Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Prayer, Healing And Believing

We were having a conversation today about healing and prayer. It made me start thinking about some of the times that I KNOW that I was a witness or recipient of healing through prayer. Some of my family and close friends know of these times but, I feel the need to share them here with all of you.

One of the first times I was given the gift of healing through prayer was when I was about a year old. My Granny was cooking in the kitchen and had opened the oven and I walked forward and fell on the oven door, severely burning my hands. My Granny had my Mother take me to a lady in our community who could "talk" fire out of burns. When we got there, I had my hands clenched so tight that she told them there was nothing she could do. I was taken to the doctor instead. My hands were bandaged for a long time and I was left with these really bad purple scars. My Mother had me at church and was looking at my hands and began to pray. Within a few days, those purple scars were gone and all I was left with was  a couple of scars that unless I show them to you......you can not even see. 

When my middle son Ethan was born, his blood work kept coming back showing that he had a serious blood disorder. They tested his blood a couple of times and each time it came back showing the same results. The doctor told me to bring him back when he was a couple of weeks old and they would do the blood work again. If it came back the same, we would be sent to Birmingham to a specialist. The day I took Ethan to the doctor, his little arms were so tiny that they had to cut a rubber band to tie around his arm to even be able to draw the blood. When I got him home I laid him in his crib and as he slept, I laid my hands on his back and prayed that God heal him and take this away from him. Two days later, the results came back and he was perfectly normal. To be safe it was checked a few more times and each time it was normal! The doctor could not explain it but.........I could!

    This is a photo of Ethan sleeping just before I laid my hands on him and prayed!


As many of you may know, our baby, Hayden was really sick when she was born. Most of you probably don't know the whole story. When I was about eight months pregnant, I called the pediatrician to find out what their fee would be for her hospital check up. I was told that it was such and such amount and that I would have to pay that because it was considered well baby care. She then told me, now if the baby is sick or has anything wrong, the insurance will pay it all. Well, of course I laughed and told her "that's okay.....we will be glad to pay out of pocket!" After I hung up the phone, it was as if everything around me just went away and all I heard was this voice saying "there WILL be something wrong but, it will be alright.....you will get through this" I told two people about this, my Mother and Tim. Of course they acted like I was crazy and just laughed it off. Then, when my baby was born and she was so sick, no one could understand why I was so calm and able to deal with it the way I did. It was almost like they were mad at me. I explained to them what had happened and what I knew. Now, don't get me wrong, there were times that it all got the best of me, I cried and I was scared but, I ALWAYS had a peace about everything. You see, I had already been told it was going to be alright and I believe to this day that God spoke to me and gave me that reassurance and because I believed........Everything was okay.
                          Hayden in the NICU in Montgomery, AL when she was so sick!



Every day we witness miracles and answered prayers. Some things are really big and profound and other times it may be something small, but just as important. Some may not believe as I do but, I know the things that have happened in my life and I believe!

Isn't it a wonderful thing to know that through prayer, God can heal, soothe and bring us peace!




Thursday, October 13, 2011

Born To Be Romantic Or Learned

I admit it.......I am a romantic at heart. My husband Tim is just not! He tries but, it just does not come easy to him. Tim does not understand that sometimes very simple things can be so romantic. I don't want him sending me flowera on Valentines day because that is one of those times he feels like he has to......that is not romantic. When he buys me a card instead, that means so much more for me. That meant that he had to physically walk in a store and choose the "right" card. So far he has nailed this one. He can handle special occasions but, it is the spontaneous unexpected moments that he needs to work on. Occasionally I will wake up and he has left me a little note stuck to my makeup case that simply says......" I Love You"! That gets me every time. Romance doesn't always have to be something big.

Where does a romantic person get it from. Do they learn it or is it something just ingrained in you some way. My boys can both be romantic. My oldest Zachary, took Erica to Disney World and booked the Cinderella's Castle dinner. That is where he proposed to her! I thought that was a very sweet and romantic thing to do!

When Taylor asked his now fiance Taylor our for their first date, he did the sweetest thing. He bought a rose and took it to school. He went to her first class and left the rose and a note asking her if she would do the honor of being his date for homecoming, and left it on her desk. How sweet and romantic was that?

Did they learn these kind of things from me or is it just in their makeup to be thoughtful and caring enough to know how to make things special? I hope I have taught them but, I also love the idea that they were just born to be kind, thoughtful men who have a romantic flair!

Who knows where it comes from but, as Mothers, we need to try to teach our children about being thoughtful and kind. I think when these things are ingrained in them, the romance just comes along with that!

While Tim is not the most romantic person in the world he has had his very special moments. When our oldest was born, he came in the room carrying a bouquet of my favorite flowers.....yellow roses! I still have them! I have all kind of little notes on scraps of papers that just have sweet little message on them. He also has his moment when I think hmmmmmmm. After having my back surgery, I had to wear my hear piled in a pony tail with no makeup for weeks on end. Finally one day, I was able to take a good shower and I put on makeup and washed and rolled my hair and put on real clothes. This is the comment I got......"Mama.....you sure do look pretty tonight......you know you have been looking pretty old and haggy looking the last few weeks but, you look alright tonight!" LOL......how in the heck do you take that? He DID tell me I looked good but, I am not sure I needed to know how bad I had been looking! Bless his heart.....he meant well.

Of course, my comment back to him didn't sit real well with him.....I told him "well, you see, I have been trying to dress down so the old man I live with wouldn't feel so bad about how he looks!" Thank goodness we are secure in the love we have for each other! LOL