this story of an aching heart and empty arms that were filled.

We have some dear friends from our church who are missionaries to the country of Honduras. They are a wonderful couple in their early thirties. Last Sunday while they were home for a visit, they shared some of what the Lord has been doing for them and their ministry. They also shared some very exciting news about the wife.

Five years ago, she was  diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and endometriosis and told that she would never be able to have children. So they began to look into adoption.

  At the beginning of this year she felt impressed that the Lord was going to give her a miracle. She had been sitting in her rocking chair, praying and reading her Bible and got up to open the front door and the Lord spoke to her and told her that He was going to give her a miracle.  She felt that the miracle was a baby.

   Earlier this summer, a baby became available for them. They were so excited and shortly before the baby was born came back to the States to get the things they would need. Sadly, the baby was born and did not survive. Two weeks later, they learned of another baby that was available, but that adoption fell through as well.  She told me that they decided to take a break for a little while—the emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the last month was almost more than she could bear and her heart was breaking.

Two or so weeks after the second failed adoption, she got very ill. She thought she had a parasite and was going to take a pill for it, but something quickened her and she thought, “I’d better take a pregnancy test just to be safe.” She did and she was pregnant!

When she had the first ultrasound and they got to see the baby for the first time, she asked the doctor to show her all of the cysts and endometriosis that she had. He looked at her a little strangely and said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. The only thing there is a baby.”

Not only did the Lord give them a miracle baby, He completely healed and restored her womb.

They are expecting a healthy, perfect baby boy next spring. To God be the Glory!

My Hero and my Healing

It’s been a busy several days since I’ve been here. My days seem to be getting too short—I need to start getting up earlier ;) The Lord is blessing my sewing business so much, I am in awe of all of the business coming my way.

   Things have been busy at church lately. We are in the middle of a 5 week study on holiness—more on that in another post. We had a youth conference at our church and spent two weeks preparing the music and getting ready for it. We had over 430 people attend, which was around four times what was expected and projected for it.  It was wonderful and the Lord was there.   Now our choir is in the middle of preparing to go to another conference to sing—lots of practices and excitement.

   Last Sunday afternoon I had a moment where I was proud to bursting and terrified at the same time. While at my parents’ last weekend I somehow pulled a muscle in my back and it hurt to move. Everyone prayed for me before we left but I was still in a lot of pain. So much pain that I didn’t go to church Sunday morning. It felt better closer to noon on Sunday so Jacob took me out for a bite of lunch and to get some medicine. (I had taken some and spent a lot of time with my best friend the heating pad, but it wasn’t doing much.) I wanted to go to church that night so I needed something with some power in it. Our pastor’s wife is an RN and she suggested Aleve so we stopped in a store to get some.

  When we came out of the store, there was a lady standing at the back of a vehicle, talking on the phone and crying. There was a man standing in front of her—comforting her, I thought, but as we watched we realized that was not the case at all. We put our things in the car and got ready to leave when the man hauled off and slapped the lady hard across the face. I was shocked—he did that in broad daylight! ( I guess I am a sheltered little homeschool girl.)

Almost as soon as the man slapped her, Jacob was out of the car. The man looked like he was going to hit her again and Jacob told him not to touch her again. The man grew very irate with Jacob and went to the vehicle and start digging around in the backseat. There was another man in the car and he got out. Needless to say, I was having a prayer meeting in the car asking the Lord to intervene(Lord, protect my protector!) . I just knew a gun or something was about to come out and I  was prepared to use my car and run over whoever made a move at my husband.

There were a few other people in the parking lot and when they realized what was going on they came over and another man said the same thing as Jacob.

Long story short, they all left and the police were called and came by for a report and they are on the lookout for the man who slapped the lady.  I don’t know if they will find him, but at least she (and the other women in the parking lot) know that chivalry isn’t dead, and the man who hit her knows that he can’t get away with that forever.

  I have to admit, I was pretty scared, not knowing what was going to happen, but I was and am so proud of my defender.

  And my back? I took the medicine and it helped and I was able to go to church. During church the Lord touched me and it hasn’t hurt me the slightest bit since. I know it was the Lord and not just the medicine because there was a certain way that moved that it hurt even with the medicine and I realized during church that it didn’t hurt at all. Our God heals His people!

Answered Prayers

  

We serve an all-powerful God. There is nothing He cannot do. He can heal in an instant; He can raise the dead and restore sight and hearing to the blind and deaf. There is no limit to His power. I have witnessed first-hand His healing power when my sister Wendi was six and slipped and hit her head. She was unconscious, cold and completely unresponsive for an hour. We were living in Mexico at the time and far away from a hospital. The Lord was our only hope. We prayed, and Wendi  gradually began to warm up and woke up. She didn’t remember falling, and there was no trace—not even a bruise—of the accident. She was healed completely.

He can do anything, so why does He seemingly not do anything sometimes? Why does it seem like He doesn’t answer our prayers sometimes? When I was younger, I had a very wise Sunday School teacher who taught us about prayer. She told us that God always  answers our prayers, we just need to be able to recognize how He is answering them. Sometimes He says yes. Sometimes He says “Wait a little while”. And sometimes He tells us “No”.  He knows what is best for us and it is up to us to accept His will and not allow bitterness to take root in our heart.

