Do you believe in MIRACLES???

I find myself overwhelmed by what my family has experienced this last weekend. I will do my best to explain the miraculous events of Jehovah Raphia, the God who heals, showing up in our presence.

Saturday evening, Brad and I were at our local gym wrapping up a time of swimming with the girls. Maggie was having an attack of fear. These attacks can be triggered when she experiences fear or pain. When it begins to sweep over her, my precious girl turns into a completely different child. She is panicked and unable to see, hear or receive truth. As I worked with her, in the locker room I felt compelled we should leave, getting her home to help her feel safe. Brad had taken Libi to the locker room with him to change her and our wonderful Haddie, was once again left in the aftermath of gathering up towels, goggles, shoes, and walker as her daddy and I took care of her sisters. 

Within a minute of arriving at the van with Haddie and Maggie, still trying to bring Maggie out of her panic, Brad came charging toward us with Libi. He told me she was seizing.

When Libi seizes fears grips my heart. I fear losing her. Fear of death, fear of losing a piece of her that we have gained over the last 5 years. This is an area that I fail to give complete trust to God. As I jumped into the front seat with my baby girl, this fear gripped me like no other time before.

Unfortunately, I had no medication on hand to stop the seizure. Being just a few blocks away from the hospital, we could drive there faster than attempting to call paramedics. I found myself in a place of complete desperation, and dependancy. I had only ONE lifeline, Jesus. 

Libi was in a severe grand maul, it was one of the most violent seizures I have seen her experience. I kept asking Jesus to help us, I heard my sweet Haddie asking the same. 

As we neared the hospital, I prayed fervently, claiming the Lord's power and authority over our little girl, that she needed only HIM to stop this seizure. Within seconds of these words being spoken the purple began to fade from her lips, and her eyes started to engage with me. I carried her into the ER, not quite sure if the seizure was over, and desperately asked for a room. 

I laid Libi on the bed, and she went CRAZY! She was crawling all over, grabbing at cords, we could hardly contain her. Yes, she was out of the seizure, but was not even postictal. (Postictal is the effect on a person after the body is released from seizeing, basically leaving them extremely lethargic) Typically, Libi will go into a deep sleep for hours after a seizure. 

Not only was Libi not experiencing postictal symptoms, but she had completely come out of her seizure without medication. This has never happened before, she had been seizing for 20 minutes. Her levels were all completely normal!

The seizure was so severe it left her with partial paralysis of her right arm. She kept face planting on the hospital bed as she was bouncing all over trying to support herself with that arm. We were all in amazement! The nurses, who know Libi quite well, said they had never seen her like this.

One word: MIRACULOUS!

In the hospital bed, beginning to use her right arm again.

Signing "eat" as we wait for her hamburger in the Mc Donald's drive through.

As if that were not enough, Sunday morning Maggie was with us in church, and I just kept feeling God speak to my heart of His absolute healing power. An invitation was given at the end of our service to come forward and have an elder anoint you with oil and pray if you were in need of healing. 

James 5:14

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

I asked Maggie if she wanted to be prayed for, and she eagerly responded, yes. We stepped forward and spent a precious time before the throne of grace claiming healing over Maggie's brokenness, both physically and spiritually. Maggie has been struggling to be on her feet, even since the casts have come off. Again, when she experiences pain it triggers fear, and this has paralyzed her with rehabilitating. Late yesterday afternoon this is what was happening with Maggie:

I believe God performs miracles to show Himself. To show His power, and increase faith. I know this has been accomplished in our home as a result, but I pray that God will allow the miraculous work of His hand to reach further than the walls of our home and accomplish an even greater work!

What's Going On???

Do you wonder what's been  going on?????

I LOVE this picture! It captures my girls' personalities oh so well! This was definitely a "desperate times call for desperate measures" moment!

This particular day we simply needed to get out of the house. So, I loaded up the back of the van with a couple wheelchairs and we headed to the local flower shop. Needless to say, I was sweating before we even backed out of the drive!! It was an adventure and we provided great entertainment for those who encountered us on our outing.

It has been a LONG four months. At times, our home feeling more like a medical ward. As we near the end of  this season of procedures and recovery, I will never say that it has been easy, but filled with God's provision for each day! God continues to reveal my ugly, selfish heart, and keeps the process going of molding me into His image. For that process, I am hopeful that on the other side of the physical change in my girls there will be spiritual, heart change in this mama.

We are feeling a bit lighter at the Arnold house this morning. Maggie had her casts removed yesterday after 45 days!!!  The whole family is so in awe of this brave little girl! We know that her challenges in this life have been great. How thankful we are that this challenge is not one that she will fight through without us!

As you can tell she was feeling footless, and free yesterday when those casts came off!!! Today has been a little rough as the reality of more work and pain sets in. Watching her experience pain is difficult, yet I am thankful that I can hold on to the hope of what this pain will produce for her body.

Libi had her 7th Birthday and got a new swing! It was such a joy to celebrate another year of greatness in our sweet Libi Love! We continue to pray for Libi to gain the ability to walk, and seek God's healing of her body!

Somehow my little man-child has grown into a BIG man-child! He will be graduating in just a couple of weeks and my heart does not know how to process this new chapter. Jacob is the child who delivered to me a lifelong dream, to become a mother. From the moment he entered my life he was teaching me about growing up and putting another person above myself. It does not surprise me that Jacob desires to live by the words of Luke 9:23-24:

and He said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."

God has allowed many circumstances to enter Jacob's life that have required self denial. Days of an unwed mother and a foster sister entering our family, leaving him without a bedroom, or a bed, for 6 months. Being completely changed by the joy of a beautiful sister and, having to let her go. Embracing 3 more sisters with various medical needs, that leave little time or attention yet, he says he is a better person because of it.

I told him the other night that he has been an easy child to parent, outside of the horrific 18-36 months that I try to block out of my mind. The truth is, he has not just been easy, but he has been a DREAM COME TRUE!

                   Beyond what I could have ever asked or imagined!!! God writes a much better story than any we could ever plan or desire!!!