Look What The Lord Has Done

I had been taking care of Janie for a while, off and on. Today she came into the hospital hardly breathing and a tube had to be inserted into her lungs to help her breathe. Janie had been on life support before, but she was getting progressively worse and the doctors did not give much hope for her young life. Janie, a mother of a teenage daughter, had much more living to do, but she was a victim of chronic severe asthma which gave way to COPD and eventual dependency to a ventilator to stay alive.

I was present when they brought her into the ICU and was, as usual, praying for whatever was needed; God always gives me what is needed to speak in a time of crisis. Janie and I had developed a rapport due to her persistent illness and we only had to look at each other and know that I was praying and she was receiving in Jesus Name. Janie, a devout Born Again Christian, had many times evaded the plight she was again in, through faith and prayer. I will never know her hell that she personally when through, but I was present for much of her nine month ordeal in the intensive care unit. Janie struggled daily to breathe and I would daily try to wean her from the machine that kept her alive.

She couldn't speak because of the tube in her lungs and, later, a tracheostomy tube, but she became very good at carefully expressing each word so that I could understand her easily. We would sing and praise God together when I came into her room (her silently, of course) and we would just have church whenever possible.

During our Harvest Christian Women's Convocation, God spoke to me about healing with articles of clothing - garments that carried an anointing because they were in the presence of God. I approached Janie with this word and with Bible verses of support. I gave her my garment of praise from Convocation and she devoured it into her bosom as if it was Christ himself. She began to cry. Of course I was extremely touched and began weeping with her and praying for her continued healing. It was March 2009.

Through the long haul of healing we battled pneumonia, rare lung infections, fungus infections, myriads of drugs, and the trial and error of doctors set on weaning her from life support as her insurance was running out. Like I said, I will never know her hell, but through faith, prayer and hard work that Janie was finally weaned from the life support equipment and only had to use her ventilator at night. Now it was November, and plans were made to send her to another facility to help her thrive and get back to a normal life, as much as possible. We again prayed for a facility that would accommodate her and her young teen daughter. The naysayers all agreed that it could not be done. They counted Janie dead after her first bout of pneumonia. They said she would never get off her ventilator and they said she would never leave the hospital.

Believe me, I developed a new level of faith while attending and praying for her. I let her know how I had placed her name on the altar during a 3rd Friday Blowout Celebration and she said she felt the power of many prayers. As I worked with this woman, God showed me the POWER of faith, prayer and obedience to do what He says (even if you feel stupid). He showed me what HE CAN DO. He is a can-do God. Janie and I kissed and cried over each other when she received her paperwork to move to an excellent care facility in Grand Rapids. Our Father answered every single one of our prayers. He is so good!

It's too early to know how Janie is progressing at this time, but I have every bit of faith that she is going to be just fine. Our God is an awesome GOD.

Until later or when Jesus comes
Gwen S