A BABY’S HEALING
My time of carrying Nathan, was a blessing but the first sign of concern was at the on-start of labor. When I was about to delivery, my midwife noticed my baby’s heart beat was really fast. She listened for a long time and when the heart rate remained fast she urged Ted, my husband, and I to go to the hospital. We started praying right away. After a few minutes the heart rate was normal and our beautiful, 8 pound Nathan came forth.
When Nathan was about 6 weeks old, he became sick. He was hardly eating and just wasn’t acting himself, so off to the doctor we went. I told our doctor of all the symptoms of not eating and not wetting his diaper, and she diagnosed him with Thrush and gave us a prescription. The next day, he was worse and was becoming lethargic. We rushed him, by ambulance, from the doctors to the hospital and Nathan was put on oxygen.
After waiting for hours in the Emergency room, the doctors came in and old us our baby was very sick. A man in the emergency room asked if my baby would be all right, and I blurted out, “Yes, we serve an awesome God.” Finally, in a few hours, Nathan was sent to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. When we went into his room, our little guy was hooked up to a feeding tube, maybe 10 I.V.’s, an oxygen tube and a heart monitor. He looked in bad shape.
The doctors finally diagnosed him with Walffe Parkinson’s White Syndrome and they also said he had a mass on his heart. The WPW Syndrome was not that serious, but the doctors were very concerned about the mass on the heart.
We began praying and praying and praying, posted Bible scriptures around his bed and room. We also had praise music playing 24 hours and we sat around quoting healing scripture to him. The doctors said, he could most likely have brain and organ damage. We believed that he would breathe on his own. He did. We believed they would take out the feeding tube. They did. We believed he would have no brain damage. He didn’t. Nathan finally came home with only having to take a prescription for the WPW to keep his heart in control.
One month later, we ended up back in the hospital because the medicine wasn’t doing its job. After a week in the hospital with Nathan on stronger drugs, we went home. Our precious boy was on one medicine 2 times a day and another 3 times a day. As we continued to pray, praise and thank God, Nathan was off all medications after 6 months. He was totally healed. God is so good.
I have seen the doctors since then, and they said it was quite a struggle just to keep Nathan alive. I thank the Lord for the skill of the doctors and the medicine that was available to us, but we definitely needed His intervention many time through this.
“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9:23
A CAR JUMPS OVER THE PASTOR
Riding to the church where I pastor late that afternoon with my wife and oldest son, I had no idea that I would be a part of the miraculous power of God to save us from a horrible crash. It all began when I noticed through my rear-view mirror cars starting to scatter and pull off the to the side for some reason. I didn’t hear an ambulance siren or see their warning lights, but I could tell something bizarre was going on behind me. Within a minute I could clearly see a car moving wildly through the traffic, zigzagging in and out. Instead of an ambulance it was a car driving like an ambulance but definitely not as careful.
What did I do? I started praying ! My wife, myself, and my son who was in the back seat prayed like never before. If this wild driver hit us m son would be the first to take the hit. He was coming so fast I didn’t have time to pull off the rode. As the car came up from behind us, all of a sudden it disappeared! Several seconds later I saw the car come out over us and land in a ditch. There was no way in the natural it could have gone airborne on its own. I believe with all my heart to this day an angel or angels lifted the car over us.
“For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.”
Psalm 91:11
A LAWYER’S CONVERSION
We have all heard the lawyer’s jokes, but this true story is no joke. My older brother, Roger, who is now a State judge, started out as a lawyer. My father, who had also been a State judge, knowing many people in the city we grew up in, assisted my brother in starting with good name recognition when he began his law practice. He practiced law for many years before becoming a judge himself. In his early years, with hard work, he developed a good law firm with some fine lawyers.
I had moved away from our city to go to college, and had continued to live away from my home town for a while. I was surprised, when I came back to the city for a visit, to see my brother had an office on the top floor of the tallest building in the city. A beautiful reception room, many nicely decorated meeting rooms, and a large law library with gorgeous wood paneling. His massive desk made for a very impressive office. I was proud of my brother in many ways. He had become a Christian and had overcome a major drinking problem, helping out many others, for years, to overcome their addictions. I had become a born-again Christian also, several years before, and my life was making a difference in other people’s lives. My gifting, was sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in a very gentle, yet straightforward manner, clearly presenting the good news. I look for opportunities, wherever I go, to drop a seed here or there or share my testimony and the plan of salvation.
One day, as I visited my brother at his first-class office, he had to go out a while so I sat around the offices for a bit. There, I ran into my brother’s law partner, Stan. He was a very likable guy, friendly as
always , sincerely asking how things were going and all. He had a break in his time and he asked me to step into the law library to catch up on what had been happening with me. I hadn’t seen Stan since I became a Christian, so I started there, telling how I was healed from great bitterness in my heart when I gave my life to the Lord. I had also been healed of a terminal disease. I related how I had gone to Bible school and was doing part-time Christian ministry. He thought that this was just fascinating and was so happy for me. With my testimony came the gospel, of course. He was not in a church, although he was about 45 years old at the time. Stan had a beautiful wife, a good marriage, fine sons and daughters, plenty of money and he was in excellent health. By all standards, he really didn’t have the usual problems that
lead prosperous Americans to a saving knowledge of Jesus. We chatted for a few more minutes and then I met with my brother.
I started praying for Stan and his family. When the Lord leads me to someone to witness, I know I must pray for them because the Lord has started drawing them. It was about 6 months, when I received a call from my brother. He said Stan had called him at 2:00 a.m. that morning and yelled out to him, “How much Jesus loved him.” Stan had become a Christian. He, his wife and family, and his mother and father were now in church. One man’s life affected so many. Stan had no real great need in the natural, but the Lord sure reached him with the need of us all, that of eternal salvation!
I have seen Stan several times since his salvation and he is serving the Lord with gladness and fervency. I am so thankful that I didn’t look at Stan from his natural conditions, but saw him as a very nice, hard-working man that still needed salvation. Yes, and a lawyer at that!
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
-- Isaiah 55:8
A LETTER A BLOCK AWAY
About 15 years ago, I read in 2 Corinthians 3:3, that Christians are “ living letters, read by all men.” Our lives, themselves, are testimonies of the living God and how He is transforming our
lives into the likeness of Christ. As I prayed, I felt the Lord would have me write out my testimony about how my life was before I came to Him; and, then, how I came to know Him with a statement about my joy in living for Him. It was to be written in a format that would allow it to be read in about a minute, printed on light card stock. I was to hand these out or place them so they would be picked up and read. Having been trained in evangelism. I knew this would be a great way to reach out to many people. Of course, the testimony would include powerful things: One, the gospel of the Lord Jesus, the greatest truth ever revealed to man.; and, two, the story of the life this great truth had touched and transformed. The one-two punch could not miss touching a person’s heart. So I made up several hundreds of these testimonies on light card stock (placing four of them on an 81/2 by 11 sheet) and started handing them out. These could be done so easily by anyone who did not have the boldness to witness verbally. Even my 4 year old would daughter help me hand these out!