God Will Work Miracles if You Let Him

Mary’s expectations of God we’re unlimited. She believed and trusted in him completely despite an uncertain future. When the angel Gabrielle says to Mary that “Nothing is impossible with God”, do we really believe it? How high are our expectations of God?

God can work miracles if you let him.

It doesn’t matter how you got into it. If you give yourself totally to His Will, you will see miracles.

It may take years until you stop, look back and are able to see all of the wonderful things that God has done.

We would be missing four members of our family today if our (then) 18-year-old daughter had not allowed God to work miracles for her.

“I’ve done something really bad,” she cried. What could she have possibly done? And then she told me: she was pregnant.

Stephanie understood that this was a real life inside her.  But how easy it still could have been for her to consider following the cultural “path of least resistance” and treat this like a “choice” between a) pregnant or b) not pregnant.  So many of her plans were suddenly at risk. College, fun, career, etc.

It takes supernatural strength to do the right thing when sacrifice is required.  I have been reflecting on where her strength came from at that time.

Growing up, our kids had a collection of Christian videos with children singing fun, easy to learn songs based on Bible verses. “I Can Do All Things” was one of our daughter’s favorites. Modeled on Philippians 4:14, the little girl in the video cheerfully sings “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”   This was her favorite song and became the first Bible verse that she ever memorized.  It was often on her mind. 

She herself has said that this verse is what got her through this period of her life.  When I think of such a tiny little song having such an impact, I cry. The story of how we even came to own the videos in the first place is obviously another part of this miracle, which just shows that God is ALWAYS at work on our behalf. 

As frightened as she was, Stephanie knew that God would give her what she needed to face the challenges ahead. It was her child-like faith that enabled her to turn away from her plans and start planning for new life. This has borne much fruit.

Stephanie gave birth to Dominic two months after graduating from high school. All babies are miracles, and his birth brought many more.

Four months later Stephanie and David, Dominic’s father, were married.

Five months after that, David came into the Catholic Church and was baptized together with Dominic at the Easter Vigil.

And then Lucas was born.

And then Mia was born.

And this family of five that may not have been is now an example of love and faith that all can see.

Photo by Amanda Reed Photography

As St. Paul exhorts in Romans, God indeed takes all things and uses them for good. What seemed at the time to be a devastating mistake has become many great blessings.

I hope that this witness will offer you or maybe someone in your life hope and encouragement in a difficult situation.

Peace and God’s blessings!

Postscript:

Looking back, Stephanie was expecting during Advent. She waited until after Christmas to tell me that she was pregnant. It makes me sad when I think of how frightened she must have been. I wish that I had known earlier to help her through those initial weeks. Yet, I take great comfort knowing that the Blessed Mother was there watching over her giving her every grace she needed to make it through each day.