Perfect Timing is God's Fingerprint

The last time I wrote here, I'd just been on my third visit to the hospital emergency room where an MRI revealed that I needed a complete hip replacement.  It is frightening to find that a part of one's body is strangely worn and isn't working anymore.

Within three weeks of discovering I needed surgery I was in the operating room.  I felt the comfort of His angels all around me.  I was not afraid.

Recently I had a follow-up visit with the surgeon.  That's when I learned my surgery was to have been delayed until late October.  The only reason I was able to get in so quickly, and with one of the best surgeons in this part of the country, is because there was an unexpected opening.

Sometimes a series of events happen in such a way it is obvious people are praying and God is answering their prayers.  Perfect timing is God's fingerprint, my Friends.  There is no such thing as coincidence, no matter how often some folks claim it is.

Six months after surgery, I can run and dance--astonishingly, by the end of October, I was well enough to speak at a Women's Retreat and had the joy of performing drama for various events in November and December.

I am still thanking God for His miraculous intervention.

Have a lovely day--keep looking Up.  Dear ones, you know who you are...there are many many folks who are praying for you.  God is good and He is watching out for you.  

God's Gentle Care

For over 25 years, my family and I have performed drama and music traveling across the US--and in honor of my husband, my children and God, I have continued on in that ministry.  This Spring, I injured myself moving sets for the Easter play. At first I thought it would heal up on its own.  But it didn't.  I have been into the emergency room three times since May and have found it increasingly hard to walk without a cane. Though I must admit yesterday, when someone told me I look quite snazzy with a cane, I felt quite pleased.  (grin) Haha! 

The last visit to the ER was last week.  The MRI revealed the blood supply to my hip bone had been compromised, so a portion of the bone had died. That in itself was a shock.  I wasn't expecting anything like that. The ER doctor referred me to a surgeon and I made an appointment with him right away.

The surgeon recommended hip replacement surgery as soon as possible.  However, before surgery could be scheduled he needed a referral from a primary care doctor. (In the meantime, the joint could collapse or a life-threatening infection could set in.  I'd already been running a low-grade fever.)

I was REALLY frustrated.  I had been trying to find a primary care doctor in my "network" for over six months and could not find anyone accepting new patients.  In fact, I had an appointment to be a new patient--but that was at the end of September.

Out of the blue, a dear friend of mine recommended I talk to an insurance agent here in town who helps people find good health care.

Karen discovered the coverage I had was woefully inadequate.  She filled out an application for our state coverage and sent it in for me.  What a blessing!  She was wonderful--caring, warm and professional.

Miraculously, within a week I was accepted!  I was blown away.  It can take up to a year to get coverage--so I was floored, as was the young woman who called.  She said this rarely happens and the fact it had was miraculous.  She also informed me I was already signed up with a primary care doctor.  The actual paperwork came in the mail on Thursday.

Happily, I snagged the last appointment of the week with the primary care doctor.  The appointment was to welcome me as a new patient.  Yesterday I had my first appointment with Doctor Andrea.  She was great, was able to fill all my prescriptions, as well as sending a referral for surgery to the surgeon's office.  It has only been 14 days since I first found out I needed a hip replacement.  I am in awe.

The sequence of events--how it all fell together--is miraculous. Perfect timing is God's fingerprint.  I would appreciate your prayers and I will update you when I can.  

Miracles are happening all around us.  We just need to take the time to look.  (grin) Since my beloved husband flew away to heaven, I have been amazed and in awe at God's provision and gentle care.

God bless you, dear ones.  May God's loving Presence surround you, as you walk the path of your life.  Watch for His hand--He is always with us, working on our behalf.

Hometown Miracle -Beating the Odds

This morning, I read about a miracle in our own hometown. It was in our local weekly newspaper, The Polk County Itemizer-Observer.  The article was written by Jolene Guzman.

In January of 2008, Tim visited his family doctor for routine physical.  Seemingly healthy, as a last minute thought, he asked the doctor to check his lungs because he'd recently developed a small persistent cough.  

Tim says, "He put his stethoscope on my chest, on my back, on my chest and on my back again.  And then he told me, 'You need to go to the hospital.'"

Tests and Cat scans revealed more than 20 tumors in his lungs.  Most were the size of dimes, nickels and quarters, but others were much larger. One tumor was even decomposing and was poisoning his body with toxins.

