The Great Physician

Well guys, it's time for me to tell the story of Connor. Many of you know what happened to him last Thanksgiving by now, but I have only told the "whole story" to very few people- mainly because the devil has kept me silent so that God's total glory wouldn't be completely revealed in this particular situation. I believe though that God has been gently nudging me to speak out in boldness and confidence about the things He has done. I don't know what you all think about spiritual warfare, but I have to tell you that I have had my eyes opened! George and I both have in fact, although his version of this story would probably highlight different details. That's because God has spoken to us both in very unique ways according to the journeys we are on with Him. We both lived through some of the scariest moments of our lives thus far and have grown closer to God and to each other through this ordeal. I'm sure we both would agree that intimacy with God is what He is after in all of us. The devil knows this though, and he is always on the prowl, always trying to find a way to intervene- guys, we have to wake up and stand up to the battle that is being fought for us daily!!

This is the story...
Our son Connor was taken to the ER on Thanksgiving night as we noticed him slipping into unconsciousness in my arms. When we reached the hospital, he was immediately taken from us and was bagged and intibated because he quit breathing on his own. We had no answers and no test showed any reason for this to be happening. Within less than an hour, the helicopter from Arkansas Children's Hospital had arrived to airlift Connor to Little Rock. To say that we were in shock and completely surrounded by fear is an understatement. I don't remember much about the short visit in the White County Emergency room except collapsing on the floor reciting bible verses I didn't even know I had memorized. The thing I remember saying the most was, "nothing will ever separate me from the love of God". I get chills now even writing that! Only the Holy Spirit could have taken over in that moment to breath that kind of truth into me at such a scary time.

By the time we arrived at ACH, the doctor on call informed us that Connor had slipped into a deep coma and had little to no brain activity and what he did have was abnormal. The outcome was very bleak-still no answers from anyone about why we were even in such a predicament! We watched in horror as our nearly two year old son was hooked up to machines and taken back in forth for multiple MRI's CAT scans and other various tests all in hopes of finding an answer. At one point in the night, Connor's heart rate started dropping drastically and they had to immediately put a central line into him that would pump medicine directly to his heart in an effort to jump start it. We were sent out of the room, unsure if the procedure would save our son's life. We watched as nurses and doctors all started running into our child's room gasping and shaking their heads- at which point, we honestly thought we had lost him.

About 45 minutes later, we were allowed to go back into the room-our child was still living, thanks be to God! The next few hours were just as confusing, scary and bleak as the first. As word started getting out about our tragedy, we knew that multiple prayers began going up to the Great Physician. Loved ones started trickling into the hospital, all of which were leaving family that they had been with for Thanksgiving Day. We were reminded of how loved we are, and how blessed we are to have so many loved ones.

All night long we stood next to our son, praying, singing to him, and begging God to turn things around. We were totally in shock. The next morning, one of our long time dear friends called and told me that she had a friend from church that felt that the Lord wanted him to pray over Connor. He had heard about our story from someone and had completely rearranged his plans for the day to obey what the Lord had asked him to do. Here is the kicker...

Our friend said, "Donna, this man believes he has the gift of healing and wants to know if he can come pray over Connor."

Now, I have to admit that that kind of wording was not something I had heard of everyday-except on TV of course. But in a mother's desperation all I could say was,
"If He is doing this in the name of Jesus, of course, tell him to come."
At the time, I was desperate and I believed that God could do anything. We needed a miracle. And... that is exactly what we got. Praise God!

I remember that Connor's regular nurse left the room and was replaced by a nurse we had not met yet. The man came in, introduced himself and what I remember the most about him was that he kept saying over and over again,
"Now, I want ya'll to understand, that I am just a man."
In other words, he was not interested in gaining any glory for whatever happened next. He just kept giving all glory to God for what He alone was and is capable of. He prayed first, with George and I and I remember that his prayer was one of the boldest, most heartfelt prayers I had ever heard before. It was if he had a personal relationship with God that I had only longed to have. I'm talking about real intimacy. He was having a real conversation with God. He then moved over to Connor's bed and placed his hand on my baby's chest. His hand was shaking a little bit and I remember that he started sobbing as he prayed over our child. His tears were falling down on Connor and his prayer was so moving. So real. He prayed for God to heal our son. He prayed and begged The Great Physician to lay His mighty hand of healing on him and work a miracle. The nurse that was there was praying aloud too,the whole entire time and we were all crying by the end of the prayer.

We thanked the man and as he began to leave, the many DR's that were lined up outside the room began to take their turns checking out Connor. The first DR came in, did a quick check and said she saw no change. Immediately after her another DR came in and did what looked like the exact same check-up, only this time, he said, "Now, just a minute here, I think I see some response."

