2024: A Year of Miracles

At the beginning of the year, my daughter asked me what my word was for 2024. I hadn’t really given it any thought at the time, but within 24 hours God had laid the word “Miracles” on my heart. Specifically, I was hearing two types of miracles:

Miracles of Purpose

Miracles of Restoration

I began to pray these words to God immediately. These words have hung on our bathroom mirror. They are prominently displayed on my Bible. The word Miracle has become a constant in my life and in my prayers.

As we approach the end of the year, it would be really easy to be discouraged by what could be perceived as a lack of miracles in my life. When I began praying for miracles in January, I had some very specific thoughts on the miracles of restoration and miracles of purpose I was praying for.

I have yet to see those miracles come to fruition.

However, as I look at the last year, I see so many other miracles that have happened.

I have a friend who had been standing and waiting for God to do a miracle of restoration in her marriage. As of this writing, she is praising God for His faithfulness in her life and in her marriage as she and her husband have entered a new season of beauty. And I will add that to most people, this marriage was completely and irreparably damaged. But God…

I have someone else so very dear to me who has seen her husband transform into someone she didn’t think she would ever see. A man once so hardened to the gospel now attends church regularly, even if his wife doesn’t go. We are witnessing a miracle in this life.

My sweet daughter spent her summer in Asia on a mission trip. It was so hard to let her go across the world, but I know God ignited something special deep within her heart.

And then there’s my life. I have spent the better part of the last decade longing to see God move me out of my job and into my purpose. This year, He told me to quit my job and trust Him for the future. I still don’t know exactly how He is going to take over the financial aspect of me quitting my job, but I am so excited to be partnering with Westmoore Community Church to host a single mom Christmas event this week! God has also connected me with some other like-minded individuals, and I am convinced God is moving me into a season of pursuing Him and loving single moms. I am excited for the future.

Before I move on to the latest miracle, I want to address the unanswered miracles. Even though I have yet to see these miracles come to fruition, I am more convinced than ever that it is a work in progress, that God is working behind the scenes to break down the hardened hearts and reveal His glory. Just as there was 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the coming of Christ, we may be in a period of silence. But at just the right time, God will reveal Himself.

And perhaps that’s the best part of prayer: Sometimes our circumstances don’t change (at least not immediately), but prayer changes us. It bolsters our faith and helps us to believe even in the midst of the difficulties of this life.

But now, I want to share with you what has happened in this week, a situation that has been described by so many as nothing less than a miracle of the God of heaven. There is absolutely no explanation other than God.

A little over a week ago, my husband and I were leaving church when we received a call that our nephew had been in a car accident. We had very little information other than he was at OU Medical Center, the highest level of trauma care available in Oklahoma City. We made the detour and went straight to the hospital.

It took several hours to get any ideas as to the severity of his injuries. At the time, he was in the emergency room. After placing a chest tube to allow his lung to reinflate, they took him directly to surgery to stop the internal bleeding and stabilize the broken femur. As the day wore on, we began to understand the miracle we were witnessing. Despite his body being broken from top to bottom, he was awake and talking. He was completely neurologically in tact.

The miracle is that he is alive. His femoral artery should have been severed by the severity of the femur fracture, but it wasn’t. He should have been paralyzed by the C6 fracture but he wasn’t. He should have died because of the internal bleeding but he didn’t. He should have been buckled in, but he chose this one time not to buckle and being ejected saved his life. He should not have survived six hours of lying in a field until sunrise when they were able to flag down some help.

Is he broken? Absolutely! Does he have a long road ahead of him? No doubt! But he is alive! He is talking and laughing (despite the pain). He has been put together by some incredible surgeons, and he will soon begin the process of rehab.

We have talked to multiple medical professionals. We spoke with some of the firefighters who worked the accident scene. The consensus is that God had his hand on our nephew last weekend. God has plans for this young man.

If you are in the midst of a dark, difficult season where you feel broken, I encourage you to remember we are a lot like a glow stick. A glow stick is ordinary, unimpressive–until it is broken and shaken. You see, it’s often the breaking that activates something deep within us, when God allows us to be shaken that we suddenly begin to shine. Dark days are not the end. They are often the pathway to God’s work in our lives. Give Him permission to break and shake and watch the great work He does in you and through you!

And let’s all open our eyes to the miracles that are taking place all around us.