Isabel's Story

So I shared in a recent post that I was going to have Isabel tell her story of how God spoke to her before her surgery, so here it is!  I was so excited to sit down and write this with her (she dictated while I typed).  She started out by explaining to me how stories needed an introduction and a main idea and a conclusion... future writer perhaps???  But no matter how many times I hear her tell this story, it always fills my heart to overflowing.  I know that God speaks, I have heard that still, small voice countless times throughout my life.  And I know that God's love is deep and wide and is full of mysteries I will never fathom in this lifetime.  I do my best with God's help to put my kids, as Michelle Anthony (author of Spiritual Parenting) "on the path of the divine" - to walk with them on a journey that continually moves us deeper into a relationship with Jesus.  And yet nothing compares to those moments when your child reaches milestones in their faith journey, then shares those moments with you.  Suddenly they become the teacher and you become the student.  I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves me, but I am profoundly comforted by the way He loves my children.  So without further ado, here is her story...

Isabel about a week before surgery -
this little girl was sick and miserable!

One day I found out that I was having surgery.  I got really, really, really scared.  I wasn’t trusting in God, I only thought the doctors could help me.  But I felt the Holy Spirit touching me – I don’t know how to explain it, I couldn’t hear Him but I felt His words.  Then He said “I am the Son of God, trust me.”  I still wouldn’t believe Him.  He kept telling me the same words over and over again.  When that happened, I felt weird inside, like I haven’t felt before.  There was a little tingling feeling the 4^th time God told me to listen to Him, to trust Him.  I knew God was talking to me but I didn’t trust Him so I was nervous about the surgery.  I wasn’t eating that much because my throat hurt (she had strep) and everything was just hurting really bad, I didn’t know what it was.  

Feeling much better at the American
Girl Doll Store!

But then we were going to the American Girl doll store and when we were going my Grandpa took a wrong turn.  We passed by the hospital that I was going to for my surgery, which was Children’s Memorial.  Finally when we passed by that I said in my head, “Oh yeah I know that is God” and then I trusted Him.  And then I wasn’t scared at all!

Before I trusted God I felt terrible.  After the surgery, I felt like a new person because I just felt stronger because I listened to God.  It felt good that a lot of people were praying and it made a big difference.  When they prayed and when I trusted, the doctors were testing for Cancer.  But then I heard the news and I was so excited that I didn’t have Cancer!!!  I learned that I need to trust God!    

               

 


These last two pictures were taken at the hospital before Isabel's surgery.  Isabel is a nervous and anxious kid by nature - she suffers from anxiety related chronic stomach pain (which is a fancy way of saying she gets anxious often and then her tummy hurts) and has seen specialists for the pain and even a counselor .  So to see her so at peace and even cheerful before her surgery was nothing short of a miracle.  There was a marked difference in her from before that day we "accidentally" drove by the hospital and after.  It was weeks after her surgery that we finally realized why.

Here is what I learned, and what I reaffirmed with my daughter:  God loves her so much that He will speak to her, and even when she is filled with doubt, He will go before and behind her and will press after her until she realizes how much she is loved.  Too often we feel that we're not good enough - that God can't use us, love us, reach us.  That if we make a mistake or miss God's voice or heaven forbid flat out ignore it, God will punish or turn away or let us go.  But God says "trust me."  And when we ignore or argue or doubt, He repeats: "trust me."  Until finally we can't fight or argue any more.


What is God trying to speak into your life?  Your kids' lives?  If you aren't sure of the answer, take a beat and listen.  Encourage your kids to listen.  Open God's Word, take a quiet moment and pray, and wait expectantly for God to speak.  And know that God speaks to His children, and when we are too stubborn to listen, He speaks again.  Just like He spoke to Isabel.  

(How's that for a conclusion?)