I of course, started jumping up and down and began proclaiming a miracle, right then and there. I was so ecstatic. He checked again and was convinced that Connor was responding-very slightly, but it was response none the less. This was within 10 minutes of the prayer!!! Oh my goodness, if you know me at all, when I'm excited about something, I don't typically hold back, and this was one of those times- let me tell ya! George and I were sobbing and hugging each other but not in disbelief! I was absolutely convinced that we had just witnessed a miracle right in front of our very eyes- and I still believe that to this very day. Please don't tell me modern day miracles do not take place today. You will never convince George or I of that as long as we live.

From that point on, Connor gradually started improving more and more with each passing hour. The doctors and nurses were in awe. They had no answers. Nothing made medical sense to them that what they were witnessing was possible. We kept hearing them express their confusion to which I would always respond, "it's a miracle, just write that down in your chart!!" We finally got a couple of Dr's and nurses to admit that a miracle could be the only answer. By that evening, Connor was breathing on his own again, the intibator was removed and all his heart and oxygen levels stabilized. His brain activity went from little to none, to completely normal within a matter of hours. Connor slowly came out of his coma and by the next morning, I was holding my baby boy in my arms once again. Only this time he was gazing into my eyes, aware that I was holding him and trying his hardest to say "mama".

The DR that had checked us in the first night came by to check on Connor and I couldn't believe his reaction. He was absolutely in shock to see our child "awake" and improving so rapidly. He just kind of stood there staring at Connor and then back at us and was shaking his head. He looked right at us finally and said, "You don't understand, he was gone when I saw him last."
I remember thinking, wow, that's not quite what you told us at the time, but here we are! I assured him that what he was witnessing was a miracle. He definitely couldn't deny it!

We now have a very normal and highly active 2 year old running around! Our family is whole. God came to our rescue. All the prayers that our loved ones prayed were heard by the Father. The Great Physican came into that room at Arkansas Children's Hospital, in the form of a man that obeyed the call and was willing to be a vessel for the King of Kings, and layed His hand on our child- and healed him- because we believed He could.

I know that I am taking a risk by writing what you just read. But, God has been writing it on my heart to do so for several months and I too, have chosen to obey. I love each and every one of you that will read this and question it. It's ok. But, George and I know it's true and we have been forever changed because of it. We have experienced the hand of God and we will forever give Him the glory for healing and saving our son. I will no longer keep my God in a box. He is capable of doing so much more than we could ever ask or imagine. Why do we put limits on Him? Where did that begin? Well, for me, it has ended-no more limits. My God is real, He is powerful, He is mighty to save!!

We did find out about a week later after some test results came in, that Connor had significant amounts of a muscle relaxer in his system. We do not know for absolute sure where he got a hold of it. We haven't tried hard to pin the source down because honestly, it doesn't really matter. We almost lost him, but we didn't. God wanted to use the situation to open our eyes to His mighty power and have called us up to shout His glory so to pursue the cause of the incident really wasn't necessary. God will forever get the glory for His miracle, no matter what!

You may be wondering what spiritual warfare has to do with this. I've decided to save that part of the story for my next post. For now, I want to share with you a verse that God showed me after we had been home a few days after our scare. This sums it all up.

Psalm 145:

"I will honor you, my God the King.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Lord, you are great. You are really worthy of praise.
No one can completely understand how great you are.

Parents will praise your works to their children.
They will tell about your mighty acts.
They will speak about your glorious majesty.
I will spend time thinking about your miracles.
They will speak about the powerful and wonderful things you do.
I will talk about the great things you have done.
They will celebrate your great goodness.
They will sing with joy about your holy acts.

The Lord is gracious, He is kind and tender.
He is slow to get angry. He is full of love.
The Lord is good to all.
He shows deep concern for everything he has made.
Lord, every living thing you have made will praise you.
Your faithful people will praise you.
They will speak about your power.
Then all people will know about the mighty things you have done.
They will know about the glorious majesty of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom that will last forever.
Your rule will continue for all time to come.

The Lord is faithful and will keep all of his promises.
The Lord takes good care of all those who fall.
He lifts up all those who feel helpless.
Every living thing looks to you for food.
You give it to them exacty when they need it.
You open your hand
and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

The Lord is right in evrything he does.
He is loving toward everthing he has made.
The Lord is ready to help all those who call out to Him.
He helps those who realy mean it when they call out to him
He satisfies the needs of those who have respect for him
He hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all those who love him.
But he will destry all sinful people.

I will praise the Lord with my mouth.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever."