Erica was born on the day of the big snow here in NC...January 24, 2000. She was non respondent at birth and had an odd color to her. She improved "enough" to be sent home where she did not thrive. She could not keep breast milk down and her stomach was constantly upset. A week after coming home she "died" . Her mother had to perform CPR on this tiny baby all the way to the hospital. When they arrived she was placed on a ventilator.
After many tests it was confirmed that Erica was born with menengitis. She lost the frontal left lobe of her brain as a result. Dr's gave no hope of her ever being able to speak and said that she would be developmentally delayed. Severely so.
Today, Erica is a bright and TALKATIVE almost 3 year old. She converses with others with outstanding clarity in her words. She loves to draw and write. She is beginning to learn to read. Her neurologist in Chapel Hill said ( we have written documentation ) that if he did not know, for a fact, that the MRI pics he has were of her he would swear that this child is NOT the same kid whose pics he has.
One can say all day long that she is not a miracle but I will believe otherwise forever. The moment we heard of her being taken to the hospital and put on a ventilator we hit our knees. God is able!
Only skeptics who need to experience it first hand would make such a ridiculous comment. Miracles are part of our daily lives and your story is living proof of the power of faith and prayer.
My mother went into the hospital for a broken hip. She HATED going to the doctor, and never had checkups for over 10 years. They gave her a full workup. They found evidence of multiple heart attacks, as well as a fairly large tumor in her brain.
Her name and condition hit the prayer lists in every church that her numerous children belonged to. At the next scan, there was absolutely NO tumor whatsoever. None. Praise the Lord.
The second one (of many that I have experienced, though this one was really profound as I was being refined by God):
My stepson got into drugs, and started stealing to pay for his habit. We found out about it after his wife called to say that he had stolen her sister's checkbook, and was writing checks all over the place, buying goods, then hocking them for drugs. We had to get him into a rehab, and fast.
We found one in Northern Alabama that was Christian-based, and had a high-success rate. We enrolled him, even though I had no means of paying for it at the time.
Out of the BLUE, my sister sent me a check, as she had experienced a phenomenal year in the market and wanted to share her wealth with her siblings. So, there! I now had the money to pay for his rehab. I also could pay for the $1,000 in bounced checks from his drug spree.
Feeling very proud of myself, I bragged back to my sister, whom had just given me the check, that I was able to use it -- ALL of it -- to help out my stepson. Humility was nowhere to be found in me -- I was proud, and lied as well, by telling her that it cost me more than it had from her gift to help him out.
So, I actually spent a bit over $1,000 and claimed to have spent her entire check she sent on helping him.
In the meantime, I planned on what I was going to do with the rest of the money she sent me.
I spent the remainder of the money. Just buying stuff.
The following week, I got notification from 5 other stores that he had in fact bounced checks there also, and "they don't know why they couldn't find them when I called previously."
I received the checks, and tallied the amounts.
Care to guess how much they were for?
They totalled the EXACT AMOUNT that I had left over before I spent it -- the DIFFERENCE between what I had SAID to my sister and what I ACTUALLY spent. To the Penny
I had asked God to refine me, to give me the wisdom to be the person He wants me to be. God followed through, even though I had not. It was a PERFECT reminder that God is present, and will work in your life if you invite Him.
People that do not believe will never have the chance to know what I know, and that is a shame. Faith is required, and the first step is the hardest, but God is Faithful -- even when we aren't.