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| CONTRIBUTED BY LANE FISHER |
It was 1949 and
William and Opal Fisher had the perfect family…two boys and a girl. They weren’t planning on adding to their
happy little family of five. However,
that year proved to be the most difficult of their lives. Their daughter, who was only three years old,
was a healthy looking child one week and literally skin and bones the
next. It turns out, cancer had been
ravaging her little body and, tragically,
she quickly succumbed to the disease.
The family was
devastated, but Opal, in particular, was especially grieved and
heartbroken. She cried out to the God whom
she’d served for most of her life, and He
heard her and answered her heart’s cry.
She knew that the precious child she’d lost could not be replaced, but
she longed for another daughter. She was
crying in her bedroom one day, and she heard the Lord say [in an audible voice]
that He was going to give her another daughter.
She dried her eyes and went on about her life, convinced He would do as
He promised.
In the meantime,
Opal was having health issues, and her doctor kept telling her she needed a
hysterectomy. It seemed that she had
tumors in her uterus. She kept telling
the doctor that God had promised her another daughter, and so, thanks, but no
thanks to the offer of surgery.
Nearly a year
passed, and then Opal became pregnant.
She was ecstatic and thought, “The Lord is answering my prayer for a
daughter and is keeping His promise to me.”
She eagerly awaited the birth of the child, and in due time, it was
delivered. To her great disappointment, she
gave birth to a boy. Oh, she loved him
dearly, but she couldn’t help but be disappointed. All the while, she still needed the surgery,
and her doctor was trying to talk her into having it.
Four more years
passed with no daughter in sight, but Opal still believed God and trusted Him
to keep His promise. She discovered she
was pregnant again and thought, “This time my daughter will be given to
me.” But, alas, another little boy was
born. This made four boys, with no girl
in sight.
Time marched on,
and Opal’s health kept deteriorating.
Still, she held fast to God’s promise. However, the tumors were causing great pain
and discomfort, as well as other problems. So after ten long years, she finally
agreed to let the doctor do the surgery.
She told her physician that she didn’t know how God was going to keep
His promise to her for a daughter, but she knew He would somehow.
The doctor wouldn’t even let her go home to pack her
bag. He admitted her straight into the
hospital that afternoon.
The next
morning, he wheeled a still hopeful and trusting Opal into the operating
room. He prepped her for the surgery and
made the first incision. He immediately
saw that she was pregnant and sewed her back up.
Nine months
later, her baby girl was born.
I was that baby
girl.
I never tired of
hearing the story of my birth. There was
such promise, and it was a great miracle. But, when you stop to consider it,
every birth is a miracle and a promise from our loving God. Life is precious and oh so sweet when we
trust and lean on Him…as my mother, Opal Fisher, did.
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