A Baby Dedication And A Hole In A Heart

I was talking today with one of our financial employees about her son and a hole in his heart. Somewhere between the time that tests showed the hole and getting scheduled for a procedure to close it, the hole disappeared. A lot of prayers were prayed for Andy and as we talked we agreed that this indeed could be a wonderful miracle of healing. An additional test will confirm that the hole  is really gone. PTL!

I told Lolly about the very first foster baby that Kathy and I, mostly Kathy, cared for. Katie came to us as an infant with a rather large hole in her heart. Our social work said that our task would be to help Katie gain weight and strength to endure an operation to close the heart. We also had to commit to a series of doctors visits, tests and whatever Katie might need. At the time we were working at First Assembly of God in Albany, Oregon and our senior pastor was Allen (Tex) Groff. He is a real pastor's pastor. The kind of pastor that made everyone feel great about being part of our church. When he led our services, it was like your father or grandfather was in charge, you knew you were loved and cared for. We knew that asking him to dedicate Katie was a little strange since she wasn't our child and we did not know what her future might hold. When we asked him about it, it was the kind of reaction I knew he would have, he was all for it. That morning he cradled Katie just like she was his own. For that moment, she was, that was the way Tex Groff was, and even though she was an infant, I can't help but believe that God helped her understand what a wonderful environment, and arms, she was in. We prayed for her, shed a few tears and rejoiced in God's goodness and then the service went on.

A week later, Kathy took Katie for an appointment. The doctor listened, and listened and finally said that he needed to take her to another examination room. After quite awhile, the doctors came back to tell Kathy that they thought the hole might not be there anymore. After confirming tests, that is exactly what it was. Katie had been healed during her dedication. Our church rejoiced in this wonderful manifestation of God's love and care for one so small and defenseless. Within a few days the social services department put her on the active adoption list and she left our home for a permanent one. Over the next twenty years we saw many miracles in the lives of children that we cared for in our home, but that experience was one of the real highlights. God is so good. Oh, and Andy, we'll be waiting for that confirmation so we can celebrate with you.