Ordinary Miracles, Pt. 1
by Jacci Knight
Sometimes I get to work each morning, pull into the parking lot and realize that I’ve been on autopilot for the last 10 miles…just driving down the highway, thinking about something probably not so important as the road in front of me. I park my car, pull the key from the ignition and wonder how I made all those left-hand turns without even thinking about it. Am I the only one who does this?
I was challenged lately to think about how many ordinary miracles happen around me each day; things I miss simply because I’m not paying attention—like on my drive to work. The sun rises every morning, flowers grow, birds lay eggs that eventually hatch into little birds that instinctively know how to flap their wings and fly away. They seem like ordinary things, until I remember that it is God who “commands the morning and causes the dawn to know its place.” He tells the seas: “Thus far you shall come, and no father,” and it is at His command that “the eagle mounts up and make his nest on high.”
I see His hand in nature, but how often does God intervene in my own life and I don’t even notice, let alone say “thank you”? The near misses while I’m driving to work without thinking about driving to work. (Every now and then He lets me to rear-end someone just to get my attention.) Money mysteriously shows up in my bank account for a mission trip. A stranger stops to help me change a tire. Or a gentle whisper in my spirit warns me, “don’t go that way.” The ordinary intervention of God.
This year God performed an ordinary miracle in the life of one of our little girls, and we would be remiss not to stop and give Him all the credit. Last August we asked you to pray for Ioana, who suffers from severe scoliosis; so severe that she could no longer sit up straight or walk without pain.
Our Romanian director, Romica Iuga, met a doctor from Vienna who agreed to see Ioana if we could her get to him. Just months before we had secured Ioana a passport—for an entirely different reason, so we thought—a process that took nearly the entire year due to her status as an abandoned child. With her new passport we sent her to Vienna with the hope that we might get some answers about Ioana’s condition that could help her. And we did. The doctor foretold that Ioana’s curving spine would eventually begin to crush her organs and make it impossible for her to breathe. He also told us he thought he could help her through surgery.
At the time we did not know where the money for this procedure would come from–almost 10,000 Euro. But, we knew the One who commissioned us to care for the orphan, and that He would make a way. Romica made the first trip to Vienna with her, and our foundation’s psychologist and our social worker took turns staying with her during the surgeries.
We’re excited to report that Ioana survived her first operation on October 20th, and a second on October 27th. Her second surgery last almost eight hours as the doctors worked to straighten her spine! Her recovery is going well and Ioana is very motivated to walk again. She does physical therapy three times a week, and can now stand up by herself, and walk with a walker. We are still looking for a good physical therapist that will come to the House of Hope, because it is extremely hard for her to travel right now. We offer our thanks to all of you who gave generously and prayed fervently for this miracle.