The year was 1986. My wife, daughter, and I had just arrived in Mount Vernon, Texas to begin our lives as the principal and teacher of a new Christian school located about five miles outside of the town on a little country road.
The church had arranged for us to move into an old yellow farmhouse next to a cattle ranch. We had a tumultuous time getting there. While training for my administrator certificate in Christian education, my 11 year old daughter had developed juvenile diabetes and had spent time in intensive care at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas Texas.
Now, she was out of the hospital with her diabetes under control, and we had finally moved into the small yellow farmhouse about two miles from the little country Church and school. The Pastor and members of the little church that was sponsoring the Christian school were excited about the school year that lay before us.
Having lost our first child, a little boy who was born premature, my wife was now pregnant with our third child, who we were hoping and praying would be a younger brother for our beautiful daughter. She was approximately six months pregnant at the time so we were not overly concerned about beginning the school and moving to a new town during her pregnancy.
The school had begun and although we did not have many students, all of them had various difficulties stemming from their family histories and we soon realized that teaching this school was going to be more of a ministry that a job.
The church was very small and could not afford a sufficient salary to pay us as the administrator and teacher of the school. However, we had learned from our years of faith walk and missionary work that if we would only obey the Lord, do His will, and follow the path that God had given us, then He would supply all of our needs.
We had no money for a telephone, so as my daughter and I headed off to school every day, we would pray and commit my wife’s safety to the Lord.
One particular morning, as my daughter and I left to go and open up the school, I kissed my wife goodbye and everything seemed normal as usual. My daughter and I arrived at the school, opened it up, and began the school day as any other day.
Approximately around ten o’clock that morning, I began to get a gnawing and uneasy feeling in my spirit that something was not right at home with my wife. As it was near the lunch break, I said to myself that I would wait until lunch time when the children were not doing schoolwork and I would run quickly the two miles down the road to see if my wife was all right.
But the feeling began to get stronger and stronger, almost to the point of making me sick to my stomach, that something was wrong with my wife. I pulled my daughter aside, and since she had been in Christian school since kindergarten, I left her in charge and explained to her that I needed to go home and check on Mom and that I would be right back.
I got into our car and headed down the country road, up one hill and down another, until finally I passed the grove of trees that hid our little house from sight. As I passed the trees and could see the house, I noticed that my wife was standing out in the front yard. The first thought that came to my mind was, “I guess everything is all right.”
But as soon as I turned into the driveway, I noticed that she was standing outside on our rocky front yard in her bare feet. I knew that something was wrong. I opened the door, stood up out of the car, and I said “Are you all right?” It was then that I noticed she had been crying.
I said, “What’s wrong?” She said, “I believe my water has broken.” As I grabbed her and put her in the car to rush her to the hospital, I asked her “Why were you standing outside?” She answered, “I was washing dishes when my water broke and didn’t know what to do.”
“I knew the mailman would be coming by about this time of day and I thought maybe I could get his attention. I had prayed, “Oh Lord please don’t let me have this baby here by myself.” I knew that you would be busy with the children and so I asked the Lord to somehow get your attention and have you come home.”
My wife and I arrived at the hospital and within the hour my newborn son had arrived.
Since that day I have called him my miracle son. Although born premature, he is now 26 years old and a handsome, strong, healthy young man. I cannot say that God spoke audibly to me that day, but I can honestly say that he captured my heart in such a way to cause me to do his will.
Ever since then, when I have been in a valley or faced a mountain of a problem, and I’m tempted to think that I am all alone and God is nowhere to be found, my mind goes back to that day when the Lord captured me and forced me to go home because my wife had prayed and asked that he would get my attention.
The Bible says God watches over us. The Bible says he never slumbers nor sleeps. The Bible says his thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered. And last but not least, the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is for this reason and many, many other reasons that have transpired over the years, that I want to say, rather that I must say, “I believe in miracles.“
“The miraculous account of our early ministry “- By Raymond Candy. Available for $4.99 at bn.com for the NOOK, amazon.com for the KINDLE, the iBookstore on iTunes for the iPad, and at Lulu.com for all other e-reading devices
As Seen Through the Eyes of Faith 