Loretta's Testimony
The following comments were shared with
our Lakeholm Church family of the Nazarene shortly after
our return from Andy's last major visit
to Cincinnati.

The song writer wrote "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look FULL in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His fullness and grace. The past month has been a living testimony to the art of looking "full" into his face. I used to think the songwriter was referring to materials or simple things. Your desires and wants, maybe an occasional scrap or two. But this past month has directed my growth towards the dimness of my son’s medical progress in the light of God’s fullness and grace. There are three things I wanted to share with you concerning what I have learned during our stay in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The first has to do with miracles. One evening I was sitting listening to a documentary about the plagues of Egypt on the Learning Channel. According to their sources they were able to explain from plague to plague exactly how what happened did happen. I have to admit I was torn and a bit disgusted that the miracles of God were being explained, and their explanations were sound and not without scientific fact. But then I began to recall so many more of God's miracles, and began to realize, that almost all of God’s miracles can be, in some way explained. Does that make them less of a miracle? My conclusion has been Absolutely NOT! The fallacy is to dismiss them as something other than miracles because we do understand what happened. The real concept of miracles has come for me in the understanding that God works through and with his creation, not against or in contrary with it. He created it, why shouldn’t he? Therefore, when I look at my son, just because I can explain to you what they have done and how they have done it, do not mistake that for one minute I think that my son is not a walking miracle, because he is! Everything they have done to him defies the natural course of life itself, and we make no bones about telling everyone, our son is a walking miracle; God has great things planned for Him.

The second thing I wanted to share with you comes through a story I heard Dr. James Dobson give on the radio while driving back and forth from Cincinnati to Mt. Vernon. He shared the story of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. He talked about how the women might have felt towards Jesus. Here was a man who they knew loved them and loved Lazarus. When called to come because Lazarus was ill, Jesus not only did not come, he didn’t even show up for the funeral. Instead, he came four days later, after Lazarus was put in the ground and claimed as gone. In Mary and Martha’s mind, it was too late for Jesus to do anything, He had come too late. He could have come sooner, but he didn’t. In some ways, this is how I have felt going through the last 6 years with Andy. "Lord, it’s too late; you could have done something before all this happened, now it’s too late. I called you and you didn’t come. The scares are now on him, the traumas, the experiences of IV’s, medicine withdrawals, more poking and more pain. You could have prevented it all Lord, and now it’s two late." But then Dr. Dobson said something that burned into my heart. "But Jesus did show up, and he did have the situation in hand, because Jesus was NOT late, He was RIGHT ON TIME." That is what I learned with Andy. God is RIGHT ON TIME with his needs. I cannot count on my hands how many times when Andy was ready for something new, whether a new procedure, or therapy, God was right there setting it up, preparing the way, getting matters in place. He was always Right On Time.

The third and last thing I wanted to share with you comes from my son himself. Andy’s Sunday School class had gone through great lengths to create for Andy a ten foot banner with his name and the names of all the other classmates on it. We placed the banner in his room when he finally woke up and I showed him the names of all the kids that had drew a picture and where they signed their names. I had no idea if I was getting through to him or not. A few days later Tad had shared with me that Andy had been telling his nurses about that banner. "My friends made that for me" he would tell them. But the most heart warming touch of all came when Andys ‘friends’ all made cards for Andy. The 4 inch pile of cards were dropped off to my husband during the week he was home to get ready for classes the following week and delivered by his grandmother to his hospital room. Andy looked at the cards, took them in hand and proceeded with a very unusual act. For my son being both impulsive and dramatic, it’s a constant surprise what he will do next. He took the cards and threw them high into the air above his head and exclaimed, "I’m Rich, I’m Rich!!" That is what we feel coming back home to Lakeholm. We are Rich, rich with people who have taken the time to let us know how much they care, the cards, the money, even the time spent to help us in whatever way we needed. We are rich, rich for the prayers that have been sent up for us for wisdom, love, and endurance. With everything in us, we thank you. Thank you for showing God’s love to us and reminding us of how to carry out God’s obligation to others. Thank you for helping us get through to the other side of our adversity with our faith and our witness intact. Thank you, for making us rich.