My Life of Grand and Perpetual Miracles
Photo Credit: Alexander Grey
“The stupendous order of nature, the revolution of a hundred million worlds around a million suns, the activity of light, the life of animals; all are grand and perpetual miracles.” ― Voltaire
My definition of a miracle is an event that defies scientific or logical explanation that is set in motion through prayer. I have witnessed thousands of every day, perpetual miracles during my lifetime. I have also been blessed with grand, extraordinary miracles that transformed my life—and made me a believer. In today’s blog, I’m sharing five that stand out as life-changing.
I’ll begin with the birth of my firstborn child. I was seventeen years old, hadn’t planned the pregnancy, and wasn’t at all prepared. Still, I was excited to become a mom, and I felt blessed. Two weeks overdue, in the days before ultrasounds were common, I was walking off contractions when a sharp pain sliced through my abdomen. I buckled over and fell to my knees.
My mom drove me to the hospital, but the nurses dismissed my insistence that something was wrong. They thought I was overreacting. When the first, and then second fetal heart monitors picked up no trace of a heartbeat, dozens of medical staff crowded into my room. An internal probe recorded a heartbeat of 54. The normal range is 110-160.
My last thought before being administered the anesthetic was a prayer to God. At that time, I wasn’t convinced God existed, but something compelled me to whisper, “Please, please, God, save my baby.” I woke up after an emergency Cesarean to the incredible news that I had a perfectly healthy baby girl. I wept tears of joy, and I thanked God a thousand times or more for answering my prayer. At that moment, I knew God existed and that a miracle had been granted.
Another extraordinary miracle happened years later. I was in a deep depression, and considering suicide. Sitting in my van in the hospital parking lot, I prayed, “God, please help me.” Somehow I found the strength to go inside and ask for help. I was placed in a psychological intake area that was frightening, and I prayed again, feeling forsaken. But just when I felt unable to go on, I heard the sound of my daughter’s voice. I looked up and saw her as an angel.
I started counseling, and in a powerful session, I journeyed back in time to an early memory from when I was sexually abused at the age of four. I saw my little girl spirit hovering up near the ceiling, enveloped by a bright light. The light took shape as two golden hands that turned her face away and led her to a garden where Jesus appeared. He held her hands and they danced, spinning in circles amongst the fragrant flowers. I knew I was held then, and always have been.
A miracle that completely transformed my life was when I met my Noah’s Ark partner at the age of forty-five. I had just left an abusive marriage and moved from Calgary to Vancouver Island. My daughter’s best friend, who was a social worker, set up the introduction, another angel, of the cupid kind. Mister was working in Saudi Arabia but was on the island to support his daughter. God had to move a lot of mountains to bring us together, and it was love at first sight.
Soon after we were married, we decided we wanted to adopt Mister’s stepdaughter. Good friends introduced us to an extraordinary lawyer. She told us the odds were against us. In all her time as a family lawyer, not one adult adoption had been granted without the consent of the biological parents. Yet on the day we went to court to petition our case, precedent was broken. Not only did the judge decree consent wasn’t necessary, she granted the adoption the very same day.
Just over a year ago another miracle came to pass. Mister and I were living in Panama. His health was in decline after a nine-month remission from ulcerative colitis. He wasn’t being supported by his doctor. One day, we turned to face one another, and in a flash of twin knowing, declared simultaneously and with absolute conviction, “We have to move to Canada, now.” With angel wings to guide us, we sat down at the dining room table, laptops open, and it all came together.
The travel day was grueling. Once in Winnipeg, we completed our online application for Manitoba Health cards. At the hospital emergency, Mister was admitted after a seven-hour wait. A colonoscopy revealed the disease had spread throughout his entire colon. The photos revealed what we couldn’t see from the outside—it was severe.
Our health cards were issued, backdated to the day we arrived in Canada. Mister received double doses of the biologic Infliximab, to no effect. He ended up needing an ileostomy—a four-hour operation followed by four hours in recovery. When he was discharged after five weeks in hospital, he had lost forty-five pounds. He was in pain and struggled to eat. I felt God had abandoned him. But then, I remembered the words God whispered to me back when we were still in Panama, “Dear Child, I didn’t move mountains to bring you together for it to end here.”
It’s now a year later. My beloved gained back the weight and had a successful reversal surgery seven weeks ago. He’s well on the road to a full recovery. Despite all odds, he’s still standing. Dozens of everyday miracles have occurred since we made the decision to return to Canada. We’ve shifted our focus from balmy weather and vacation vibes to our health and strengthening family relationships. We’re living in faith, believing in extraordinary miracles still to come.
COMING UP…
Books & Projects:
· All four of my books are available online at Amazon, Chapters-Indigo, and Barnes & Noble. You can also find them at select Chapters-Indigo and El Hombre de la Mancha bookstores.
· I am pursuing representation from a traditional publisher for my fifth literary fiction, a psychological drama that explores the complexities of mental illness and trauma. Stay in touch by signing up for my blog or following me on social media to find out when it will be published.
Reviews & Interviews:
· You can read, listen, or watch a large selection of reviews and interviews on my website.
Events:
· There are no events currently scheduled in my calendar.
YouTube Channel:
· Watch The Rogue Scorpion trailer.
· Watch The Holding trailer.
Watch The Healing trailer.