A Heavenly
Visitation
For years I have wanted to
write this story but was afraid that I would not portray the feelings
completely or the degree of love that God has for each of His special children
and for the family.
In 1975 my husband and I went
on a trip of a lifetime with two dear friends. We were so excited, buying new clothes and looking forward
to a ten-day vacation. There were
so many things that happened on this trip but what I want to share with you is
a walk on the beach where we ended our vacation at Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina.
My friend, Deb, and I were
walking on the beach one morning and in the distance I could hear laughter that
to this day I can close my eyes and still hear and see these people. As we walked closer we saw a beautiful
family sitting approximately 15 feet from the water. A small child was going out in the water, rolling around at
the edge and going back to his parents.
From a distance, I thought to myself the child was too young to be going
out into the water by himself even to the edge. As we got closer the laughter and joy of this family was
instilled in my mind forever and I could see that this child was older than I
thought. He had no arms from the
elbows down and no legs from the knees down. My heart never felt sad for this family because I have never
seen so much joy and happiness on anyone’s face. I remember telling Deb that was true happiness.
We went home and told about
all the wonderful things that happened on our trip but never mentioned the
beautiful family I saw on the beach.
A short time later I found out that I was pregnant. Do you remember how excited you were
when you were told you were going to have your first child? The baby showers and the excitement of
getting the room ready for your new addition are etched into your mind. My husband worked 3rd
shift. One morning he came home
wearing a corsage and carrying a load of gifts. The women at his work had given him a baby shower. Life was perfect. We had restored my husband’s birthplace
and everything was ready for this new bundle of joy.
The day finally arrived but
first I must tell you that for nine months I was not able to eat. I would eat three and four times at a
meal but the food would simply not stay down. I was hungry. I
lost weight instead of gaining but all chemistry and vital signs were normal.
Was this my body telling me something was wrong? My belly was so small that I wore my regular clothes to the
hospital. During the pregnancy my
husband took me to a maternity store to buy me some clothes but I never filled
them out. I know if my husband was
going to cheat on me it would be with a pregnant woman because he says they
have a special glow and beauty.
We go to the doctor and they
send me over to the hospital. It
is time. Twelve hours later it is
still time but no baby. Finally,
this new bundle of joy was born.
When the pediatrician laid our new son in my arms, I could not see him. It was like I left my body and was
standing on the seashore smelling the mist from the ocean. At that moment if you asked me where I
was, I would have told you my feet were touching sand and I could smell the
ocean. I was standing back in
front of a beautiful happy family so before I could see my new son I knew
something was wrong but God comforted me by showing me the happiness of this
family. I felt a love and a peace
around me that made me know everything was going to be all right. Our son was
born without the radius bones (TAR Syndrome, thrombocytopenia with absence of
radius). His hands touched his
shoulders. There were other
problems that kept us in the hospital.
His liver was enlarged, the billirubin levels were high, and they
thought he had a blockage in his bile duct. He jaundice so he looked like he had a beautiful tan. The doctors wanted to redo the blood
work but they did not want to draw so much blood again from our son. They let us finally go home waiting for
a call for us to go to the university hospital. As soon as we arrived home, our doctor called for us to come
back to his office because he had found another lab to perform the test with
less blood. There were so many
people praying to God to heal our son.
The next day we went to the big university hospital. They thought our son had a rare disease
not seen since 1952. Medical
students and doctors wanted to observe us. When we arrived at the hospital, they took blood to redo the
tests and the next morning they were back in the room to take more blood for
more tests. Later in the evening
our doctor came in and told us were going home in the morning. The test in our hometown had been
performed at two different labs so two labs had not made the same mistake. The doctor looked at us and said we had
witnessed a miracle because according to all the original blood work our son
needed surgery. God heard the
people’s prayers and came down from His throne and healed our son.
When I packed my suitcase for
the hospital, I forgot to pack my Bible and there was no Gideon Bible in my
room but I believe that was God’s plan.
As I would pray to Him, He would immediately take me out of my body and
stand me in front of that beautiful-happy family. There are no words to explain the comfort I felt. I do not know if this was a real family
or angels that God had sent to minister to me but for years when I went to my
quiet place to talk to God about uncertainties about our son, He would
immediately take me out of my body and stand me in front of this family so I
could once again fill the love and happiness. This gave me the courage to be strong and to treat our son
as if he had no obstacles to overcome.
One day I will be able to
thank these people personally for letting me see the love and compassion of
Jesus in their lives, to see how precious the family is to God, and for helping
me have the courage to go out and live my life with these values.
Was this a heavenly
visitation? You decide!
Please follow me on twitter @Brenda_Haley and on facebook at Chariot Works
