I had an amazing miracle happen to me last weekend! I am due to have a baby in a few weeks, and discovered a few weeks ago that my baby is presenting breech. After having 6 “normal” deliveries, the thought of having a C-section was really not sitting too well. But, I like to say that I trust in God, and I am happy to submit to His Will, and if that is really His Will, then I am going to go along with His plan.
So I would half-heartedly pray and ask Our Lord to flip this baby. But I never really said it with a deep conviction, because I wanted to prepare myself for baby not actually flipping. It’s just easier for my pride that way- not getting too attached to my desired outcome.
I started to read a book a few days before the miracle about childbirth, without realizing that it was a Christian author. Her conviction in trusting in the Lord was almost scandalous to me! She would proclaim things in the Lord’s name without there being any evidence of a different outcome. For example, she was heavily bleeding during one of her early pregnancies, but she demanded that this miscarriage end and that this baby be carried to term and completely healthy in Jesus’ name. She prayed and was completely convinced that her baby was perfectly fine in the spiritual realm, but in the physical realm, she continued to heavily bleed. She never had a doubt that her prayer wouldn’t be answered, and sure enough, 7 months later delivered a precious little girl.
While this kind of scandalized me, it also was a wake-up call that my “surrender” to His Will, which I thought was faith, might actually be code for laziness. So I prayed boldly, and sure enough I received a miracle.
I had just received Holy Communion and was kneeling, wait, actually I was sitting because my 1-year-old wanted to be held and my 3-year-old, who is perpetually attached to my hip was leaning on me, and my 36 week pregnant belly just didn’t really fit in the kneeling position… Despite this obnoxious scene, I closed my eyes and talked to Jesus from the heart.
I said, “Jesus, I believe that this really is You, body, blood, soul and divinity. Thank you for coming to me in such an intimate way. Right now, You are resting peacefully beside this tiny life inside of me. I ask that You gently take hold of this child and flip him/her into the perfect position so that I can safely deliver this baby, the way you intended. I leave this in Your hands. Amen.”
Normally I would be like, if you don’t mind, or if it is your will, or you know what is best for me, or some other non-committed statement. But this time, I prayed boldly, clearly stating what I wanted, and prayed confidently. I then didn’t really think much about the situation until Tuesday morning.
I was the first appointment on my doctor’s schedule that morning. I was casually chatting with the nurse about the crazy weather we had, then questioning the doctor about when he planned to flip baby, when he looked at me puzzled. He said that he could feel a head down in the lower part of my stomach. “ No way!” I thought. I had had a head stuck under my right rib for so long, and was so used to leaning to the left to be able to breathe that I figured I would have noticed sooner! I also never felt baby flip… I had to manually flip my previous baby, so from experience, there is NO WAY you couldn’t feel a baby at 36 weeks flip! The doctor got out his portable ultrasound machine and sure enough, this baby is in perfect alignment for D-day! Thank you Jesus for Your faithfulness!!
Why is faith such a hard thing for us to do? Isn’t it really just a decision? Why do we doubt, or make excuses instead of boldly asking? Didn’t Jesus say, “Ask and ye shall receive?” Pretty sure the saying isn’t if you stutter and stammer, and make excuses I might think you are trying to be humble or something weird and I will grant your wish like a genie in a bottle. NOPE. He is the Lord- the creator of the universe… He doesn’t need Minnesota nice/passive aggressive statements! He wants crystal clear, bold statements, full of confidence in His providence. I am really going to be vulnerable here in saying that this miracle meant much more to me than just the physical consequences of a flipped baby. I have been feeling pretty dry in my faith life recently, and kind of like I was just going through the motions. God is so merciful that He shows up in a big way when we need Him the most! Not only did I receive a miracle in the physical realm, I received a much greater miracle in the spiritual realm as well.
Until next time my dear friends- your sister in Christ,
Leah
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