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This post is going to give you chills, and might even draw some tears. Let me provide some background:
I posted about my story of what happened when I died and how God performed a miracle in my life so that I could live. The post was titled Angels and Miracles in case you want to check it out.
So this brought up the idea of showcasing different peoples experiences with miracles or angel sightings in their lives. Thus Fort Thompson Monthly Miracles was born. It is my hope that this can go from monthly to weekly, but in order to do that I need your help getting the word out to others to send in their stories. They can be emailed to me.
This gives us all the opportunity to read about some truly remarkable things that have happened, and how God has worked in many different peoples lives. So please help us to get the word out.
This is our first Monthly Miracles post, and we are more than honored to share with you the story of a lady who has become a very close friend of mine. She is one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet, and would do anything for those she loves. She has a sense of humor that is unmatched, and almost every post I read on her blog makes me laugh in some way.
Again, I am honored to call her my friend and even more so to feature her story. So I give you our first Monthly Miracle post from Nikki Bullock author of Life as We Know It.
While I'm not exactly a religious person, I cannot deny that there is something after this life.
When I was about sixteen, we visited my grandparents to celebrate my grandmother's birthday, which was March 18th. Our family gathered, laughed, played games and enjoyed the warm spring weather together for a entire afternoon. Eleven days later, on March 29th, my grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack in the driveway of his home as he was heading out to run errands.
Fast forward a little more than three years...
My son was born with a birth defect called gastroschisis. Basically, his abdominal wall failed to close early in development leaving a hole and his intestines had herniated through it. In most cases, the doctors would simply slip the intestines back through the hole. My son was not so lucky. His intestines had twisted and died leaving him with only 10% of his small bowel. His only hope for survival was a new and experimental small bowel transplant. My boy's name was Joel Hays after his uncle and my grandfather.
Fast forward three months...
When Joey was three months old, he was strong enough to be evaluated for the transplant. I was barely twenty years old and scared to death. The doctors told my (now) husband and I horror stories about the transplantation process and it's risks. They pretty much told us that our son would most likely not survive...and even if he did, his life would be a struggle. We didn't know what to do. We were terrified and thought maybe it wasn't worth it...maybe we should just let him go now, without surgeries and medications and hospitals. Just let our boy rest in peace.
We decided to sleep on it and talk about it more in the morning. When I finally drifted off to sleep I had a very vivid dream...one that I can still remember to this day. I was at my grandmother's house visiting and I saw a light, roughly in the shape of a man. Even though I could not see his face, I knew it was my grandfather who had passed away. I was thrilled to see him! I ran to him and told him how happy I was that he was here and how we all missed him. I was talking faster than I knew was possible...
Grandy, we've missed you. Have you seen my boy? Have you seen him? We named him after you. What do you think? Aren't you proud?
He let me finish and said...
Of course I've seen him and you need to know that the boy has a fighting chance.
I awoke from the dream and sat straight up in bed. I looked at the clock...it was 5:00am on March 18th. Four years, to the day, that I had last seen my grandfather before he died. The fear and hesitation I had about the procedure was washed away. I woke my husband and told him that we had to do it. We had to give our boy a chance. He was placed on the waiting list for a small bowel that day.
Fast forward five months...
The pager went off. THE pager...the one that alerted us that organs were available for Joey. The bittersweet moment that somewhere, a family was suffering the ultimate loss, yet, they were willing to share the "gift of life" with us. This was his chance...our boy's chance at life. It was August 18th...my grandfather's birthday.
I DO NOT believe that these were just coincidences. Even my rational mind will not allow it. An angel was sent, and whether it was my grandfather himself, or a representation of him so that I would be comforted...I do not know. What I do believe...is that there is more after this life and it is warm and so, so peaceful.
Sadly, Joey's new organs didn't function as well as they needed to. He passed away when he was 10 months and 21 days old. We donated his heart to a little girl who wouldn't have survived 48 hours without it. While I had hoped that the "fighting chance" my grandfather spoke of was for a life for my boy...it wasn't. He was fighting for her. She is because of him...and it was totally worth it!
So if this story moved you as it did me, leave a comment here and spread the word to get others you know to submit their stories as well. Also make sure to pay Nikki a visit and send her your love for having the courage to share. She will know The Fort sent ya!
Make sure you keep an eye out for more Fort Thompson Monthly Miracles, and please consider organ donation as you too may also be a part of God's will to save another's life.
