Do you believe in Miracles??  God’s great power.  Ephesians 1.19-20

Hi.

We need God’s power if we are to see miracles in our lives. And while there may be exaggeration, abuse and even fraud, the fact is, we serve a God who does miracles yet today …

So, do you need a God of miracles?

It was about 12 years ago that our family of six moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Southern California.  We were settling into our new San Clemente neighborhood nicely, which was no small feat with Matthew-a senior, Amy-a junior in high school, Dylan-5, and Danny, two years old.  Just six weeks into our new life, Danny (2) came walking into our room on a Monday morning--limping--which was kinda' odd because it came out of nowhere.  A little later, he was reluctant to walk, and I thought I better take him to a doctor.  After being reassured by a leading pediatrician that there was nothing wrong with my boy (except for a mild ear infection that he treated with Zithromax), I returned home.  The next day, he was swollen around his eyes, and still limping.  Our family has never had allergies, but given a new area, and construction being done on our house, I waited. . . three days later, I returned to the same physician, who once again assured me there was nothing wrong with my little son.  I said, 'Look, I'm not an over-reactor; he is my youngest of four children. . . but something isn't right here. . .'  The doctor patted me on the back, and told me my son was just fine.

Three days later, I took him upstairs to give him a bath, and as I pulled his little Nike sweatpants down, his legs were very swollen, but worse--his diaper was drenched with dark-red (sorry) blood;  I'm no rocket scientist, but I knew we were in big trouble.  I consulted my family medical book, and knew we were dealing with his kidneys.  After a call to the same doctor, advising him of the situation, he told me to take Danny to Children's Hospital Orange County (CHOC) immediately; and to pack a bag because we were going to be there a while.

In the ensuing hours, we learned that Danny was very sick.  The next day we found out that indeed, his kidneys had failed.  His blood pressure, sodium, potassium, cholesterol, and kidney levels (B.U.N.) were off the charts, and the specialists could not figure out the cause.  Three days later, I left the hospital to go see Amy's varsity volleyball game, (the other kids needed attention, too).  At the game, an old saintly lady approached me and said, 'Honey, I know your son is very sick, and well, I want to pray with you, and ask God to do a miracle.'  I looked at her and said from my broken-hearted, sleep-deprived state, 'yes, okay, please pray.'  She did.  I'll never forget that lady; I'll never forget that encounter.  In all of my growing up years as a Christian, no one had ever told me I could ask God for miracles . . .  until this lady.

After five days in the hospital, we were sent home, with no prognosis, no diagnosis, and not much hope.  Danny was continuing to lose blood; there seemed to be no stopping it, and we were being treated by ‘the experts’, and they couldn't figure out what had caused it.  So, home we went--taking his blood pressure every couple hours, administering drugs, hoping and praying. . .

The first of the following week, we took Danny for more blood work--and then got the call, 'take him to CHOC Orange--Intensive Care Unit--he has lost so much blood, he is in dangerous territory.'  We took our sick little guy, admitted him, and soon had IVs in both arms and legs; he was prepped for a needle biopsy to get kidney tissue to be analyzed for diagnosis and treatment.  The day dragged on while we waited for the nurse to take us to the O.R. for the procedure; instead, a team of about six hematologists came and surrounded our bed.  They had found a bleeding disorder, (Von Willebrand's Disease), and if a needle biopsy was performed, Danny would likely bleed to death on the table.  What?!  He was just playing with his pal, Cameron, his new next-door neighbor, also two, trying to ride a skateboard to keep up with his brothers, and now, a bleeding disorder? Kidney failure?!  It was just too much.  It was the first time I realized that his life was literally ebbing out of him, and maybe we wouldn't take him home--at all.