Blessings and greetings to the warriors of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Michelle and I would like to share a most glorious testimony with all of you from this past summer's national event. As we all know, every night God was moving with such an incredibly powerful manifestation, not like what is seen in most churches in America with some outward emotional visual jerking and shaking. This was a pure, inward, powerful, life-changing, Sovereign movement of God! During one of the services, Flip called forward the prior Senior Pastor (sorry, I forgot his name) for healing of the body. I knew right then Michelle needed to go forward for healing ... we have been trying to get pregnant for 4 years and were unable to conceive. But Michelle was in the nursery working, so I asked Diedre of JMP to go get her out. At that very moment, Rusty Thomas, who was sitting about 20 rows ahead of me, was telling his wife to go get Michelle also! Well, we went forward, but the Pastor did not get to pray for us for this cause.
I called Flip the next morning and asked him if he felt led the next night to call for a special altar call for us "Pro-Life" people to conceive and bring forth more arrows! Flip made that plea that evening and several couples, besides Michelle and I, came forward and received prayer.
After OSA, Michelle wanted to go see the specialist she had seen when she got pregnant with our youngest, Levi. She wanted to be sure there wasn't anything that she should be doing or taking (hormones) ... just didn't want to have any regrets years from now that there was something she should have done. She was hoping they'd at least check her hormone levels. The doctor was very negative. She told Michelle she had less than a 3% or 4% chance of conceiving and even less of a chance of carrying the baby to term due to her age (She is 44). The only test she wanted to do was to find out if Michelle had a 0% chance of conceiving. Michelle refused the test. Michelle said the whole time the doctor was talking, showing her these charts and telling her that basically she probably would not have another child ... Michelle said she was just staring at the charts and screaming in her mind, "But where's God?" Michelle said she could not get out of there fast enough. She went home, got on her face before God, repented of any wrong heart attitudes through the years, got the mind of the Lord, and began to proclaim the deity of God and His Awesomeness and His Greatness!
What Michelle didn't realize at that time was that she was already pregnant .... she had conceived just four weeks after receiving prayer at the OSA National Event!! Go God!!
We are now in, and have been in, some scary times, The baby is almost 12 weeks old, and, currently, Michelle is in the hospital. Michelle has had bouts with spotting, bleeding, and cramping, none which brings peace to any couples' mind who is pregnant. Last week, though, things seemed to be going better. Michelle had been released from a specialist and back to her OBGYN. He put her on light duty, but no work (which has been a financial strain on us since she has not been able to work this entire pregnancy). On Wednesday when we had gone to run an errand, Michelle stepped out of the car and said, "My water just broke! What do we do?" I said call the doctor and then said let's go to the hospital. But when Michelle raised her pant legs, blood was all the way down into her shoes - it did not look good. It was difficult not to be overcome with anxiety, fearing the inevitable, but we kept believing God for the outcome. I prayed for Michelle, as I do and have done every time the bleeding would start, and then it would always IMMEDIATELY stop, and this time was no different. By the time we arrived, the bleeding stopped. But even by the looks of the doctor's and nurse's faces, it was very concerning. Well, when they took us in for the ultrasound we saw the baby, but the nurse said the heartbeat was faint and then proceeded to look for where the blood came from. Of course, all the bleeding had stopped (Glory to God!), but we wanted to see the heartbeat. I have been there in the past for these ultrasounds that turned out bad, and we were concerned about the outcome here too, considering what just happened. We asked the nurse to please go back to the baby ... it seemed like forever, so she did and turned on the volume ... WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH ... the heart rate was 175 and STRONG! PRAISE GOD! Then the baby just lifted her or his hands and begun to jump around! The doctor and nurse were amazed! We were given two options, be admitted to the hospital or strict bedrest. We decided on bedrest and went home. Michelle was on bedrest for 7 months while pregnant with Levi, so I'm used to my calling. Again, that night, she has another serious bleed and called the doctor. He wanted to admit her but said she could stay home if the bleeding stopped by that evening. We prayed and the Lord stopped the bleeding again!!
Four days ago she had another serious bleed and the doctor now gave her no option, he was admitting her. She had an ultrasound in his office and the baby just did a hand stand and cartwheel during this ultrasound! Bill Shanks gave great insight into the baby's actions ... that the baby is "definitely a Sochia, in the midst of all hell breaking loose, the baby is just-a-PRAISING GOD!" What a confirming word!
They did another ultrasound yesterday and the bleeds appear to all be clotted. The baby was springing off of the side of the sack and having a great time! She is scheduled to have another ultrasound with a perinatologist tomorrow, and then hopefully we can go home. So here we are in the hospital, but pleased to say God is on His throne and in control. Oh, and by the way, believing baby Sochia 7 will be with us for OSA 2011!
Please keep us in your prayers.
Blessings,
Dale