His diagnosis was illusive.  Because the doctors couldn't pinpoint the actual cause for the tumors, there was no treatment for Tim.  His wife remembers thinking that her husband was a dead man walking. 

"Right at the beginning we began to pray and ask God for healing."  For months, Tim, a tall athletic man who doesn't like to sit still, rested and waited upon God.

Tim called his doctor again in June.  He felt just fine.  A few days earlier he'd even stopped taking the pain medications he'd been forced to take to control his intense pain. 

Baffled, the doctor sent him in for another CAT scan.  The couple didn't get a phone call with the outcome for several days.  

The incredible reason for the delay?  Tim's doctor couldn't believe what he was seeing and had the entire case reviewed to make sure the results were real.  "The tumors have resolved," his Pulmonologist told him over the phone.  "You are getting better."

"God in His mercy reached down and touched my life and healed me," Tim says.

Miracles are happening all around us.  This dear couple's prayers and faith, resulted in God's mighty intervention.  Tim was healed.

What would happen if we sincerely prayed over the impossible things in our lives?  What if we prayed about what we see happening overseas, in our own country and communities?  Sometimes I forget to do that.  Reading this miraculous story in today's newspaper, I felt new inspiration to bring everything to God in prayer as I walk through each day.  

Then I shall look up and watch what He will do.  

Have a lovely day, sweet Friends!  Don't forget to bring all things--even seemingly impossible things--to God in prayer.  He is listening.

(Original News story, Miracle Man Keeps Beating Odds, was published in the August 20, 2014 issue of the Polk County Itemizer-Observer.  The article was written by Jolene Guzman.) 

Lights out! -SkyWatch Friday

Time for another angel story! This one comes from Charlotte, who gave me permission to tell her story.

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One very dark night, Charlotte and her husband Bill were driving home through a mountainous region in California known as Malibu Canyon. In those days the road was extremely dangerous, sporting only two lanes, no guard rails or lights, with a sheer drop to the canyon floor below.

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They had just driven into the most dangerous area of the road, when suddenly their car lights went out! It was a moonless, wet, wintry night, and they could not see the road ahead. With their vehicle's lights off, the oncoming cars would not be able to see them coming. It was a situation which could end in the worst kind of disaster.

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Charlotte must have been terrified. She wrote, "...so I prayed for the lights to come on, and they did." Inexplicably the car's lights stayed on until they drove out of danger. When they were safely through the canyon, the lights went out again--forever.

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The next day, an astonished mechanic told Charlotte's husband Bill, there was no way the lights could have come back on again--the electrical was cut clear through.

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Charlotte believes there were angels holding those wires together, and writes, "...just hope they didn't singe their wings!"

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Angels are indeed watching over us!

If you love clouds as much as I do--join Skywatch Friday to see all the amazing things to be found by looking up.  Have a lovely day and Happy Skywatch Friday!

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Freeway Angel -SkyWatch Friday

Time for another Angel Story.  A few years ago, our good friend Ken was driving a truckload of pipe  down highway 16, Washington State.

A man pulled alongside, signaling something was wrong with his load, so Ken slowed and stopped on the shoulder of the highway.  The man also stopped and together they tightened down the ropes holding the pipes in place.  Suddenly Ken didn't feel very well and he had to sit down.

Then he lost consciousness.  Ken was having a major heart attack.  His helpful new friend called 911 and began to administer CPR.  Later the paramedics couldn't recall what the man looked like, or where he went once they took over.  He and his vehicle simply vanished.

Ken's family was heartbroken when the doctors told them tests revealed that there was no brain activity.  Ken was moved to hospice where they expected him to die. But my husband and I and hundreds of people all over the world were praying for a miracle.

He was in a coma without any brain activity for quite a long time.  Then came the day the family was approached about organ donation.  The doctors told them Ken would never recover because he was brain dead.  But the family decided to wait.  Weeks went by, we were all afraid he was going to die.

Meanwhile, his youngest daughter had been feeding him ice chips.  When she would place the ice in his mouth, he would swallow the water.  The nurses discouraged her from doing so, they said she was prolonging the inevitable.  But that dear girl kept on giving her Dad the ice.

I'm not sure how much more time passed, but one day when the family came to visit they found an empty bed.  They feared the worst.

