One Year Ago This Very Day...

...I saw a miracle with my very own eyes. 

I saw God do what only He could do!

I felt like I could have a conversation with Jairus...Jesus healed his daughter too! And we could share with each other how the Faithful One came to our daughters' rescue....only Jesus!

I saw mercy and grace like I have never seen before.

I felt so wrapped up in and covered and in the palm of His very hands that at times I could hardly breathe. 

I felt peace that I have never known.

I felt completely surrounded by prayers of so many faithful friends..from so many of you!

I was surrounded by a bustling hospital who had 110 surgeries to do that day and our daughter, Rachel, was one of them...and even in the midst of one of the most agonizing seven hours of my life, I watched as my precious family reached out to other family members who were waiting for God to do what only He could do for their children too.

I had been believing God for the nearly a year before that He was going to set the stage in Rachel's life to best show His glory...and that day arrived...one year ago today.

You see, The Strong Tower, the Healer, the Great Physician, the Faithful One, the one who can DO ANYTHING did what only He could do....and we saw it! He stepped in and saved the day!!!!  Rachel's year long suffering ended that day.  In all of His mercy and grace, He healed her!

Oh, my heart knows there is so much more to Rachel's story and one day I will sit at the feet of my precious Saviour and take in every word that He shares.  His presence is so thick in my room this morning that the tears are flowing as I pour out my heart of thanksgiving to Him.

On that day...one year ago today, He gave our daughter back to us.  He taught us many things about Himself to us that year, He held us in His arms of love when we could have given in to despair and asked us to keep believing that nothing was too difficult for Him.  And so many of you helped us do that.  We kept believing even when we didn't understand why she was having to suffer daily....and it was agonizing.

He lovingly reminded us that He often waits to send help until the time of our greatest need so that His deliverance will be clearly seen and so that we will put our complete trust in Him...no matter what our circumstances.  And that day of help and deliverance arrived one year ago today.

I don't know all of His reasons for Rachel's suffering that year but I do know He was and is over it all.  He knows what is best for us.  Our surroundings are determined by Him and wherever He places us He does so to strengthen our faith and to draw us closer to Him (Streams in the Desert). He asked us to stand firm and that we would see the deliverance of the Lord (Exodus 14:13). 

And oh did we see the deliverance of the Lord!!!!

We serve a God who delights in the impossible and who asks, "Is anything too difficult for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).  And my heart cries, "No! Nothing is too difficult for you! Praise, You Father, great things YOU have done! May you continue to receive all of the praise and all of the glory because it was only You!"

I don't know what you are facing in your life today, but I do know there is One who can do what seems impossible to man.  If you need a little encouraging today, here are some words I penned last year as I reflected on all that He did for Rachel.  Keep believing...stand firm....He could be setting the stage in your life to show you and the world His great glory.

Reflections on Rachel's Surgery Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

From a heart filled to overflowing with grattitude and thankfulness to God, may you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!