The following is the factual account of the birth of my grandson, Caleb Thomas,
as written by my amazing wife, Patricia.
November 4th, 2014
“Faith is the Substance of things Hoped for,
the Evidence of things not seen…” Hebrews
11:1
Just a little
less than a week ago my life was thrown into a tailspin! Word came that my daughter was rushed into
emergency surgery and my unborn grandson had no heart beat! The hours and days to follow would prove to
be one of the greatest tests of my faith, in my walk with God. Immediately I flew into my Savior’s arms
crying and pleading for him to save my grandson and my daughter!
My husband,
Marty, and I prayed as we waited. Soon
we found out that, though he had to be revived, our grandson had made it! Sometime after our daughter was in the
recovery room, but only after having two transfusions and nearly losing her
life! Both were out of immediate danger,
but this was short lived. The next day
as we headed for California, exhausted and functioning in the Spirit only, we
received more bad news. Tiffani’s (our
daughter) kidneys were failing! And the
prognosis for Caleb (our grandson) was grim. The best neurologist in Sacramento said Caleb was brain dead, and there was no chance of recovery. We began to pray as we drove. We
finally stopped to sleep and the next morning God gave me and then Marty a
message. “BRING HOPE! You will face a giant, but I will be with
you!” So we prayed and cried. Then we put on our armor, ask the Holy Spirit
to strengthen it and headed out.
When we arrived we
had no realization how dark and heavy a place the Enemy had prepared for us. We
struggled to keep a positive attitude and to balance reality with what God had
put in our hearts. With our Tiffani so
very sick and absolutely no hope given for Caleb’s condition, I knew that the
only reason I was standing and walking and talking was because the Holy Spirit
was holding me up. My helmet was in
place so that the Enemy’s taunting was like a far off shout, that when it reached
me it was so faint I could hardly make it out!
Yet he was relentless. Marty and I had little spiritual support in the
hospital, but God had given us an army of support around the world! As word spread we lost count of how many were
praying for us and our family. Evening
came and we went back to our daughter’s home to rest. We prayed individually and we prayed
together. We not only prayed for
healing, but we prayed for faith, hope, and for God to be glorified!
The next morning
we spent a good hour in prayer, praise and worship. Please understand we are
not anyone special, nor are we spiritual giants! We were completely depleted of human
strength. It was only because of the
power of the Holy Spirit and a choice to resign ourselves to His will that we
were functioning! When we were finished
God gave me a song that helped me to put my day into perspective: WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH A STORM HOLD YOUR HEAD
UP HIGH AND DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK….
So, we arrived
at the hospital and indeed the storm had darkened. Tiffani’s kidneys were a bit better, but
still serious. Caleb, though alive, we
were told he had NO outcome for a quality life.
He was not even breathing on his own.
The doctors basically said if he survived it would be completely
dependent on machines! Reality slapped
us in the face! I continued to have
faith in the hope God had placed in my heart, but I struggled to see passed
what was in front of me. Then I heard
the Holy Spirit’s voice saying, “You have not, because you ask not! You can move a mountain if only you believe!”
“Ok!” I shouted
from within. The rest of that day no
matter what the doctors said, or anyone for that matter, I held my head up and
was not afraid! I only believed! Later
that day there was a meeting. Our kids
were now given the choice to let him go or continue to help him (via machines)
with the same grim future as before. My
heart exploded as I witnessed this being explained to Tiffani and the
realization of what this meant sinking into her heart! My mind spun as I saw the excruciating pain
in my Son in Laws eyes! Inside of myself
I was searching for the Rock as I felt myself slipping into the pain. When the meeting was over I left the room,
broke down into tears for a brief moment, then held my head high and continued
on.
The reality
before me was that I was most likely going to witness my grandson slip away
into eternity, because that was the direction
it was heading. Babies in his condition
don’t come back from it! I found Marty and
we went down to the cafeteria for a bite to eat. I told him what had been said and the
direction things were headed in. We
prayed some more, strengthened our armor and God renewed our Hope! On our way back up Joel (our son in law) met
us halfway. With a bit of hesitation he
told us, “Caleb started breathing on his own!”
My heart jumped
out of my chest for joy! I will never
forget it for the rest of my life. God
told the Enemy, “No!” From that moment
on, no matter what was said, I believed without a doubt, that God was going to
heal our little Caleb and from that moment on he has astounded the doctors and
nurses and everyone! Tiffani also began
to recover and after a month has recovered completely.
After nineteen
days Caleb went home, free of all machines.
At one month old, he breaths, eats, cries, and has reached all the
milestones of any normal one month old. He hears and sees and responds to all
of us. Caleb grows stronger every day!
Hallelujah,
praise God, for he alone is responsible for this miracle!
UPDATE:
Caleb will be 3 years old in November 2017. He no longer needs any visits or services. He is both physically and mentally NORMAL. He meets or exceeds all of the normal benchmarks for his age. Of all of the children in a 10 year study that included over 70,000 children if his "category 3" condition, only 5 have survived. Only one has ever recovered fully. Even the doctor called it a "miracle".
Praise GOD for His marvelous works among the children of men!
