Our friends Mike and Anita have a tale to tell:
A few weeks ago at Grace Community Church, Pastor Mike preached a series on “Miracles” - whether God’s miracles are still for today. We, as a congregation, prayed for God to do miracles in people’s lives and did He show up in our family!
Shortly after the series, we received a call from our family in Indiana that Mike’s sister (Mary Jo) was in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery and was not expected to live. When we arrived, we were told of situations that only could have happened by God’s hand. Mary Jo had been experiencing severe abdominal pain. An MRI revealed a spot on her intestines, and the miracles began-
1. She was already in the hospital due to another situation.
2. After the MRI they determined surgery was necessary. The surgeon on call, a Christian, prayed over her before she went into surgery (how cool is that!).
3. The surgery revealed one perforation in her colon and two in her intestines. They had no idea how long they had been there, with poison leaking into her system. It was necessary to do three colostomies. The surgeon told the family that it was a very dire situation and all that was left to do was pray, but he did not expect her to live through the night. She did!
4. Day 2 they began trying to take her off the ventilator, but she was not able to breathe on her own. Again the doctor said if they were not able to wean her off of it soon, she would not make it. She already has COPD and emphysema. On day 3, she came off the ventilator. Thank you Jesus!
5. Later on day 3, her kidneys started to fail. After a time, they were preparing to put her on dialysis when her daughter happened to notice there was no output from the catheter. Lo and behold it was stopped up – No dialysis. Praise God.
6. All of Mike’s family rallied around and prayed over her many times. It was awesome to see God work in each person. One doctor even commented that if she were ever in the hospital, she would want this family praying over her. Only God could have brought this family together in faith.
7. We were there for a week and watched as Mary Jo recovered a little more each day. By the time we left, she was able to walk some and was starting to eat. Her surgeon said several times that God must have plans for her because as sick as she was, it was a miracle she was alive.
What a wonderful God we serve! Two months later, Mary Jo is in rehab with a long recuperation ahead, but we know God will be faithful to continue His work and there will be a time for the “rest of the story.”
God has also placed on my heart that there is no question as to whether He still does miracles – they are in every breath we take because only through Him do we live and breathe and have our being.
Mike & Anita Hughes
April, 2009
Acts 17:28 It is in Him we live and breathe and have our being.
