God Hears; God Heals

I recently got home from an unexpected trip to Colorado. Russ, my older brother, was on his way home to Amarillo with his family after visiting our parents in Evergreen. As they were driving through Colorado Springs, they had to stop due to traffic. Debris in the road caused a chain reaction of people hitting their breaks. As Russ checked his rear view mirror to be sure the cars behind him stopped, he saw a motor home veer out of traffic onto the right shoulder of the road. As the motor home came up on the shoulder next to Russ’s car, it hit a sign and burst into flames. Russ knew he had to do something. He pulled his car forward and out of traffic in front of the fiery vehicle and ran back to help the man as Tracy and the kids, still in their car, started to pray for protection. Tracy said Si, their oldest son, told her not to worry, that his dad would be alright.

Tracy and Si could see Russ as he ran into the fire at the driver’s door. He was not able to get the door open, but the window was open and Russ was able to grab the top of the door frame and peel it down and out to force it open. Fighting flames that were fueled by a gas tank in the motor home, Russ’s next obstacle was the seat belt. He was able to get the shoulder belt around to the back of the man, but the lap belt was still holding him in. Russ said he was unable to release the belt and was asking God for help. A police officer came in with a knife and cut the lap belt. Russ, along with others who had come to help, was able to pull the man to safety.

The chaos of the scene must have been amazing. Tracy talked about the sounds of cars hitting car parts flying. She thought something had hit them, but their car is undamaged. There were 6 other cars that were involved in accidents due to this one that was still burning. A police officer came and evacuated Tracy and the kids from their car in case the fire spread their way. They were pulled to safety away from where Russ was.

I can’t imagine the all of the events that unfolded during this time. Lots of very scary moments that must have happened so fast but felt like they would never end. Russ was with the man and did talk with him and was able to get a response, right after he was pulled out. At some point the firemen saw Russ and told him to sit down.

The paramedics and firemen were tending to the victims, Russ included. A fireman went to Tracy to tell her about Russ’s injuries and then talked to the kids about their daddy. Tracy said he was very kind, sensitive and straight with them. He told them that Russ had been burned on his face, arms, and hands and that they would be transporting him to the hospital. Tracy was to follow the ambulance to the hospital in Colorado Springs. (He was later transported to the burn unit at University of Colorado Hospital in Denver)

Tracy is an amazing woman. She gathered her children and prayed. She told the kids that God is a God of healing and would heal their dad. As they drove, Tracy had Breck start calling people and asking for prayers of healing.

News of Russ being injured with burns to his face, arms, and hands went out and people all over started to pray.

God hears prayers! God protects the righteous! God heals his children!

I arrived to the University of Colorado Burn Unit less than 24 hours after this all happened. The burns on Russ’s face were gone! The burns on his arms were gone! His eyes were fine & his lungs were clear! Praise God!

I believe firemen know what burns look like. I can’t believe a fireman would tell a family that their husband and father had burns that were not really there. I can believe that our God would use an ambulance ride to heal those burns. Whether He healed Russ in that ambulance or protected him in the fire (OR BOTH) I praise God for the miracles of the weekend.

I believe God used Russ to save this man, Jose Fernandez, from the fire. I believe God protected Russ from the chemicals and flames, and healed his burns on his face and arms. I know the burns on his hands will be used to testify to people of Jesus’ love for each of us.

I am so proud of each of my nieces and nephews. Brently, Breck, Si, Jake, Braid, and Asher, are all incredible young people. The events that took place in Colorado Springs on July 25^th were huge and each of these kids rose to the occasion with beautiful poise. Tracy is such a great example of a Godly woman, wife, and mother. Her strength and faith are immeasurable. Then there is Russ…of the burns, the blisters, the singed hair, the bandages, the stories and memories of the events…what sticks out to me right now as I write his name is his face…His expression of compassion, tenderness, grace, and love when he was asked what made him run to a burning car and he answered “because Jesus lives in my heart”

I would like to thank you for lifting Russ up in prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for healing for his hands. I would like to ask that you add Jose Fernandez and his family to your prayers. He is in stable but critical condition. He is 75 years old and burned on almost half of his body. He is in the Burn Unit at University of Colorado. He is surrounded with family who love him. A son and grandson came to visit with Russ in the hospital. They told Russ that he had accepted Christ about 3 months ago and was baptized. They are all very sweet, gracious people and need your prayers through this very difficult time. When I spoke to them on Monday, after the accident, they said that they are holding on to the idea of having him home for Thanksgiving to carve the turkey.

