Witnessing a miracle

By Dawn Schneider

It is finally here! Our favorite week of the year – Family Camp! We have attended Okoboji Lutheran Bible camp every year for many years as our family vacation. It’s our favorite because it’s the first vacation we were ever able to take that wasn’t visiting family or friends. 

Our son Cory has special needs that just made it too cumbersome and difficult to stay in a hotel, so our vacation options were limited until dear friends told us about family camp. 

We love that we get to hang out with our church friends, they have awesome counselors to love on our kids (and actually, the whole family) and we’ve made new friends over the years.

This year we will be there Cory’s birthday week and it will be even more special because his birthday falls on the Wednesday “free day” when we get to go to Arnold’s Park. 

This means he gets to go to an amusement park with the counselors and lots and lots of friends on his actual birthday!

A shift in plans

So it’s Tuesday, the night before his birthday, and Cory starts vomiting. In the past, this was an indication that he was severely constipated, and the vomiting never stopped without a trip to the ER and oftentimes ended up with a hospital admission. 

My heart sank. 

After several bouts of vomiting, Cory says he wants to sleep with me. This is unusual because Dad is always his “go to.” 

Mike is so much better with medical issues. I get too caught up in what’s happening to focus on Cory but Mike zeroes in on him and sings to him, plays with him and finds creative ways to distract him. For some reason, this time, Cory chooses me. 

I was delighted and yet slightly perplexed. As we are laying down hoping to get to go back to sleep, I get this overwhelming urge to pray for God to heal Cory and an even stronger urge that God absolutely can. 

The nudge to pray

I place my hand on Cory’s tummy and my conversation with God goes something like this: 

“Dear God. I KNOW you can heal Cory. As you well know, tomorrow is his birthday and he is so looking forward to celebrating with his camp and church friends, but I trust you. 

If there is someone at the hospital who needs to meet Cory and be blessed by him, I surrender that to you.

Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego KNEW that you could save them from the fiery furnace, I KNOW you can heal Cory and in the same way they would continue to worship you. 

Even if you didn’t, I will trust you, worship you and share your awesomeness with others even if you choose not to heal Cory but if you do, I will share with the entire camp what you have done.”

Resting in truth

Cory has been sick like this many time before and many more times since, but I had never felt the confidence I feel that night. I know that I know that I know that God absolutely can heal Cory. 

You know how they say that you only have to have a mustard seed of faith to move mountains? Well, I don’t even have a mustard seed of doubt that God can heal Cory.

As I look back now, I see that in that moment, I was full of God’s Holy Spirit! There was no room for me, my doubt or any of my thoughts that could possibly detract from my belief. the blessing of that kind of confidence is something I will cherish forever.

Cory settles in and his breathing moves into that beautiful calming rhythm of sleep. As I watch him and start to soak in this peace, I too drift off.

Waking up

We get a great night’s sleep. We wake up and I realize the vomiting stopped when I prayed. God heard me! He reached down, touched Cory and healed him! 

OH…MY…GOODNESS! 

This really happened! 

I was overjoyed! 

Cory goes on to eat the same breakfast he’s eaten every day of his life and has an awesome birthday celebration. This the only time Cory’s vomiting ended without meds or medical intervention.

Sharing God’s story 

The problem is that now I have to keep my end of the bargain. I am in a family of people who LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stage. I am not one of them. I love watching every one of them on stage but I have never been a fan of a spotlight. 

In addition, I can talk about God without crying, I can talk about Cory without crying but if I have to talk about both of them, I am a “hot mess,” to quote my southern friends. 

So on Wednesday morning, I approach the pastor who was the speaker for the week and tell him I need a couple of minutes to share our story with the camp. I do it, it is not pretty but God got the glory.

Miracles do happen

I want you to know that the God of miracles found in the bible is still performing them today. 

We are blessed to be in a family that has seen many. I could spend the rest of the night sharing them all with you and hope to one day publish a book because they tell such a great God story. The miracles we experienced prior to this one evolved over time. 

Cory was never supposed to talk but at the age of 5 ½ he and God decided it was time and he started talking (as a fun aside, his first full sentence was “I’m happy today.”). 

He had a heart condition where the best we could ever hope for was for it to plateau. It got better and better until there is no evidence his heart has been anything but strong and awesome. 

There are even more but they all took time – years to see the end result. 

This one happened in a moment. So just like Jesus healed people over time and in a moment in the Bible, they (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) still do. 

I know that I know that I know because I am a witness and therefore, I want to witness.