What You Need To Know About Seeing The Small Things As Miracles – A Personal Story

Do you struggle with believing God hears your prayers? Here is a personal story about small prayers and perspective when bad things happen.

Popping in with a short story about the little incident that popped up Friday night for us and where my head is with it all.

Fair warning.

I am a teeny bit emotional. 🙂

Just going to wing this and write straight from the trenches of my heart today with little to zero proof-reading.

Because?

There happens to be a lot rattling on in this Momma mind of mine.

Here is what I know about me.

And?

Here is what I think I know about you too.

Sometimes, we doubt.

Sometimes we doubt ourselves.

Sometimes we doubt God.

Sometimes we doubt if He hears us our prayers.

Sometimes we doubt if He even cares at all.

So friend, if your believer’s heart is in need of a little refreshment of truth to cling on to today…this post is for you.

What You Need To Know About Seeing The Small Things As Miracles – A Personal Story

You may already know if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, that on Friday our middle daughter Maci, attended a social event at her middle school and was injured while playing indoor soccer.

But, here is what you don’t know.

First, let me back up.

If you have been following along here on the blog for the last month or so, then you also already know that our youngest daughter Livvy, has been recovering from a broken wrist from playing lacrosse.

Just last Tuesday we had her final follow up appointment with her orthopedic to clear her for sports. Praise God!

Our orthopedic doctor was just amazing with Livvy and before we left asked us to follow up with her via email to let her know how Livvy was doing over the coming weeks.

Which means?

On Friday night…when I got the phone call that Maci had been hurt?

God was already in it and ahead of us making a way for her recovery before I even knew about her injury.

A way for a need to be met.

A need I never knew we were going to have, until we had it.

There, in urgent care as Maci tried to calm her breathing, the medical staff read the x-rays and shared the disappointing news.

Maci had suffered two broken bones in her arm, both the radius and ulna were fractured and the fracture in her radius went directly through her growth plate.

Friend, this was upsetting news for our sports loving girl.

While we were reeling a bit from the sudden Friday night turn of events…God was not caught off guard.

In fact?

I was reminded of the gift of the orthopedic business card and email address, He had purposefully placed in my desk drawer for this exact need.

It turns out Livvy’s broken wrist became a blessing for the gift of communication with the right person at the right time.

I sent Livvy’s orthopedic an email sharing that Livvy’s progress was going wonderfully.

However, we had a new need…a broken arm for my middle daughter, Maci.

And this was her reply.

Friend, I have tears welling in my eyes because receiving this doctor’s reply, that she could see our girl first thing on Monday morning was an answer to prayer.

Instead of waiting for Monday morning at 8 am to start calling around to orthopedic offices to see about getting an appointment for a time later in the week, we were able to cling to the hope of having this appointment already scheduled.

I get it.

It might not seem like much.

In fact?

You could look at it as though our girls had been cursed with bad luck for suffering two separate breaks back to back.

But the way I viewed it?

Is that God always sees the bigger picture, He is our Shepherd and goes before us.

His gentle hand is always working.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 niv

Fast forward to Monday morning, we were off bright and early to the hospital for our 8:30 am appointment. Praise God!

Miracle #1

Our fabulous orthopedic doctor walked into her waiting room, from the parking lot, and without even putting down her purse, came straight over to Maci with deep compassion and empathy for her pain and situation.

And then?

More x-rays.

You might recall that when the doctor emailed me, she gave us two options for appointments and locations.

We chose the earlier appointment which was inside Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore versus the later appointment, which would have been at the U.S.A. Lacrosse Headquarters, where Livvy had been seen.

The blessing in this, is the fact that when the X-rays showed the complication of the fractured growth plate etc, we were already in the right location to also be seen by one of the best hand surgeons in the area and get his opinion on treatment.

The hand surgeon’s recommendation was to have Maci go under anesthesia and for him to do a “closed reduction” and manipulate the bones back into place.

If the bones would not stay into proper position, then he would need to insert a temporary pin to hold the bone in place.

There was just one issue with this plan.

There were not any Operating Rooms available that day.

This was a big bummer.

We were there now and hopeful for something to take place today in order to get Maci a little bit of relief and start her on the road to recovery.

The doctor explained, the operating rooms had no openings and even if he tried to list Maci as an “Add-on,” the likelihood would be for her to just continue to get bumped and bumped down the schedule and into the night, as more urgent traumas would override her need.

Leaving the hospital with no progress and then driving the hour back home and then driving the hour back to come down to Baltimore tomorrow was not ideal, but it was all we had.

At least we would have a plan.

We understood and nodded our heads as he explained he would contact his colleagues to see if one of them would be willing to take her case the next day.

He left the room to contact his colleagues to see if he could schedule Maci for the next day.

And then?

We waited for him to come back.

Only, I didn’t just wait.

I prayed.

I tugged on the cord of the window shade, raising it in order to let more of the sun and natural light into the room and I stared up at that big beautiful sun…and I prayed.

I brought our need to God and talked plainly with Him.

“God, I am coming to you with a need.

This is the need.

