A Reminder of How Great Our God Is ~ Jujubee’s B-Day
Today’s post is a little out of the norm, but something I have to share.
Today is our youngest daughter’s birthday… she turns 5!
She is sweet and animated, dramatic and stubborn and still loves to cuddle.
But every year on her birthday I have promised to share about the miracle I saw come to fruition.
At my 20 week ultrasound when I was pregnant with “Jujubee”, we were told that she had double clubbed feet. Now this was something we had experience with. Our oldest was born with a right clubfoot (this is where the foot is turned in sharply and the person seems to be walking on their ankle). We have no family history of clubfeet and when I became pregnant with our 2nd kiddo (“blondie”) we did some genetic testing in which they thought it was just a fluke.
Lying on the table as the ultrasound tech showed us the close-up of her feet I knew it was true. I remembered the x-ray pics of my son… the toes turned in and the heel raised. I was overwhelmed with emotions… how could we go through this again?
If you were see my son today, you would never know of the trauma he went through the first 18 months of his life… he doesn’t even remember. They never notice his clubfoot at the 20 week ultrasound, so we were shocked when he was born. As a first-time mom I was overwhelmed with becoming a mom and now I need to figure out how we were going to help my son with his birth defect.
Thankfully we were referred to the best pediatric orthopedic specialist in our area. At 2 weeks old he had his first full leg cast put on. Each week we’d come back as they would cut it off (which he’d scream for) and the Dr. would gentle manipulate his tiny foot a little in the correct direction and recast. The first 3 days after his cast were put on were miserable as his foot was aching from the new position. This continued till he was almost 6 months old… when he went to a brace. At 9 months old his Dr. told us that the cast and brace had manipulated his foot to the correct position, but his heel still had not dropped. At 10 months old he had surgery where they made snips in his Achilles tendon to lengthen it. Surgery was followed by casts for the next 2 months and then a brace for another 3 months.
So when we heard the news about my daughter I didn’t know how I could walk through that again! I was overwhelmed… but I knew instantly that her middle name would be Grace, because I was desperately in need of HIS grace to do this again. My husband on the drive home said some poignant words… “we’re going to pray that God heals her!”
And we did… family and friends prayed… our church prayed.
I knew God was more than capable of healing her. I’ve been to church all my life… I’d been on mission trips and seen miracles… I’ve read through the bible numerous times and know of all the miracles Jesus did… BUT it was hard for me to believe He was going to do it for me. For me it was easier to just plan for the worse and let a small part of me believe in the best.
Then… one Sunday in church… a few weeks before she was born we were singing “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin and I heard Him speak to my spirit that He was going to heal her so that people would know how great He is!
In the days that followed my faith fluctuated… did I really hear Him? Maybe I just had indigestion? Hormones of pregnancy?
On the morning of July 19th I had a stress test at the hospital (I was going between 3-5 times a week because of low amniotic fluids). The nurse didn’t like the way she was responding to contractions, so I was staying and going to have the baby that day. She was breech so I had to do a C-section. When the Dr. pulled her out I heard the miraculous words I was hoping to hear… “well look at that…
her feet are perfect!”
So each year on her birthday I will recall God’s miraculous hand that healed my daughter’s feet. I don’t know what you are going through right now, but I know that in our lives right now there are areas that seem IMPOSSIBLE. When I look at them with my eyes and I don’t see any way that this is going to work out… but I know that with God all things are possible. I know that sickness, financial issues, relationships, disobedient children… you name it…
it’s not too big or too hard for GOD.
God graciously healed my daughter, but even if He hadn’t… His grace would have carried us through.
Here’s a video of Chris Tomlin singing “How Great Is Our God.” I encourage you to listen to it… be reminded today of who He is…
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my littlest princess!!!
Praise God for he is good — all the time! 🙂 What an inspirational and moving testimony, Maryann. It was a great devotion for the middle of my day….
Bless you!
xoxo laurie@heavens-walk
Hello!
So many previous comments already expressed what I wanted to say 🙂 . God is amazing, and this story is just one more testament to that. Although we face circumstances that seem impossible to overcome… our strength comes from the Lord. He is all powerful and mighty to save! It was so awesome to run across your post. Even though we know how powerful God is, it never ceases to amaze me when he works his miracles. Thank you for blessing me today, and I pray that you and your family will forever be blessed!
:),
Hollee
Thank you for sharing that testimony! It is beautiful!
Oh, how I needed to hear your story today. THANK YOU for sharing.