I would like to thank you for lifting Russ up in prayer. I ask that you continue to pray for healing for his hands and for God to be glorified through all of this.

Cheryl

A Love Note in the form of a Free Car

My faith in God started as a child, in Someone I couldn't see. This was important, because "...without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" Hebrews 11:6.

But over the years, as my faith has grown and I have walked with Him, I've been blessed to see and experience things so that even by sight, there's no possibility of denying He's real. That's one of the reasons I started this blog. I so desire to share some of these stories from the past that have just blown me away, because He is so intimately and powerfully at work in the lives of those who are surrendered to Him. However, in this busy season of life I'm in, raising four children and expecting #5, I haven't been able to post many of the stories from the past that I'm itching to!

For now, I'd like to share a little story from this week (because I just can't keep it in!). Recently, I shared the story of our friend David, who has come out of a very troubled past. His transformation - out of drug use & selling and psychological struggles - has been radical. But accepting Christ does not bring about a rosy, trouble-free life, of course. Life is a battle - it's simply good to know where to draw your strength from for it. Lately, David has struggled with depression, as well as being out of work and the loss of their car.

David's father made an offer that he was willing to pay $3000 for a car. So, David and his wife, Cynthia, started searching for a used car, but $3000 still didn't seem to be enough to find anything except junk. And then there would be the issue of where to find the money to insure the car.

On Sunday (five days ago), I decided to post David & Cynthia's needs for jobs & a car on several local homeschooling loops I'm a part of. I didn't ask for a freebie, I simply mentioned that $3000 was what they could spend on a car. But I did pray and ask God, "Would you please just GIVE them a car?" What a great encouragement that would be to them!

We've received several good job leads. Then, Wednesday night, I received an email from a lady who is new to one of the homeschooling loops (I've never met her). It said:

"Hi Rebecca,We have a high mileage 1999 Camry that is in excellent mechanical condition (even new tires & will have a new battery) that my husband was contemplating selling because it wasn’t being used. We feel God has asked us to donate it to David & Cynthia. I think we could have it ready by Sunday if they are interested. You can email me back or call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.Thanks, Xxxxxxx" - excuse the x's, I'm respecting their privacy : )

Because a car is being given to David & Cynthia, David's father is now willing to pay for 6 months of car insurance for them.

WOW! We're all feeling very thankful over here, and pondering the mystery of God, who hears our prayers and asks strangers on our behalf to do a good work for His glory. He is GOOD! He is good through the good and bad in life - by the way - He's just always good to walk through anything with!

David's Story - God at Work

I've been wanting to write the story of David for a year now. This is such an encouraging God story to me - I hope it blesses you as well. I'd like to warn you that it deals with subjects (demons, for example) that aren't accepted in our logical Western culture. But David can tell you that he has experienced satan and the work of his demons. Thankfully, he has also experienced the incredible mercy of God and the truth that God is more powerful than satan. I believe that satan knows that it's to his advantage to seem 'not real' to our Western minds, so he works powerfully 'behind the scenes' in our country. In other cultures where satan knows that his spiritual reality is known, he might as well work in more direct ways. And in those places, demonic activity is well known. Either way, we know that satan "comes only to steal and kill and destroy," but Jesus came that we "may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

For the 2005-06 school year, I was blessed to get to know a group of 11th grade girls at our church, as I served as one of their Sunday night group leaders. A very sad, memorable time of that year was when one of their friends, Arnold, passed away in October 2005. Involved in drugs, Arnold accidentally shot himself. I didn't know Arnold, but was saddened by this tragic loss, and felt for his family and friends.

Two years later, on February 10, 2008, I was sitting in our church building auditorium during Sunday morning worship. My baby girl was just a few months old, and I was accustomed to having to get up and walk outside of the auditorium when she started making too much noise. But on this day, she was perfectly content. Despite that, I had the weirdest "antsy" feeling... I just had to get up. It's not like me to just 'have to get up' from worship service, and walk out. In fact, it had never happened before. I didn't realize this was the Holy Spirit at work until later.

