Good morning…
On Monday morning, my dad and I were with my mom in the ICU when her regular doctor stopped in. He had seen my mom soon after she was admitted, when she was hooked up to all the machinery keeping her alive. Very, very sick with an unidentified infection, she was unresponsive and highly sedated. That Friday, her doctor did not seem very optimistic. Now this was Monday. What would he say?
My mom’s high fever was down and her eye lids were up. All of her vital signs were stabilized in normal range. Her kidneys were functioning again. She was off the ventilator, breathing on her own strength. My mom was in bed awake, resting and interacting.
“Wow,” her doctor said. “I wasn’t expecting to see you like this. It’s impossible to explain what I’m seeing.”
He went over to my mom’s chart and flipped through the pages, searching for a reason for her surprise turn around. He came back over to us and shook his head in disbelief. “I have to tell you, there is no medical explanation for what I am seeing. It’s incredible. Unbelievable.”
“I think we are seeing the power of God rising from the prayers of so many people,” I said, putting in words what I truly believe.
“Whatever you are doing,” he replied, “keep on doing it.”
Now two days later, waking in the middle of the night back at home in Atlanta, I scroll through my phone at the messages of people from all over the world who are diligently praying for God’s will to be done in the life of my mother. Pastors from our church. Our 1975 exchange student from Norway. A high school friend and our uncle, both in California. Our writers’ group. Our small group from church. Our therapeutic community group and homework helpers from PAWkids. Our Israel 2022 group. Our Fab Five friends. Our Friday class. Our Monday class. Our Banquet Bible study. Regular walk-and-talk friends. Our written word community. Old friends from different life phases and family members from near and far. Churches in Atlanta, Ohio, Pennsylvania. I had thrown out a wide net to gather prayers for my mom.
Since our post My Mom Is In the ICU, one hundred and eleven emails have blessed my inbox with prayerful encouragement. Filled up with my parents’ needs face to face, unfortunately I have responded to very few emails. Please know we appreciate each and every one. Ninety nine texts have also graced my phone. To each I have at least tried to share a “heart” symbol to express my gratitude. And I am just one person in God’s healing puzzle. A mammoth web of intimate prayer connection fans out from our family so far and so wide. It is amazing to feel the sturdy nest of prayers supporting us during this challenging time.
There may be no medical explanation for my mother’s extreme turn around in the ICU, but, for me, there is an undeniable spiritual explanation. Our family is experiencing the incredible power of heartfelt prayer. When a believing person prays, great things happen [The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective] (James 5:16b, EXB). Thank you for continuing to pray for the slow, steady recovery of my mom, Marie Herr, and for my father, Tom, who is being empowered by God to patiently support my mom’s evolving needs.
…Sue…