Thank you…you don't know how badly I needed this reminder today! Truly Great indeed! God continues to bless.
So many stories…I was so touched I posted my own with a link back. We are in need of a miracle.
beautiful story of God's healing power!
Wonderful! So glad you shared it!
Wow . . . I love to hear stories of God's wonders! Thanks for sharing, and making me cry a little bit. :0) Hey, I write a devotional blog . . . would you mind if I shared this story this week? It's at http://www.thebrightnessofhispresence.blogspot.com. If not, no biggie!
Yes, yes, yes! Praise God!!!
I never tire of hearing amazing testimonies of God's healing, power, love, and goodness. He is such a wonderful God.
Maryann, this blessed me sooo much. Thank you for sharing it with us all. What a little miracle she is your sweetie heart is : )
Lots of love to you!
Amen! Thank you for that testimony! Our God is truly mighty and magnificent!
Just what I needed to hear today 🙂 Praise God and thanks for sharing.
Wow, thanks so much for sharing that story. I always appreciate encountering real-life-miracles in blogland. I'm so glad that He worked one for your baby girl, and it sounds like you have a pretty amazing little guy to have gone through all he did, too. Keep sharing… thanks!
Thanks for sharing this. It's so uplifting to hear a story like that!
Sarah
What a great message. I appreciate you sharing this. This was something I needed to be reminded of.
~Makalani
Makaz Home
Thank you for sharing! It's always wonderful to hear great reminders that miracles still exist. What a blessing!
Maryann, what a wonderful thing to share. I cannot imagine how you must have felt when she was born. Happy Birthday to your beautiful little girl.
Thanks for sharing. I just read Psalm 22 out of The Message this morning. It ends with, "Babies not yet conceived will hear the good news- that God does what he says."
Our youngest was sick at birth due to complications during my pregnancy. God is faithful and walked with us every step to his complete healing. We had to be at a hospital hours from home so we were blessed to be able to stay in a Ronald McDonald House. We met a lovely Christian family there who had just gotten a diagnosis of cancer for their 1 year old. We encouraged each other by sharing devotionals and scriptures etc. Their journey to healing was considerably longer than our.
Our youngest is 6 now and thier little boy is CANCER FREE! We just celebrated his 5 year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant. God is faithful. Thanks for sharing the good news with us all. We are rejoicing with you. Happy Birthday to your little one 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! I so needed to hear your story and listen to Chris Tomlin…just beautiful! I prayed last night for my youngest and now I know he will be alright and will meet the woman he is supposed to be with forever…God is good!!!
You have a beautiful little girl that God has touched!
Again thank you!
Rondell
Jehova, Rapha!
what an amazing story. i am so glad your daughter is happy and healthy, and such a big girl now! my son turns 5 next month and when he was in utero there were cysts on his brain. they didn't know what caused it or if it would go away or what would happen. i didn't want an amnio because i was going to keep him and love him no matter what. i had to wait another 6 weeks for an ultrasound so we could check in on his brain, and the cysts had vanished- gone- no trace, and the dr had no answers. i have lost so many people who have been close to me in my life, but i think because of that i had lots of angels in heaven looking out for me. i know they were there through that 6 weeks with me.
Wonderful beautiful story. It must have just been amazing when she was born. How can anyone live without faith.
Okay this must be a God thing, I too woke up early and am catching up on my blog reading. Wow, that's cool, I feel kind of special that God would wake me up and I would join you guys in this way.
Beautiful story of an amazing and Beautiful God. Thank you so much for sharing, even though I know God is big and can do anything I somehow needed to here this.
THank you.
what an amazingly beautiful and touching story. My dog woke me up early and I couldn't sleep with my mind whirring and opened my google reader and there was your post. My faith seems like a mustard seed…thank you for the encouragement today. xoxo
Hey Maryann,
I have to tell you that it's 3:30 in the morning and I couldn't sleep because of things just going through my head non-stop, then I decided to catch up on my blog reading. So glad I did! You have me in tears. We have so many things going on in our lives right now, and I was feeling a little down trodden. I am so glad you posted your miracle story…it lifted my spirit. 🙂 I KNOW God is a miracle worker, it's just hard to believe it for your own life sometimes. I have friends that are going through things and it's really easy to have faith for them…different story when it's your own stuff. I do believe without a doubt, that God will keep us in his care and take care of the things that are going on. Thanks for your post, and keep us in your prayers. 🙂
Blessings & Hugs
Missy 🙂