Imagine their astonishment when they found Ken alive and well in the small hospice cafeteria, eating mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey.  He could walk and talk--he knew his family and he was hungry.

He actually had to stay in Hospice a few extra days because there was no paperwork in existence to check someone OUT of hospice!  We all had a pretty good laugh over that.

We still see him from time to time--he is healthy, hale and hearty.

If that man hadn't signaled something was wrong with the load of pipes, Ken wouldn't have pulled over.  He could have had a heart attack while he was driving.  Others could have been hurt.  If the man hadn't been there to call 911 and administer CPR, our friend might not have made it.

An angel?  I believe it is possible.

To be called brain dead one day and yet awaken with one's brain intact is miraculous.  God is still in the business of miracles! 

If you love clouds as much as I do--join Skywatch Friday to see all the amazing things to be found by looking up.  Have a lovely day and Happy Skywatch Friday!

Mysterious Tears

I was ten years old when I created this chalk drawing on black construction paper.   I can still feel the way the chalk felt in my fingers, as I drew it across the paper--I can see the lighting of the room and I remember I knew exactly how to draw this man's face.  Mrs. Young, my teacher was amazed.

Mom loved it so much she hung it on the wall of the stairway which led to my sister and my room.  It hung there until I was in my late teens and I found a frame for it.

Thirty years later, I took the drawing out of its frame to scan it into the computer, to upload it onto an art website I had at that time.

That's when I noticed the tears.  I was floored.  There were what looked like tear stains dripping from his eyes and tracing down onto his cheeks. 

I was astonished and more than a little in awe.  If you click to enlarge the picture, you can clearly see where the tears trickled from his eyes through the chalk.  I often wonder about those tears.   I wonder.  I do.  So many miraculous things have happened in my life.

Today the drawing hangs on my office wall.  It reminds me that mysterious, miraculous things really do happen.

Sometimes miracles occur through the innocent hands of a little child wielding a piece of chalk against a thick piece of black construction paper.

Christmas Eve Angel -Guest Heart Thursday

The holidays have been hard this year.  This was our first Thanksgiving and Christmas without our Dad.  It has been an emotionally hard time for our entire family.

It was Christmas Eve day.  I was working on Christmas presents, when the phone rang.  It was Sissy.  When she told me what had just happened, I laughed and laughed--It was exactly what we all needed.  I asked Clytie to send me the story of the Christmas Eve Angel so I could share it with you.

Sissy writes, "I was walking down our rural country road, picking up cans to earn a few extra dollars. It was Christmas Eve, and I was short of money for the month.

             I had just picked up a bottle and put it in my bag, when I heard a car come to a stop behind me. I turned around and saw a small Volkswagen Jetta, the window rolled down, an older lady behind the wheel. "Miss, Miss", she called.

            "Hi," I said, walking towards her car.

            "Oh, I don't want to scare you." she said, with a thick accent.

            I thought she was lost on our windy country road, so I asked her if she needed directions.

            "No," she answered. "God told me to stop".

            I backed up a bit - "Okaaay".

            "God told me to stop and give you something."

            I figured she was going to give me a religious tract or something. At least she was   being nice about it! "Oh," I answered "That's very sweet, but you don't need to do that."

            "Yes, I do. God told me I had to. If you don't take it, then I will leave it here on the middle of the road for someone else!"

            With that, she shoved a piece of paper into my hand ... and drove away.

"God bless you," she called as she went. "Merry Christmas!"

            I opened my hand, and tears flooded my eyes as I saw what she had given me.

A clean, crisp $20 bill.

            Was she an angel? Maybe.

            Do angels drive Volkswagen Jettas???"

Isn't that a wonderful story?  I think about what happened and I know Dad is smiling.  I am so grateful for Clytie's Christmas Eve Angel.

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.
 

Grammie's Precious Prayers

With Mother's Day so close, I thought a story from my talented Mom about her own dear Mother, would be a delightful way to celebrate the Holiday.

I had the privilege and honor of living in my Grandmother's basement for nearly three years.  She and I became best friends.  I still miss her with all my heart.  This amazing event happened in the weeks before she flew away to heaven--it is one of those miraculous things one cannot explain.

Here is my Mother's wonderful story:

As I chopped vegetables into little pieces for the soup, the phone rang. It was my friend Jane.  "I tried calling everybody on the prayer chain," she cried, "but you were the only one who answered.  Please, will you pray for my daughter, Alicia?  She's been in a car accident and she's in the hospital with a broken hip.  Her baby girl, due in three weeks, is coming right now.  Oh, Eva, please, please pray. They're doing a C-section."