We need an operating room to open up.

Please God shift things in the schedule and make a way for room to open up on the schedule for Maci today.

God, you tell us in your Word that even if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains.

Please God make room for Maci today in the operating room.”

Amen.

“…Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

matthew 17:20 niv

Friend we were in that patient exam room for awhile, waiting to hear the plan for tomorrow.

The minutes kept ticking by and I kept turning my head from Maci sitting on the exam table to the window, where blue sky moved overhead and a bright sun streamed into the room.

And I kept praying, please God make room in the operating room for Maci today…

And then?

The doctor came back into the room with a woman we had not seen before.

He introduced her as Paula and informed us that Paula seems to think she can wiggle Maci onto the O.R. schedule today!

Praise You God!

I have chills and goosebumps even now, sitting here in my writing chair as I type this, taking me back to this moment of surprise but also not surprised!

Because in my mind, all I could do was think:

Praise YOU God!!

God, You moved the mountain!!

God You are amazing!!

God, You HEAR US when we pray to you.

God, You love us and want us to bring our needs to you.

God, You want what is best for us.

God, You are so good.

Thank you God!

Friend, as soon as the doctor left the room to prepare his team, I shared with Maci that I had been praying the entire time that something would open up for her today and He did!

Do you know what she said?

“He doesn’t answer my prayers.”

Friend, I get it.

Maybe you are feeling like that too.

Like, He doesn’t answer your prayers.

Which is why I am taking the time to write this little story and share it with you today.

There are plenty of times, when we feel like God is not hearing our prayers or answering our prayers.

I really do understand, because I feel that way too sometimes.

And the truth is?

God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way or the timing we want them to be answered in.

And, if our prayers are few and far between?

Well then…we aren’t really giving Him many chances to move on our behalf.

But this is what I know.

The more willing we are to see even the smallest things as miracles…

The more likely we are to see miracles and prayers being answered around us.

Let’s recap:

Miracle #1: The fact we had an existing and current relationship with the orthopedic doctor already established who was able to offer Maci an appointment firs thing on Monday morning at 8:30 am.

Miracle #2: We were already in the right location of a hospital for surgery with a renown hand specialist.

Miracle #3: The already FULL Operating Room schedule suddenly shifting and opening up space for Maci.

It is our choice to see these small things as blessings and especially the third as a direct answer to prayer.

Heck, I may even be willing to go on record that “Miss Paula,” who we were introduced to by the hand surgeon as the one who informed the doctor Maci could be squeezed in…that she just may have been a heaven on earth angel, assigned by God to intercede on my Maci’s behalf.

Miss Paula not only made it happen that day, she personally escorted us out of the professional offices, down the elevator, and across to the far, other side of the hospital in order to hand deliver us to the O.R. staff and waiting room.

Does that even happen?!

Sure, some could say we are actually unfortunate because we have had two daughters suffer back to back injuries that are sidelining them at a horrible time, just before their beloved lacrosse season kicks off.

But here is what I know.

It can always be worse, in fact I wrote about “The Phrase That Pulls You Back To Gratitude” HERE in this post, because this little phrase keeps our family plugging along when unfortunate things happen.

Like when Maci accidentally wound up and wacked my face with a golf club while mini golfing. Click HERE for that story and our family mantra that helps to keep our chins up when things go wrong.

Here’s the Truth and why I know it can always be worse.

This Sunday, April 2nd will mark 41 years that my brother died.

I have shared this story with you before Here in this post, written exactly one year ago.

I wrote this post, “3 Things I Want My Daughter To Know Before She Turns 13” last year, because Eve was just about to turn 13 years old (she turns 14 tomorrow) and I was super emotional about her turning 13 and also attending the same exact middle school, and being the same age my brother was when he died.

And now?

As Eve is 13 and about to graduate from the same school my brother attended, when he was as an 8th grader, just like her….

This Spring, this April 2nd… is the first time in my life, that I am actually able to be truly imagine what mothering a child for a full 13 years is like, and try to comprehend the experience of the unimaginable heart wrecking, soul gouging grief of having them suddenly gone.

My brother died 41 years ago, when I was 1 and he was 13 years old. He came home from school and went back out the door to play hide and seek with neighbors and he never made it back home.

The phone rang on a sunny early Spring Friday evening and then my Mom was met by police officers who delivered every parent’s nightmare and accompanied her to the hospital to say goodbye to her son.

I am re-sharing this because the experience of growing up under the wings of a gentle mother who gracefully carried the ache of a deeply grieving heart for the loss of her child, shaped me as a Mom…for the better.

When the phone call came last Friday and prompted us to urgent care and I watched Maci’s little heart ache in pain, hearing the news and realizing she had just lost the opportunity to do so many of the fun sports she was looking forward to this Spring…

Do you know what she asked me to do?

She asked me if we could pray.

And so we did.

God hears your prayers friend.

God moves mountains.

I don’t have any special access…I just pray a lot…and about everything.

Keep on praying friend.

Keep on seeing the small things as miracles as you will start to see more miracles.

Living on a prayer,

Heather