Meet baby Melissa.
She is two months old and yet her due date has not yet passed. She was born prematurely at six months. Janet, her mom, was experiencing a normal pregnancy until at a routine doctor’s visit she learned she was losing fluid. The doctor advised her to admit herself into the hospital so they could monitor her. She chose to stay home because of the cost. Four days later, Janet woke up with blood on her sheets and a puddle on the floor. Scared and worried, she and her mom went to the emergency room. She was taken away to a room and her mom was told to wait. After nearly three hours, the hospital staff returned with a bag of Janet’s clothes and told her mother to speak to someone about how they were to pay for Janet’s hospital stay.
That morning word got out and Meme, a Back2Back partner, came to me and asked if I wanted to go with her to the hospital to visit Janet and pray for her. When we arrived, she had been waiting three and a half hours with still no word. Soon after we arrived, they called Janet’s mom inside a tiny office. It was apparent that the news wasn’t good, as she began to cry. They had told her that Janet had given birth to a baby girl who couldn’t breathe on her own and she should prepare for the worst. Then she was escorted out to wait for futher news.
When Meme and I surrounded her, she told us the news about baby Melissa. We hugged and cried.
Then Meme turned to me and said, “Cathy would you lead us in prayer?”
In that little hallway, we huddled together and prayed for the health of the baby, for the strength of her lungs, for Janet and her mom and other family. We prayed for who knows how long. When we finished we convinced Janet’s mom that she had to eat something. We stayed with her part of the afternoon before finally returning home. Later when her mom got to see Janet, they shared experiences.
Janet recalled her initial reaction to the news. “When they told me about my baby, I thought God please let Meme and Cathy be praying for my little girl.”
What Janet didn’t know then was that at the exact same time that she was pleading to God for us to pray, we were gathered in the hallway of the hospital interceding on behalf of her little girl. When I visited Janet later she shared this with me and I was able to tell her how she can have a personal relationship with God. She too can have a direct line to the Almighty Physician. She was intrigued and I prayerfully anticipate more conversations about what Jesus offers us all. It is obvious to me that God is using this little girl already and I’m convinced that He has great things in store for her life. Would you continue to pray for Melissa’s health? The doctor’s gave Janet oxygen for Melissa however she has yet to need it, praise God. Also pray for the faith of Janet and the rest of her family.
Janet with baby Melissa