We prayed together on the phone.  Afterwards I went into the kitchen and finished putting together mother's lunch. Alicia and her baby were still heavy on my mind as I walked across the field to mother's house and opened the door.  

There Mom sat in her wheel chair, wandering in her own little world, a folded piece of paper on the tray in front of her, a pencil poised in her hand.

She looked up, smiled, then handed me the paper.  I put her food on the table and took the paper, curious as to what she'd been writing. But this list was different from the one where she'd listed chocolate pudding ten times.  On this one was written just three words, "Alicia, Emerg. Pray."

Sudden goose bumps popped up on my arms.  "Did the phone ring," I asked my brother Dale as he came into the room. "Did she answer it?"

He looked at me strangely.  "She hasn't answered the phone in months, you know that.  Nobody called."

But I couldn't figure it out.  "Did someone come to visit?"

Another strange look.  He shook his head.  "She's just been sitting there all morning with me."

I told him about my friend Jane, whose daughter Alicia had been brought to the hospital and who, even as we spoke, was having an emergency C-section.  "She asked me to pray and I did."  

Then I pointed at the paper with the words only God could have given my mother, "Alicia, emerg. Pray."  

Later, when I told my pastor what had happened he shook his head in wonderment.  "God isn't through with your mother yet," he marveled.  "Just think, God loved Alicia so much He asked a little 95 year old lady with Alzheimers to pray for this girl and her unborn baby. And when she prayed, God worked a miracle of love and healing."

God's call is a very real thing; consider the coincidence of a frightened soon-to-be grandmother, calling her friend in another town who was preparing lunch for her shut-in mother.  Think about the little old white haired lady sitting alone in her chair, who, without talking to anyone, was moved by God to pray specifically for Alicia, a young woman injured in an accident and whose unborn child was in danger. 

Miraculous, amazing--there are times when God calls us to pray--Sometimes we don't even know why--but the burden is so heavy we fall to our knees.  It is only later we see His miraculous hand.  Our loving Creator reaches out through us and works His will and way in the heart of that one for whom we pray. 

Today Alicia's little girl is a happy eight-year old with shiny brown curls and a happy smile.

The Blessing of answered prayer continues on--moving outward like ripples on a pond.

Sissy is SAFE!

I am posting today to celebrate my darling Sister Clytie's release from the hospital!  Saturday, September 24, my sweet little sis Clytie was rushed to emergency.  She was in tremendous pain.  This was the second time she'd gone into emergency over the past few weeks.  Turns out what the doctors from local urgent care thought might be acid reflux disease--was in reality a blockage in her heart.   

God protected her! The tests they did  for heart related problems had came back as normal, or just a tiny bit high.

So many of you were Praying for Clytie. I am so glad--because I'm sure as a result of your prayers, the emergency room doctor got a bee in his bonnet--he was convinced there was a blockage -- he would not give up looking for one.

This wonderful doctor even asked for two-year old data from another hospital, in order to compare the tests.  Thank  GOD!  Because of this doctor's dogged persistence Sissy is going to be just fine.

Clytie had an angiogram, during which the actual blockage was discovered.  They cleared the vein and installed a stent.

I know there was an angel hanging over that doctor's shoulder, urging him to look further, even though the tests came back as normal.

You can visit Clytie at Random Hearts.  She tells me she can hardly wait to go walking!!!

Sissy has had two brushes with the great beyond.  First the stroke from which she was healed and then a near heart attack.  I know she has something important to do.

Monday's Small Miracle

I am to be the featured speaker at a Ladies Retreat next week.  What an honor to encourage these inspiring women!  The sponsors of the retreat and I have been preparing for this time of refreshment for these dear ones, for months. 

It was getting close and I was thinking about what to wear (isn't that silly).  Everything I had on hand had been worn to a frazzle.  I so yearned to have a new jean dress for the occasion.

So I put a bunch of artwork up on Etsy to see if I could sell enough to buy some material to make a dress.  I did not tell a soul--not even my husband--what I was up to.

I did sell a few things, but not enough to buy the material.  I resigned myself to use what I had on hand.  Monday (Labor Day), I was contemplating how to make my meager wardrobe a little more presentable.

