God is Still in the Miracle Working Business!

I had a suprising thing happen last week...I was so caught off guard by it that I'm still trying to process it more than a week later.

I took Bri to her Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist to have an ABR (Auditory Brain Response) done.  This is a fancy name for a hearing test.  ABR's are done on children who are not verbal, and are not able to say "what" and "how well" they hear a particular sound in a traditional hearing test.  Just getting this test done has taken an act of Congress...that's probably not a good analogy, since it seems Congress is not getting much of anything done these days...but I digress.

Because of Brianne's challenge of chronic ear infections over the past 2-1/2 years, we have had to reschedule this ABR 4 times.  She had to be completely free of infection, so as not to hinder the results of the test.  Finally last week we were able to proceed with the testing.

My first challenge occurred when we arrived at the office.  I could not get her "lift seat" to work.  It would not come out of the van...which meant that I had no wheelchair to transport her with.  So, I had to walk her, holding onto her hands, which made opening doors, using the public restroom, etc... quite a juggling act.

The next challenge came when I had to try to keep Bri still and quiet, and not allow her to pull on the probes that they had attached to her forehead (which she definitely did NOT like).  These probes measure the brain activity when various decibels of sound are transferred through the ear pieces.  They measure the brain's response to these sounds, which indicates the person's ability to hear these sounds.  The entire test took about an hour...but who's counting??  ME!  It seemed like forever!

I was exhausted and exasperated by the time the test was finished, and definitely not prepared for the results.

"In comparing this ABR with the last one that Brianne had done in 2008," the doctor began, "it seems that her hearing has improved."

"Really?  Is this common for a teenager to regain hearing loss?" I asked.

"No, this is not typical," she replied.

[I cannot tell you how many times we have heard those exact words "This is not typical" but not usually said in a positive way.  It usually goes something like this, "We have never seen this before!" or "Your daughter is not responding the way that a child normally does!" or "This is new one for us!"]

When I probed further to see what could account for this, and what it would mean for Brianne, the doctor said, "I can't really give an explanation for this, but I don't think that she needs her hearing aids any more."

"What?"  "Are you sure?"  Rather than recognizing it as the miracle that it was, I kept wondering if she was really qualified to make these declarations? (Oh me of little faith!) I reminded her that often when Bri is not responding to us as she normally would, we will check her hearing aid batteries only to find that they are dead.

"Well, when the batteries are dead, she replied, "her hearing aids act like ear plugs, decreasing her ability to hear."

Wow, that was not what I expected!  That is not even something I had asked the Lord for!  But in a round-about way, I guess I had prayed for this.  We have been asking the Lord for months now to take away these recurring ear infections.  By getting rid of the hearing aids, we are removing a likely source of the infections.  I am still amazed at the goodness and creativity of God...killing two birds with one stone!

Scripture is filled with examples of David giving credit to the Lord for the great things He has done. 

I Chronicles 16:24, "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."

Psalm 26:7, "... proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds."

Psalm 86:10, "For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God."

Psalm 103:2-4, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; he redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion."

I want to be like David....I want to give God credit for His marvelous deeds!  I want to be an encouragement to others who may be asking the Lord for a specific answer to prayer!

Be encouraged friend, God is still in the business of working miracles today!

The Way Up is Down

These past few weeks have been interesting as Mercy Ships (the ministry that I have spent half of my life serving with) has received national attention.  CBS' 60 Minutes did a story on Mercy Ships a couple weeks ago, and millions of people were able to see first-hand this amazing ministry.  It's been a bit surreal to hear of the tens of thousands of people who have visited our website for the first time, and the hundreds of people who have downloaded applications to serve with us.  Mercy Ships has been around for 35 years, and some are just hearing of us for the first time.

Along with that, former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura are hosting an event in April to tell even more people about this ministry.  This private dinner will be hosted in Dallas with over 100 invited guests.  Those attending will hear the Bushes passion for Africa and Mercy Ships vision to "Advance hope and healing for Africa." While not an evening focused on raising funds, it will serve as an opportunity to announce our intention to more than double our capability to serve with the completion of the second ship.  Wade and I are thrilled to have been asked to participate in this event.

In reflection of these recent events, I have thought about God's timing, and how it is truly Him who decides if and when to exalt or to humble a ministry, a leader, a person, etc... Our job is to be faithful in the small things, and his job is to use what we offer Him for His glory.

I am currently participating in Beth Moore's bible study on the book of Daniel, and this lesson can be clearly seen in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar.  In Daniel's interpretation of King Neb's dream in Daniel 2:37, Daniel says to King Neb, "You, O King, are the king of kings.  The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory."  God used Daniel to let King Neb know that IT WAS GOD who had put him in that place. 

Just a couple chapters later, we see King Neb strutting around the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and declaring, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" King Neb clearly didn't learn the lesson!  While the words were still on his lips, a voice came from heaven, "This is what is declared for King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.  You will be driven away from people, and will live like the wild animals...Immediately what had been said was fulfilled..." Daniel 4:31-33

Peter says in I Peter 5:5b - 6, "Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time."

We are truly in awe of the amazing opportunities that the Lord has made available to Mercy Ships recently, but we definitely don't want to make the same mistakes that King Neb made.  We will keep being faithful and doing what God has called us to do, and we will trust Him to use our "offering" as He sees fit!