The anniversary miracle...

Today is my parents' Diamond (60th) Wedding Anniversary, and the fact that we can celebrate it together is very obviously due to a miracle of God!

No, the miracle isn't that they've been together for 64 years (they had dated for four years before getting married), the miracle is that my Dad is alive and well to celebrate this special day. And, just this week, God added a little extra miracle that just served to prove that He is God and that no one else can do the things that He does. Let me tell you about what happened this week...

Back in November 2011, when my Dad was "dying" in the intensive care unit after surgery complications, we were told that none of the ICU doctors believed he would ever leave the hospital alive. Although all the outward signs seemed to support this diagnosis, I was holding on to a promise that God had given me from Jeremiah 33 vs 3-4 and 13b: God says, I have loved you with an everlasting love and I have drawn you to me with loving kindness. I will build you up again, and you will be rebuilt. I will turn their mourning into gladness. I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."

But some weeks had passed since I wrote that promise in my journal, and Dad's condition had been very up and down, with several miracle improvements, but also lots of near death experiences where we, his family, were called to the hospital in the middle of the night to say our goodbyes. On that day when doctors told us that no one believed he would ever come out of the intensive care unit alive, I went home and I asked God again to tell me what we should expect. "Lord, will Dad still be alive at Christmas time or should we be preparing our hearts to lose him before then?"

God drew my attention to a Bible passage that is often read in church at Christmas time. Isaiah 9 vs 2: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned."  It seemed that our family had been living in the "shadow of death" for so many weeks, but on that day I felt that God said to me, "No, he's not going to die. He will still be alive at Christmas time and, more than that, he will live to celebrate his Diamond Wedding anniversary." (which at that time was still about sixteen months away.)

With thankfulness in my heart, I began to pray: Lord, if you do this, there is no way that anyone could ever doubt that you are God. The doctors have given up hope and you alone are the one that can make this happen. It would be so amazing, Father, if Dad not only lived to celebrate their special anniversary, but was even able to dance on that day, as he did at the celebration of their Ruby Wedding and Golden Wedding. (My parents have done ballroom dancing throughout their lifetime.)

Well, this seemed like a crazy prayer, when my Dad was lying in the ICU, unable to move any of his limbs or even to breathe without the help of a ventilator. Even as the months went by (almost eight long and painful months in hospital) and Dad slowly began to make a little progress, medical staff still seemed to have some doubts about whether he would ever be able to walk again. When he was finally released from hospital last June, it was only on the condition that my parents were able to install a stairlift in our home.

But Dad has continued to improve over these past months, getting his appetite back, building up his strength and walking with a stick. If it weren't for some ongoing challenges with the stoma bag, his life would almost be getting "back to normal" and my parents would be able to get on with their lives again.

An amazing extra miracle happened just this week. My parents went on Tuesday afternoon to their usual ballroom dancing group (Dad started going again recently, even though he wasn't able to dance, but could only sit and watch.) Friends there gave them a bouquet of flowers and congratulated them on their 60th wedding anniversary. And then the "impossible" happened. Mum and Dad took the floor and were able to dance a waltz together, just like they did on their wedding day sixty years ago. Mum told me that there were many tears around the room as people watched this miracle happening before their own eyes!

And so Mum and Dad have been "practising" a little at home - in anticipation of being able to dance that waltz together again when we gather to celebrate their special day with a few friends and family. God has done exactly what He said He would: He "rebuilt" and restored my Dad, despite everything that the doctors and the statistics said to convince us that it was foolish to hold on to any hope.

To those of you who were standing with us in prayer during those difficult weeks at the end of 2011, be encouraged that your prayers were part of making this miracle possible and allowing the power of God to be demonstrated in an amazing way. May God bless you and may you continue to see miracles in your own situations as you trust and follow Him in 2013.       

Happy Anniversary, Mum and Dad!