Just then there was a knock on the door.  My Friend Laura stood there with a grin.  I wasn't expecting visitors, so her shining face was a welcome respite from my thoughts. 

Said she, as she thrust a big brown paper bag into my arms,  "I had a feeling you might need this today."

Inside I found a brand new pair of "Mary Jane" style tennis shoes which fit perfectly.  My own shoes had a hole in the side of 'em--so I was elated.  There was a box of Vanilla Chai Tea and a bag of reduced sugar muffins for my husband.

AND then . . . 

To my amazement I pulled out six yards of jean material--and not just any jean material--it was the exact weight and thickness, color I had imagined in my mind.

Laura laughed at the astonishment on my face.  

But then her own expression changed to wonder, as I told her of the miraculous timing of her gift.  Even as I write this, tears gather in my eyes.  Only God knew I needed a new dress and shoes.  No one else knew.   Laura's unexpected miracle gift, was like a hug from God.

God is  Good.  How wonderful that He cares about even the smallest of things--like a new dress for a speaking engagement!

Have a lovely week everyone! 

A Miracle for Sissy

I think the best way to begin this blog would be to start with my family's own incredible miracle story.

Friday, December 4, 2009, 5:30 a.m.: My younger sister Clytie had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital.  She'd suffered a major stroke.  When I arrived, Sissy's right side was paralyzed and she could barely speak.  A few hours later, the doctors had done everything they could--it was a waiting game. Clytie would get better, worse, then better, then worse--the last numbing wave was the most frightening.

I was rubbing Sissy's right foot when I realized she wasn't feeling the pressure of my fingers.  I looked at her right hand and it was starting to curl against her side.  I felt so scared for her.  The nurses tested her responses--she could not lift her leg, or her arm and she could not speak.

I walked to the head of the bed and put my hand on her hair.  She had closed her eyes and was so still.

I began to pray.  As I did, I felt God telling me to put my other hand on her head and pray for her healing.  I fought the idea for a moment--what if this command was just my imagination?  But I obeyed.

As I prayed my hands became hot--like an oven.  It was the strangest thing--I could feel the heat radiating down from my palms.  My prayer was that God's healing power would pour down through Clytie's body like warm oil, sweeping the numbness from her body.  In my mind's eye, I watched the hurt places in her brain reconnecting and sparking.  I stood there praying for the longest time.  When I was done, I smoothed her hair and looked down into her dear face.

Clytie opened her eyes and said, "Aren't you getting bored standing there with nothing to do?!"

I said, "Of course not, I've been praying for you."  Suddenly it hit me.  Her speech wasn't slurred!  I said, "Sissy, I think something amazing just happened!"

Just then with an expression of astonishment, Clytie lifted her right hand--the one she couldn't move before.  She started wiggling her fingers.  She curled her toes. She felt her face.  The numbness had left her body.

All the ICU doctors and nurses were astonished at her complete recovery.  The occupational therapist called  Clytie a rock star!  The physical therapist told me privately that an instantaneous full recovery like my sister's is exceedingly rare.  Sissy and I listened with glee as the poor neurologist tried to find words to explain.  He finally stuttered, "...Sometimes things happen that we just can't explain."  Clytie was slated to spend five days in ICU, but she was doing so well they didn't know what to do with her.  So they sent her home.

But that's not the end of the story.  

A week later Clytie had a follow-up appointment.  The receptionist came out, looked around the waiting area, then went back into her office.  A few moments she was back, glancing across the room with a puzzled look on her face.  She returned to her office.  Then she was back, looked at the paper in her hands, then at my sister.  She said, "Clytie?"  As my Sister gathered her things to go into the examining room, the receptionist apologized.  She had been looking for someone in a wheelchair!

The doctor did a myriad of tests.  When she was done, she told Clytie, "You are a walking miracle.  You shouldn't even be here right now."  She said, "I don't know what it is you have yet to do, but you are here for a reason."  Then with tears in her eyes, the doctor embraced my sister.

A miracle for Sissy.  It really happened.  Neither Clytie, nor I, nor our family will ever be the same.  I pray this true-life story touches your heart with a new sense of hope.  Miracles still happen, because GOD IS STILL GOD.  Don't give up.  Look up.

If you would like to visit Clytie and her wonderfully inspirational blog, you'll find her at Random Hearts.