Happy Feast of St. Barnabas!
As many of you may have read in previous posts this week, we had a lot of excitement: the trip to Mexico for Christina's surgery was by God's grace a huge success, and we can thank him for his continued healing. I'd like to include here an excerpt from a letter that she sent her own prayer warriors:
Dear Friends:
I am so pleased to report that I am home. I am not experiencing any pain. The procedure went remarkably well. There were many strange experiences that occurred during this trip that can only be attributed to prayers offered on my behalf.
I want to share with you how God answered prayers. It is truly remarkable when I think about it. I am so thankful for His mercies and for your willingness to pray for me.
We began our journey on Friday morning. Jon, David and I left mid-morning. I was so tired the previous night I forgot to take pain medication. I had to have two and sometimes four different kinds of pain pills to cope the days prior. My kidney was swelling and there was a blockage. It is the worst kind of pain. Friday morning I woke up with no pain. NONE. We continued to travel and I never again felt pain. There was no explanation for it except the power of prayer.
I do not cope with going into surgery very well. As they wheel me away, I am usually overwhelmed with fear and just the oppressiveness of medical procedures. This time they wheeled me away, I never once felt anxiety or any kind of negative emotion.
I came out of the procedure with minimal pain. I did not experience a repeat of complications I had in February. That is, the sand created a blockage in my ureter causing me to be extremely ill and rehospitalized. It took six days of enduring unbearable pain before the debris passed. This time, I felt great, minimal pain and began passing the debris right away.
Every aspect of our trip worked well. It was clear there were people praying for us. Even as we arrived to the Mexican border this afternoon, I could see how God worked. We got out of the taxi and a man approached me saying, "If you want to go to Belize, here is the bus." It had just pulled up and he was there encouraging us to get on the bus. He just happened to see us and gave us the information. We didn't have to stand in the sun and try to flag down a taxi. That man road the bus with us and just kept smiling at me. He was one of those helpers sent by God to make our trip go a little smoother. How did he know we needed to go to Corazal? Why did he bother telling us there was a bus right there? Why did he bother telling us riding the bus was less expensive then the taxi? I don't know. I thought he was the conductor just trying to improve his business. He was just another passenger, a helper and it was fantastic timing. The buses only come to the Mexican border every hour or two. The timing was impeccable.
I love to see God work this way. I am so in awe of the power of prayer. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers. We continue to praise God for how He reveals Himself in our lives through our travels and during our afflictions.
In Christ,
Christina