   This last week was a hard one. There were literally thousands all over the world praying for little Annaleigh, asking the Lord to heal her and raise her up. He chose to take her home.  He answered our prayers, although maybe not in the way we had hoped.

Last summer a childhood friend of mine was found unconscious and not breathing. She was rushed to the hospital and was on life support for close to a week. They did not know what caused her to stop breathing, and we were sure that we were going to lose her. Prayers went up from all over and the Lord raised her up. She was healed completely.

  He did this for her, so why didn’t He do this for Annaleigh?  I have pondered this the last several days and in my prayers reminded the Lord of how He  raised my friend up and asked Him to do the same for Annaleigh. When He did not, I accepted it as His will and rejoiced that Annaleigh was with Him. But there was still the question: “Why, Lord?” Then He brought something to my remembrance and it helped put things into perspective.

When I had been praying for Ashlyn last year, my prayers had been different in nature. While I prayed for healing for her, my main prayer was for the Lord to be merciful and give her a second chance to commit her life to Him. She needed another chance. I was interceding for her soul.

My friend grew up in and around church—both sets of grandparents were pastors. I don’t claim to know to what extent she was in church, but it appeared that she never made a commitment. Her parents divorced and she had very rough and tragic time of it.  As she grew older her lifestyle didn’t show any signs of a dedicated walk with the Lord. I was very worried about her. So you can understand the urgency of mine and other’s prayers for her when she was on life support. The Lord, who is rich in grace and mercy, raised her up.

Last Sunday my father baptized her and her sister. Our prayers have been answered and she is safe.

Little Annaleigh didn’t need a second chance. She had never known sin. Her little purpose on earth was fulfilled and it was time for her to go home. His ways are above our ways. We can’t see the whole picture from where we stand. There are some things that we will never understand until we are in Heaven. It is not that He couldn’t raise her up. He could, but it was not His will to. Who knows what will come of this tragedy, and how it will be used for the Lord’s glory.

Please continue to pray for the Smith family.

Heaven is a little sweeter

This morning at 3:27, little Annaleigh went to be with Jesus. After a long, hard fight He took her home to be with him.

While it was not the answer that we hoped for, He did answer the part of our prayers that said “Your will be done, Lord.” There were literally thousands praying and fasting for this little girl all over the world. Now she is in the Savior’s arms and sitting on His knee. She is completely healed and whole now.

The following was posted by Annaleigh’s grandfather this morning:

Indecision was upon the countenance of the young mother.....
Should I really let my baby run to him....
His smile lifted as did his hand....
Suffer her to come to me.....
I know it will hurt for you to let her....
But trust me enough allow her to come to me.....
Mom trusted.....
And our Annaleigh stepped from her mother's embrace into His.....
At 3:27 a.m. April 13, 2012 our sweet Annaleigh stepped from our world to His......
And amid tears Mom saw the little brown hand and big smile turn and wave that everything is OK.....
On another day the Mom placed that baby in the room that had gotten her him.....
And processed the questions of the prophet...
Is it well with thee, thy baby and thy household?
She answered , "It is well"....
And then just a moment ago the questions were asked....
Is it well with thee, your household, and your baby....
And gently Mom knew, just at did the the others....
It is well....

 

Please continue to hold up this family and ask the Lord for strength, comfort, and peace for the long days ahead. We received a call yesterday evening that this family also had a brother-in-law/uncle pass away yesterday evening. Ask that Lord would comfort them and draw them closer together.

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED

Please hold Annaleigh up in prayer. She is the 15 month old daughter of a friend of ours. She drowned yesterday afternoon and was placed on a respirator yesterday after they found a faint pulse. She is on full life support now and has undergone a blood transfusion. There was some seizure activity through the night as well. An EKG revealed little or no activity.The doctors have given the family no hope, but we serve a God who heals. Nothing is too hard for God.

Above all, please ask that His will be done in this situation. I’ll give updates as I receive them.

Annaleigh and her mommy Redonia

24 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 15

 Today I'm thankful for God's healing power. Sunday while we were bringing things upstairs ( 3 flights, remember?) I pulled something in my left side. It actually felt like when I had a rib out of place a few years ago. Lifting things while in an awkward position is never a good idea. Maybe one day I'll learn my lesson.
  It didn't really begin to bother me until I lay down to go to sleep. Then it became so painful to breathe I could barely draw a breath. It felt like something was squeezing and gripping my left side.
  It was so unexpected--I didn't even know I'd pulled anything--it scared me and Jacob. I didn't know what was going on. Rather frightening--our first night in a new town and I might need medical attention. I'm the type that hates having to go to the doctor and will usually wait til the very last minute.
  To make a long story short, Jacob began to pray for me and ask the Lord to take away the pain and repair any damage that may have been done. He asked that I be able to relax and have a good night's sleep. After about 5 minutes of prayer the pain suddenly stopped and let go and my breathing did not hurt and my whole body relaxed. I was asleep in a matter of minutes and had one of the most sound night's rest I've had in a while.
 Yesterday there were occasional twinges of pain, so I was careful with what I lifted. Today I didn't hurt at all! I was able to get my car nearly empty.
  Thank the Lord!