Yvonne and I drove up on Tuesday to anoint Heather with oil and pray for her according to James 5:14-15.  We wanted to be a support for Heather and her mother who was with her. The traffic got really bad going through DC so we didn’t get to the hospital until 5:30pm, discovered we had forgotten to bring Ginny’s cell phone number with us, and then found out they had already left the hospital for the evening and were already back at their hotel. 

We finally got together with Heather and her mom Wednesday morning at 0800. We anointed Heather with oil and prayed for her and her mom. Then we sat and visited until 1100. We all went into the surgical prep room and stayed with Heather until they wheeled her into the operating room at 11:30. A tag on her medical jacket said she was going to have one ovary removed. The surgery was supposed to last for 2½ hours.

Since Ginny (Heather's mother), Yvonne and I hadn’t eaten breakfast we all went down to the Dunkin Donuts in the hospital and got breakfast sandwiches. We finished eating and then went back up to the surgical waiting room. It was about 1240. As we got to the waiting room Heather’s surgeon was coming out. I called to him and asked if he was looking for us. He turned around and said he was. 

What we thought would be a “periodic” update turned out to be a report on the surgery itself. It was over (it only lasted 1 hour) and Heather came through it wonderfully! They were able to remove the demoid tumor, which was about the size of a baseball, from her ovary and it appeared to be benign. It was well contained and they were able to remove it without taking out any of the ovary. They sent the tumor off to be tested, but the surgeon said there was only a 1% chance that it would be cancerous. I said, “Thank you Jesus!” The person with the surgeon looked at me and smiled.

From a spiritual perspective, and this explanation is just as plausible, the problem in Heather’s body could have been every bit as severe as the doctors originally predicted (or worse). But, because people prayed and asked the Lord to intervene on Heather’s behalf, and to show His love for her and her mother, He healed her and reduced whatever the problem originally was to only the demoid tumor, and helped the medical staff remove it with a minimal incision and no complications.

Which perspective is chosen to explain what Heather has been through is a matter of faith, and a matter of choice. In the end, the results may “appear” to be the same, however, we will never know what the results actually would have been if Ginny had not requested prayer, if no one had prayed, and if Jesus had not intervened.

In this “intellectual,” “scientific,” “rationalistic,” and “naturalistic” age, I think we explain away a lot of what the Lord does for us. As a result, we too often fail to see His hand at work in our daily lives. We fail to see his daily, active, love for us. And, we fail to thank Him from truly thankful hearts because we "really" have nothing be thankful for. 

I choose to believe that Jesus intervened and healed Heather; He performed a miracle in her body to show her how much He loves her. I suggested to Heather that how she looked at and explained her experience to others, was ultimately her choice. The first way would simply “explain” it and that would be the end of it. The second way would be a statement of faith, and give the credit for the outcome to Jesus, and perhaps help other people see His love too.

She smiled, and said she liked the second explanation better.