Do you believe the statement above?
Here are a few definitions of the word as you consider your answer:
Googles definition of a miracle, "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency."
Here is Einstein, "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."
And also a Pastor friend defined the word recently saying, "A 'miracle' can only be labeled as such if it was evidently supernatural, recorded and confirmed by witnesses."
The purpose of this blog is not to define what the word miracle means. Personally, our family has never taken the time to nail down our definition. But, now that we have you thinking about the word, we would like to share a couple recent events that we believe to be God's interceding over our lives. We will put the events in sequential order:
August 24 - With just over a month left on military orders, we applied for a Family Pastor position at Church of God in Lacey, WA. We applied for three other ministerial positions within the last month and none expressed any interest. If nothing happened with the Church of God application, our family planned to move home and have Josh finish Seminary.
September 4 - While attending Twin Rocks Family Camp in Rockaway Beach, OR we meet a woman named Diane Moore who traveled from Portland, OR. In totality, we were seven hours distance from one another and we believe God caused our paths to cross. We sat down for lunch with Diane, having no idea who she was. Diane asked what our family was up to. After telling her that we were applying for the Family Pastor position at Church of God in Lacey, she was blown away stating, "You're kidding me! I got a call from that Church asking if I would be a candidate for that position!" She went on to tell us that she was invested into other ministerial commitments but considered the Church of God to be one of the best churches anyone could work for.
September 7: Diane calls the Church of God Pastor and tells him about our meeting. At this point the Pastor is now interested in meeting with Josh to see if God is up to something.
September 10: Josh and Pastor Matt Klaus sit down for coffee and talk about the Family Pastor position. At the end of the meeting, Pastor Matt asks Josh if he knows Erik Farstad. Erik is on the hiring board with the Church of God and additionally the leader of "Trail Life" (A Christian Boy Scout organization). Josh just happens to be the Chaplain of the Trail Life group and knows Erik personally. Erik gives Josh a shining reference to the Pastor.
September 15-20: Joanne travels around the community of Lacey taking Christian and Alex to school, the store etc. and begins to "run in" to numerous wives of leaders within the Church of God. We additionally find out the the Youth Pastor at the Church is from Gresham, OR, the same place our family came from :)
September 20 - mid October: Josh and Matt continue to sit down and get to know one another and find out if our family would be a good fit for the church and vice versa. We can honestly say that this is the kind of church we would dream of being at.
October 26: Joshua is now being considered by the Church of God in Lacey, WA as the Family Pastor Candidate. He has been approved by the Pastor and the board members of the Church. We now await his being ratified by the church body on November 9.
And here is another miracle we experienced with our little Alex over the last week:
October 22: Our family travels to Oregon to meet with Dr. Chessnut. Alex's vitals are checked and found to have a low blood oxygenation level at 81 (DANGEROUSLY low). His vitals were checked three times to confirm an accurate baseline reading. The device was working, Josh tested his own oxygenation level to assure a right reading. A prayer chain begins to be established for Alex.
October 23: Likely due to the severity of Alex's condition, Dr. Chessnut tries to schedule a surgery within the next week, but an angiogram must first be accomplished to ensure Alex's brain surgery in July was a success.
October 27: Alex goes in for his angiogram. The doctor confirms that all of the AVM in the right frontal lobe is removed. The surgery was a success. Additionally, Alex's oxygenation level is checked again reads at a 96! While Alex is resting from the angiogram, his oxygenation level climbs and holds at a steady 100! No surgeries were performed to increase his oxygenation level. We consider this to be an act of God.
Picture of Alex's Vitals (Center number is Alex's oxygenation level)
And in case you haven't already read the story, we consider Alexander's brain surgery, to be a miracle of the greatest kind. You can read the conclusion here:
The purpose of this blog is simply to affirm that miracles indeed happen! Do you believe in miracles? Our family is convinced that God's operation is all around us. Truly He cares for us, and the beauty of it all is that He cares for you too.
Do you believe that? That God cares for you too? And that there are moments when He profoundly steps in to reveal His love and care for you? If you haven't seen a miracle lately, I invite you to consider the words below.
Open your eyes and ears today with the expectation of seeing God intervene and work a miracle in your life and then go on living with the same expectation every day after.
Participation: Have a miracle worth sharing? Please post it in the comments section below or share it on Facebook and tag Joshua Zarzana into the post. Blessings on your journey as you chase the Father.
Interested in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Here is a video link where five minutes could change the rest of your life - life in the present and life eternal:
Want to read more from the author of this blog? You can do so by purchasing "The Son Who Chases the Father" at chasethefather.com
Joshua Zarzana can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Google +.
Thank you for reading.
