Sunday, August 12, 2012

Bib's Story~Part 2


Many, many years later my husband Bob and I held a bible study in our home for some of the people who were in our church choir with us. We were pretty new to faith in God and were still serving Him in the Catholic Church. We were so excited about what we were discovering in God’s Word that there was nothing we weren’t brave enough to pray for. We saw many miracles as we prayed but one of the most profound involved a woman named Miriam.

Miriam was 42, married with 2 adopted children ages 15 & 17. She was physically unable to have children. One night she came to the group asking us to pray for her. She was in tremendous pain and the doctors were concerned she could possibly have cancer. As a group, we anointed her with oil and prayed for her complete healing. Complete is the key word here….. Next meeting she was pain free, no cancer. One month later she came to group to announce she was 2 weeks pregnant! God had truly done a COMPLETE healing, for sure.

Needless to say, their family went through a bit of adjusting to this miracle, but this miracle became a foundation of faith for me that God desires married couples to have babies. I started studying God’s Word and discovered that though many women may have been barren in the bible, not one who desired children remained that way. There is only one woman in all of scripture who remained barren. That is Michael, David’s wife, and that was because she mocked his relationship with God. And let me tell you, God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Throughout the years God has allowed me to witness His Miracle Hand at work over and over again. Sometimes I would know a woman was pregnant before she knew. It was fun to see the shock on their faces (and it’s hard to believe I was bold enough to say “Hey, did you know you are pregnant”without even knowing if they wanted to be) when I told them! Granted, this doesn’t happen often, but I could feel God’s excitement when He would tell me. I’d be so excited myself, I couldn’t hold it back.
There have also been a few times God has asked me to pray for someone that their womb would be prepared for a soon coming baby. One woman, actually a very good friend of ours, told me “no way” as she and her husband had decided they weren’t going to have children. I informed her God had a different plan and 2 weeks later she was pregnant. Jacob is 17 now, has a brother Josh and their mom and dad couldn’t be better, more loving parents as they adjusted to God’s Will in their lives.

God even used a dream to inform me of my 1st grandchild. I remember it so vividly as the most amazing joy came over me. I woke up and told my husband that the kids were pregnant. He chuckled and said something like”a-huh”. They returned from their honeymoon that evening and 2 weeks later, a pregnancy test proved the dream to be true.

About 11-12 years ago a friend/prayer partner of mine opened a door for me to become more involved with helping lay a foundation of faith by God’s Word in the lives of young women who hungered to have children. Lisa and I had the opportunity to be prayer partners and as we prayed together once a week, she “noticed” my penchant for pregnancy. Lisa was a sales representative for a radio station in town and often attended business women’s meetings where she made connections with lots of women from throughout the city. As she would get to know them and they would tell her of their inability to have a family – or other pregnancy dilemmas -  she would ask them if they’d like to “do lunch” with someone who liked to pray for babies.

Theresia was the 1st and though her need was not fertility, it was for her pregnancy. She was expecting her 2nd child and he had just been diagnosed with the same congenital disease his sister had been born with two years previously. We spent a few lunch hours together praying for God’s diagnosis to trump the doctors. Theresia’s son was born disease free – and her daughter’s disease has not progressed either. Our God is good.

Denise was the 2nd – a Creighton pharmaceutical student who had been “trying” for a number of years.  Invitro had failed a couple of times already, so when we met, her hopes were dry. I shared my story and outlined God’s plan “that two would become one so that there would be godly fruit”. She was so hungry for truth and we met a number of times to pray God’s Word over her. Her faith grew and she shared what she learned with her husband Bob. They were in an elevator when they got the news of 9-11 and though overwhelmed with the horror of it, Bob finally understood God’s Goodness as his mother was supposed to be at work in the towers that day. She was miraculously late for work! They finished the elevator ride to the doctor’s office for one last invitro attempt with Bob crying through it. The result was twin boys! Denise and Bob now have 4 sons. Glory to God!

