God's Got This

I remember the words so vididly that it is as if I am hearing them today, "Mrs. Corbin, your son is missing half of his brain. He will never be able to function normally on his own. You may want to consider terminating your pregnancy." These were the words of the doctor who had just performed a sonogram on my unborn child, during the seventh month of my pregrancy. I remember thinking to myself, "Are you crazy? I have felt this child move in me and I have talked to him and bonded with him!" But without hesitation, the words spilled from my mouth, "No, I won't consider that. My God doesn't make mistakes."

Immediately after his birth, my son was examined and scanned by some of the top pediatric neurologists in the country and they confirmed the diagnosis. He underwent his first surgical procedure to drain fluid from the skull at six weeks old and then again at four months. He was followed closely every six months by these same physicians and they held steadfast to their original diagnosis, yet were perplexed by my son's continued success in accomplishing the very things they said he would never do-crawling, walking, talking, feeding himself, riding a bike and going to school.

After years of meeting with these doctors who asked the same questions over and over again, "Can he walk? Can he talk? Is he able to hold a pencil?", frustration had built to a boiling point within me during his five year old visit. "He is starting school next week!", I belted out and with a pitied look on their face they asked, "Oh, a special school?" Completely mortified and furious at what they asked, I sarcastically replied, "Well if you consider a private parochial school special, then I guess he is." At that point I needed to point out that every six months for five years they had continued to look for problems with my son that were not there. I needed to know why they were persistent in looking for the problems and not acknowledging the successes. What I wanted to hear was that they had made a mistake in their diagnosis and that the scans and xrays had been wrong, but instead what I heard was that my son's accomplishments were not what they would expect from someone with his condition.

Just three months after that appointment, my son became very ill; complaining of headaches, unable to eat and wanting to sleep all the time. These were symptoms we had been told to watch for as an indication that fluid was once again building up around his brain. A trip to the emergency room and a visit with a new pediatric neurosurgeon confirmed that fluid was building up but it also yielded a new revelation. While my son was being prep for emergency surgery, the neurosurgeon sat with my husband and I and asked what we knew about my son's condition. Of course we explained that we were told he was missing part of his brain. The doctor reached under his desk, pulled out a model of a brain and placed on his desk. "This is what is wrong with your son," he said as he pointed to the model with his pen, "See this piece of tissue between the two parts of the cerebelum? He's missing this. What does that mean? It means God forgot to put it there, that's all. Your son's brain is in tact."

Obviously we were elated by that revelation yet we were furious that we had been led to believe the opposite for so long. How could all of these doctors and scans be wrong all this time? Or were they? We were so lost in the medical issues, the doctors reports, the lab and scan results, that we failed to see what was happening right before our eyes. God had healed our son. He had given us a miracle of healing, not because of anything we deserved, or even because of our faithfulness, but because He wanted to give us tangible proof that He is real and in control. I was a believer at this time, but not devout and my husband was an atheist, if he couldn't see it or feel it, it didn't exist. Like ripples caused by a rock thrown in the water, this miracle of healing caused ripple effects for years. My husband became a believer, my own walk with the Lord became more real and personal and my son, well, suffice it to say, he is a testament to what it means to be "touched" by God.

We will celebrate his 23rd birthday tomorrow and with that celebration all the praise and glory will be given to the One who saved him, both physically and spiritually. To meet my son, is to see the face of Jesus in him. He has a compassionate heart and loving spirit and we are so blessed that God chose to lend him to us. When I look at my son, I am reminded to look for God in all things.

So often, we get mired down in the details of a medical diagnosis, the stack of bills, or the struggles of everyday life, that we forget to seek out God in the situation. In our anguish and fear, we forget that God's got this and He wins. If we seek Him and acknowledge that He is in control, we will inevitably see His workings in any situation, regardless of the outcome for, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Until next time, I'm seeking Him today,
God bless,
Cat