So after all the deep thoughts lately, I figure it’s time to share a pretty BIG sweet moment.
How long has it’s been since you’ve seen a miracle? Because I had never seen one. I honestly didn’t fully believe that they were possible until a few weeks ago. It all started when my mom decided to have a surgery that she had been putting off for a while – bladder sling surgery. In her initial appointment, she was told that her prognosis was great – that the result would be a better functioning bladder and an all-round more comfortable life because of it. Unfortunately, during her pre-op appointment, the prognosis was completely shifted when mom was told that the multiple sclerosis which she had endured for so long had apparently been attacking her bladder unbeknownst to her and had caused permanent damage. The doctor informed her that she would need to use a catheter for the remainder of her life as her bladder would no longer fully function on its own. Needless to say, mom was stunned, but she didn’t have time to soak in the details to the point of letting her emotions go. She had just a few short hours to decide whether to have a catheter put it permanently or having a temporary one. She ended up having a permanent catheter put in at the same time she had the sling surgery.
While it was an obviously tough decision, mom never once let the dark cloud of negativity or doom and gloom suck her in. Her attitude was: “There are tons of people out there with way worse problems than this.” What an amazing woman she is and what amazing faith she has. She’s always so positive, so encouraging, so faithful.
For two weeks, she had to keep track of her “movements” and the day before her post-op appointment, I talked to her and she told me she thought that her bladder had been doing pretty well on its own and that she might get to have the catheter removed. My instant reaction was to warn her not to get her hopes up. While I believed that ALL things are possible through Him, I hadn’t SEEN such miracles….ever. And even though I wanted to believe that my mom was healed, I remembered the pain, disappointment and anger that I felt back in 1996 when she lost her vision to MS. I thought about all the times we asked Him to heal her and He didn’t. So when mom was talking about the possibility of an actual healing, I admit that I doubted – Thomas style.
When mom went in for her post-op with the doctor, he looked at the “movement” measurements that mom had been keeping for those 2 weeks and looked at mom and told her that the measurement were so good that he didn’t think she needed the catheter anymore! PTL! The minute those words came out of her mouth, tears filled me eyes. I couldn’t believe it, but regardless of how surreal it felt, the reality was that mom was healed!! He is still in the healing business!
A friend asked me just today if this experience had changed my faith – if I still had the doubt caused by years of prayer for mom’s healing with seemingly, no answer. If I’m being honest, the truth is that my faith has changed but not to the point of absolute faith with no shades of doubt. I think the change for me is truly KNOWING that ALL things ARE possible and that that idea is not just some verse that we learn in VBS. Now, when I’m praying, it’s like a light at the end of the tunnel and the tunnel doesn’t seem as long and neverending as it did before.
So be encouraged! He is still working, still healing, and still listening. 🙂
sweetandsourmoments 