Thursday Miracles

I know. It's Friday. But bear with me and you'll see why Thursday is important. Miracles have been a "theme" with me lately and I am so excited about what I am seeing, I just had to share. I believe in miracles, but saying I believe in miracles and actually believing are two different things. Let me explain.

I have been praying for a miracle for almost a year now. A miracle for my mom. Most of you know that she suffered a second stroke about a year ago. This one was way worse than the first one as it got her speech, hearing and ability to process information. Communication is difficult to say the least. After the first stroke, I am sad to say, I didn't have much faith that God would heal. I felt guilty for even asking b/c I know there are thousands of people with way worse situations who would love a miracle as well. Why would God choose to give us one and not someone else? However, the second time around, I was determined to have faith, not lose hope, and not doubt God's love for me or my family - even if I didn't get what I was praying for.

Over the past few months, I have had opportunity to witness, hear about, or read about miracles in others lives -and by others I mean people I know, not random stories from TV or those "Christian Soup" books. Here is a list of miracles I have been allowed to know about lately.

- a woman from our area is cancer free -for 5 years - after unbeatable odds and a death sentence given by her doctor.

- a former professor of mine shared the story of her family's international adoption - how God lead them to their child and provided the means for it to take place. After the adoption it was discovered that the child's best friend from the orphanage was also adopted by a family living no more than 2 hours away from her new family. (You can check out the complete story on "The Story of Us" linked in my blog list.

- God provided the means for me to travel to Ukraine this year with a medical mission team. Without his intervention, I would not be able to go.

- A friend in Alabama found out she is expecting a child, despite issues that could have made pregnancy difficult. (thanks for sharing your story Carrie - it's very encouraging!)

I could keep going b/c there have been many more, but I have to share the miracles we have been given with my mom over the course of the year.

- She now knows who we are and most of the time can say our names. (and cheers "YAY!" when my Dad comes home from work.)

-She can feed herself.

-She can say "I love you."

-She is able to read short sentences and comprehend them. This is helpful as she still cannot hear. This aids in communication.

-She is aware of what is going on around her. (most of the time)

-She remembers who people are (even if she doesn't know their names) - who their children, spouses, parents, and in many cases the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. (she is a southern lady and we do love our genealogy!)

-She is aware of upcoming events - birthdays, reunions, holidays, etc. (along this line, her new favorite activity is shopping on Saturdays - we have to find gifts for birthdays and Fathers' Day)

- Even though she could not hear a word, she cheered after watching her favorite movie (Robin Hood) - she followed this movie scene by scene, even though her attention span is not always great. Afterward, she grinned at me and said "I love. That is my favorite movie."

- Earlier this week she told us what she wanted when we were eating in a restaurant. (usually she just says "pick something.")

-Lately she has asked about people we haven't seen in years. (Andalusia people - this means you!)

-Every night she says "thank you for supper." (for a long time she could not say the word "supper" - we are still working on "breakfast")

- She always wants to know what day it is. Yesterday she was unsure of what I told her so she said "Wednesday?" I said "no." She said "Thursday?" I began nodding yes. She said "today is Thursday - T-H-U-R-S-D-A-Y, Thursday?" By this point I was jumping up and down! She spelled Thursday!!! I know most people reading this won't realize what a HUGE thing this is, but a year ago she was so locked in herself, we didn't know if she would ever talk or know who we were again, let alone care about the days of the week (or be able to spell them!!)

-A couple of days ago I had an Eye Dr's appointment in another town.We have a relative who lives in this town and we stopped in to say hello. Without going into detail, this family does not know Christ, they have made some decisions that have hard consequences, but still don't see their need for Christ. After leaving mom asked about them and wanted to know what was going on in their family. She didn't say much. Later that night she handed me our notepad and pen we keep for communication and said "John 3:16." I began to write and she said "yes, I remember now." She then began to ask again about our family and said "we need to pray, me and you and maybe they will eventually get saved." (It didn't come out that clear, but that is what she said.)
WOW!! My mom has always been such an example of faith to me, but this - a year ago she didn't know she was in the world and now she is praying for others.

I could keep listing stuff. It seems I see new things everyday and it is so exciting to watch. Through this God has taught me that many times, he gives us little miracles, rather than a big, all -at-once event. I am learning to see simple things, like spelling "Thursday" and saying "sweet dreams" at night as the miracle I have been praying for. I haven't given up hope this time. I'm still praying for restoration, but even if I don't get everything I have been praying for, it doesn't make "Thursday" any less of a miracle. So, even though I don't always have the faith I should, I have been humbled by what we have been given. It is so much more than we deserve. To everyone who has shared their miracle story with me, in conversation or via blog, thank you. God has used you to strengthen my faith and whisper "Don't give up." "Keep Praying." "Don't lose hope."