Love and Prayers,
I posted about my story of what happened when I died and how God performed a miracle in my life so that I could live. The post was titled Angels and Miracles in case you want to check it out.
So this brought up the idea of showcasing different peoples experiences with miracles or angel sightings in their lives. Thus Fort Thompson Monthly Miracles was born. It is my hope that this can go from monthly to weekly, but in order to do that I need your help getting the word out to others to send in their stories. They can be emailed to me.
This gives us all the opportunity to read about some truly remarkable things that have happened, and how God has worked in many different peoples lives. So please help us to get the word out.
This is our first Monthly Miracles post, and we are more than honored to share with you the story of a lady who has become a very close friend of mine. She is one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet, and would do anything for those she loves. She has a sense of humor that is unmatched, and almost every post I read on her blog makes me laugh in some way.
Again, I am honored to call her my friend and even more so to feature her story. So I give you our first Monthly Miracle post from Nikki Bullock author of Life as We Know It.
While I'm not exactly a religious person, I cannot deny that there is something after this life.
When I was about sixteen, we visited my grandparents to celebrate my grandmother's birthday, which was March 18th. Our family gathered, laughed, played games and enjoyed the warm spring weather together for a entire afternoon. Eleven days later, on March 29th, my grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack in the driveway of his home as he was heading out to run errands.
Fast forward a little more than three years...
My son was born with a birth defect called gastroschisis. Basically, his abdominal wall failed to close early in development leaving a hole and his intestines had herniated through it. In most cases, the doctors would simply slip the intestines back through the hole. My son was not so lucky. His intestines had twisted and died leaving him with only 10% of his small bowel. His only hope for survival was a new and experimental small bowel transplant. My boy's name was Joel Hays after his uncle and my grandfather.
Fast forward three months...
When Joey was three months old, he was strong enough to be evaluated for the transplant. I was barely twenty years old and scared to death. The doctors told my (now) husband and I horror stories about the transplantation process and it's risks. They pretty much told us that our son would most likely not survive...and even if he did, his life would be a struggle. We didn't know what to do. We were terrified and thought maybe it wasn't worth it...maybe we should just let him go now, without surgeries and medications and hospitals. Just let our boy rest in peace.
We decided to sleep on it and talk about it more in the morning. When I finally drifted off to sleep I had a very vivid dream...one that I can still remember to this day. I was at my grandmother's house visiting and I saw a light, roughly in the shape of a man. Even though I could not see his face, I knew it was my grandfather who had passed away. I was thrilled to see him! I ran to him and told him how happy I was that he was here and how we all missed him. I was talking faster than I knew was possible...
Grandy, we've missed you. Have you seen my boy? Have you seen him? We named him after you. What do you think? Aren't you proud?
He let me finish and said...
Of course I've seen him and you need to know that the boy has a fighting chance.
I awoke from the dream and sat straight up in bed. I looked at the clock...it was 5:00am on March 18th. Four years, to the day, that I had last seen my grandfather before he died. The fear and hesitation I had about the procedure was washed away. I woke my husband and told him that we had to do it. We had to give our boy a chance. He was placed on the waiting list for a small bowel that day.
Fast forward five months...
The pager went off. THE pager...the one that alerted us that organs were available for Joey. The bittersweet moment that somewhere, a family was suffering the ultimate loss, yet, they were willing to share the "gift of life" with us. This was his chance...our boy's chance at life. It was August 18th...my grandfather's birthday.
I DO NOT believe that these were just coincidences. Even my rational mind will not allow it. An angel was sent, and whether it was my grandfather himself, or a representation of him so that I would be comforted...I do not know. What I do believe...is that there is more after this life and it is warm and so, so peaceful.
Sadly, Joey's new organs didn't function as well as they needed to. He passed away when he was 10 months and 21 days old. We donated his heart to a little girl who wouldn't have survived 48 hours without it. While I had hoped that the "fighting chance" my grandfather spoke of was for a life for my boy...it wasn't. He was fighting for her. She is because of him...and it was totally worth it!
So if this story moved you as it did me, leave a comment here and spread the word to get others you know to submit their stories as well. Also make sure to pay Nikki a visit and send her your love for having the courage to share. She will know The Fort sent ya!
Make sure you keep an eye out for more Fort Thompson Monthly Miracles, and please consider organ donation as you too may also be a part of God's will to save another's life.
Love and Prayers,