Then there was Cameo and Jennifer. They were and still are great friends. Jennifer had been the one who Cameo had chosen to accompany her into the delivery room for the birth of her 1st child – a beautiful little girl who died moments before delivery, strangled by her umbilical cord. Cameo was so afraid to carry another child; the grief of this sudden loss was overwhelming. Jennifer had met Lisa who asked if they would meet with me over lunch. They did and I was able to assure her of God’s plan. Hope and healing came from God’s unchangeable Word and Cameo and her husband now have four. I am blessed to run into them every summer at swim meets as her children compete with my grands! Cameo later invited me to speak to a group of women at her church who all had lost children. What a precious group of sweet, hurting women! And Jennifer has brought other women into my life to pray for……we are meeting for lunch tomorrow so she can introduce another “barren” young woman to me. What a joy to be a messenger of God’s Word and Will.

Jessica was a young woman who loved the Lord and knew His Word, yet the fact that her pastor and his wife had also been unable to bare children compounded her doubt as she and her husband had been unable to have children after 10 years of trying. We met for 3 lunch hours of vigorous conversation with me asking her to focus on God’s Word instead of the circumstances around her. I had and still have no explanation of why her pastors did not have children, but circumstances NEVER supersede God’s Word. Jessica was able to lock into God’s Word and one year later was the proud mother of twins!

Talk about circumstances! When I met Kris, she and Tim had been married for 10 years. Kris was born with only a 3rd of her womb, had never ovulated on her own (had been on birth control pills since the age of 15) and had 3rd stage endometriosis. They had had 4 miscarriages from harvested eggs fertilized and implanted. Kris, though growing up going to church every Sunday, never knew of the Love of God and the richness of the Promises in His Word. Kris and I became fast friends. We spent a lot of lunch hours together affirming her desire for children through the Word of God and prayer. Kris was working with one of the top fertility doctors in the city at the time and both of them were shocked when Kris ovulated on her own. She was pregnant! They had decided to let her body “rest” for a while with no meds or procedures, so this pregnancy was a total surprise! But so was the loss of yet another child. I remember that phone call. I was devistated along with Tim and Kris. This pregnancy was truly a gift and yet…..

Failure – or so it seemed. Lots of tears and Kris and I struggled with getting back together for prayer. Emotions weighed heavily in this situation and though I had never personally lost a child, I experienced some of the pain of this devastating loss. Kris had been through this 4 other times but never before with the foundation of God’s Promises. Her faith was shaken – and so was mine. I spent a lot of “closet time” in prayer and tears. I know God’s Word is true, but….I had never had a “but” before.
We finally had the courage to decide to meet again. Just lunch this time. We needed to talk and grieve together. It had been well over a month since the miscarriage and I still didn’t know what to say. I purposed to encourage her and ontinue to affirm her with the truth of God’s Word. We met at the restaurant, hugged, and as I went to sit down, Kris said “I have something to tell you. As I was getting ready to meet you, I had an impression that I should check for ovulation,. Bib, for the 2nd time in my life, I’m ovulating on my own!” We tried to eat, tried to pray but there was a new hope springing up. Tim was in Lincoln that day for a NE football game. Being rather bold, I told her to call him and tell him to come home. Something much more important than a football game was at hand! 9 month later, through a miracle filled pregnancy where her doctors were repeatedly astounded, little Presleigh was born. Presleigh is now big sister to two, all of which were conceived naturally and carried full term.
Kris’ story ignited hope into the hearts of many young couples and whenever she gets wind of anyone needing prayer in this area, she calls to have me add them onto my list for daily prayer. She is truly a believer in the Love and Power of God. In fact, one of the most recent young women I have met with got my email address from her mother who had recently worked in an all-city church event with the mother of Kris’ sister-in-law! Her name is Meghan, now proud mama of Collin. God’s Blessings are rich and FULL.

There are many, many more stories to tell, yet I wanted this not to be so long to bore you but long enough to stir hope in your heart. I will be praying for every couple who shares their desire for a child on this website and I will be waiting patiently for all of the victory reports!

2 comments:

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  2. I will begin praying for you today. God is a covenant keeping God!

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