Newsletter

May 2011 Newsletter

Miracle of Prayer: 'A New Heart' by Linda Sweeney

By now you know that we in Big Dream Ministries not only believe in the power of prayer, but we depend upon it for our every move and decision! Throughout my life God has done some pretty AMAZING works in the "prove Me" department, and each time He has done this my faith has grown by leaps and bounds!

It was ten years ago and our ministry was in the early stages. My full-time job had gone to part time; my daughter was pregnant with our second grandchild...a little girl, and we were feeling pretty good about everything. Because my daughter had experienced two miscarriages she was considered an "at-risk" pregnancy. She was scheduled for a series of ultra-sounds early on and the first one revealed a problem with her...a tiny growth or cyst. She was sent to a specialist who had the most up-to-date equipment and given yet another ultra sound. It was at this point, that our world was badly shaken. We learned that her problem was tiny and would most likely clear up on its own, but the test revealed that our little granddaughter had a heart problem that could take her life and at the very least would mean serious open-heart surgery within 24 hours of her birth as well as many surgeries in the future and very limited activities during her lifetime. I remember going shopping for the traditional "going home from the hospital" outfit that "Nonnie" bought and thinking "Will we bury her in this or bring her home in it?" I tried not to think of this very real possibility, but it was a hard time...trying to be encouraging and excited with this hanging out in the back of my heart and mind!

I began to pray (and enlisted everyone I could think of to pray with me) that God would give Katelin a new heart. This was my fervent prayer for months (which seemed like years). The delivery day came and Katelin was born with a very defective heart...the size of a walnut and with three chambers instead of four! We were all devastated and disappointed. As planned she was whisked off in an ambulance to EmoryHospital in Atlanta and I stayed behind with her mom as her daddy traveled with her for the surgery. That was a really hard day! She survived the surgery but was in ICU hooked up to many tubes for a week. She was able to come home sooner than anticipated with a feeding tube on my birthday! Oh, I forgot to mention that she was born on February 14th - Valentines Day! She's definitely our little sweetheart, and God just thinks of everything!

I was admonished by a few for praying that prayer about a new heart and being disappointed, but I kept praying knowing God made her and her heart and could change it if He so chose! At 6 months she went for a very important and telling heart cath and a report about all the surgery that would be forthcoming in the years ahead with an explanation of her anticipated very limited lifestyle. The doctor (finest orthopedic surgeon in the SE) came in after a long time of waiting and said: "I have good news, great news and excellent news! Which would you like first?" They chose the good. He said: "The good news is that she went through the heart cath well and is in recovery ready to go home with you. The great news is that she didn't need an Angioplasty as first thought, and the excellent news is this: This girl has a new heart! This is not the heart we operated on six months ago! I'd say she has a new heart! We've never seen anything quite like this before, but instead of planning her limited life, sign her up for the Olympics and take her home!" This doctor did not know about the prayers for a new heart...BUT GOD DID!

Now, we all know things don't always turn out this way, and it's not my intension to give any of you false hope regarding the tough things you may be praying for or about, BUT I know that the God I serve and love can do ANYTHING, and that He alone gets the glory for this miracle of prayer! My "faith meter" went off the charts with this one! Now when I pray for anything I consider difficult, I remember what God did for Katelin and for us and think "He CAN do anything...NOTHING is impossible or too difficult for Him (Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:27)! Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! May He restore, rebuild, revive, renew and refresh the areas of your life that are in need of a Miracle through prayer! Don't ever give up or give in!