I walked out to the coffee bar area just outside of the auditorium, where there are several tables. A few minutes later, a young man walked in the front door of the church and sunk down at one of the tables near me. No one else was around. This young man, about 20 years old, was covered with a spirit of darkness. It was as if a cloud was upon him. Covered in tattoos, battered from life, and dressed in dark clothes, he simply sat with his head hanging down. I knew I needed to talk to him. I introduced myself, and he mumbled that his name was David. He would not make eye contact with me. I tried to converse with him, but his answers were short. After a couple of minutes, I asked what brought him here. He mumbled, "no where else to go." I felt the need to pray for him and asked if I could. He mumbled something, and shrugged. I asked if he would wait there while I got some others to pray for him, and he mumbled, unsure, to that. I ran to the side door of the auditorium, where I found my dear friends Bob & Alicia. They came with me, and Bob immediately recognized David, greeted him, and they sat down with him.

My baby now wanted me to walk her, so I could not stay by David and pray for him there, as much as I wanted to. Rather, I walked and prayed immediately, begging God to save David. It wasn't until early that afternoon that Bob called me from the hospital, where they had taken David because he was so agitated. I learned from Bob that David was Arnold's big brother. David had been with Arnold the night of his death, and was living a very troubled life. Later that night, I spoke with Bob and Alicia again. It turned out that when Alicia sat down and placed her hand on David's arm to pray for him, she got a picture which helped her know how to pray. Alicia could see demons clawing within David. With that, she prayed for David to be delivered from satan, his demons, and their work in his life. After praying, it was clear to Bob and Alicia through what David was feeling that he was suicidal. They got Angela, a professional counselor within the church body, to come over to help. She talked to David and recommended going to the hospital. Once at the hospital, they tried to calm David. He remained highly agitated, despite the drugs that were administered, which should have calmed anyone. Bob was so discouraged with how helpless they felt, ministering to David, yet feeling as if there was no breakthrough.

A few days later, Bob was surprised to get a call from David. It turned out that David was at a halfway house. His tone was entirely different than a few days before, and he was speaking clearly. He told Bob that he wanted to be baptized in front of everyone the next Sunday morning - he wanted to surrender his life to Jesus Christ. When Sunday morning arrived, he thanked everyone who had reached out to him the week before, and told them that they had saved his life. When he stood before the congregation to be immersed in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, he was asked first if he believed that Jesus was Lord. He boldly said, "Jesus is everyone's Lord, whether they like it or not!"

We have come to know David much better over the last year, as he comes to our home many Sunday nights, joining us and a few other families who are striving to draw closer to God and each other. It has been amazing to see the drastically different person that David is now compared to before he turned to Christ. Not perfect by any means (Who is? We're all on a journey...) but he's a whole new man. We've been sharing our stories, and it was intriguing to hear David's story several months ago. His past was very dark. He was medicated for years for Bipolar disorder (though he is now free of all medications), and felt that he slept much of his childhood away. He was active in using and selling drugs, and was scarred by the painful memories he has of his younger brother's death.

At one point in his story, David said that he used to be able to feel demons clawing inside of him, until that day when he was prayed over in February 2008. At that, I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, knowing how that fit with what God revealed to Alicia. After his story, I was able to share with David and the others the strange feeling I'd had sitting in the church that day - how I just had to get up. I also shared the picture that was revealed to Alicia when she prayed for him that day, regarding demonic activity. This was the first time David had been told about that, and it was incredible to realize just how God had delivered David, using many people as instruments. David also shared how much it meant to him that Bob had simply patted his back at the hospital and told him that he was going to be OK, and that Bob loved him. How encouraging to see how God turned a hopeless situation around, and used people (who even felt discouraged through the process) to powerfully transform a life. We were all thankful for the depth of God's love for David and how He pursued David and saved him.

David and his young wife, Cynthia, have many struggles to overcome as they strive to turn their lives around - not just for their sake, but also for their children. Satan is as active as ever, constantly throwing hardships their way and bringing up their past. Just a week ago, God spoke to me of how David may fall down, but he can get back up again. I wondered - has David gotten into drugs again, or what? My knee-jerk reaction was "Oh no!" - as if David had fallen off a cliff and the situation was hopeless. Immediately, I heard something different - God is not a control freak like we can be. God gave us the freedom to make terrible choices with terrible consequences, yet He acts redemptively through our mistakes if our hearts are turned to Him. I wondered at this random thought that came into my head about David falling down. Later that night, I learned of some serious hardships that David and Cynthia were facing due to some terrible choices they made. What would have normally thrown me for a loop did not. Rather, I was excited to realize that God's word to me was timely, true - and for my encouragement. God longs to give David hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants to redeem David's past and give him a crown of beauty instead of ashes (Isaiah 61:3). When you think of David, please pray for him, his wife Cynthia, and their children. Pray for perseverance and strength through this battle, that they will be transformed to experience the full life Christ has in mind for them.