A Miracle of God's Love

This is the testimony Carie has written about God's intervention to save her life over twenty years ago.

Sudden excruciating abdominal pain forced me to double over. I cried out in anguish as I stumbled out of the shower. Staggering toward my bed I fell on it clutching my knees, my body in a fetal position. Waves of panic washed over me. Am I having a heart attack? At a healthy thirty-six years of age, I hardly thought so. A ruptured appendix? An aneurism?

"Leonard, there's no way I can go to church today" I gasped. "Can you take the children with you?"

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” he knelt beside me. Worry lines furrowed his brow.  


“I’m not feeling well at all. I need to lie down. I should be fine soon.”


Leonard bowed his head and began to pray aloud. Suddenly he stopped, opened his eyes and said, “I heard two words -- 'tubal pregnancy'.”


“I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant. Tubal pregnancy? It’s probably something I ate. . . some indigestion.” I forced myself to stay calm.


As the hours passed, the pain diminished somewhat and I reached for some Alka Seltzer, telling myself that whatever was wrong should soon be better. By evening I rose shakily to my feet, steadying myself on the night table. Leonard and the children had been peeking anxiously into the bedroom for hours unsure of what to make of my condition. I wasn’t sure either.


Over the next three days I told myself to ignore the dull ache, though I did note with some consternation that my abdomen was becoming bloated. Another couple of Alka Seltzers should settle everything down, I decided.


Still, the words Leonard had heard when he was praying for me – 'tubal pregnancy' – kept coming back to me. I believed in God and knew He worked in many unusual ways, often mysterious. Could these words be from God? I wondered. But the chatter of the children, the continual ring of the parsonage telephone, neighbours stopping over and the busyness of my life pushed these thoughts into the back of my mind.


On the fourth day I awoke with a deep sense of foreboding. I truly did not feel any better and that worried me. I began my homeschooling day lying on the couch – something I’d never done and never allowed my children to do unless under dire circumstances.


I heard the phone ringing insistently upstairs. As I rose slowly to answer, the room began to spin. I placed my hand on the wall and took a deep breath. Continuing up the stairs I put my hands on each stair step to keep myself from falling. The walls seemed to be spinning crazily. Just a few more steps to the phone, I thought.


“Hi sweetheart. No, I’m not okay. Could you come home?”


Within minutes Leonard opened the front door. I was lying on the stairs and trying to get to my feet. Suddenly I felt darkness come over me and a ringing in my ears.


Leonard was praying again when I came to consciousness on the bed where he had taken me. When I opened my eyes he said, “I am sure you have a tubal pregnancy. I heard those words again just now as I prayed.


”Maybe I just need to rest a bit. Could you help me go to the bathroom first?” He lifted me up and we walked together. Before I got there I collapsed.


I was vaguely aware of an ambulance attendant saying to his colleague, “Can’t seem to get a pulse or a blood pressure reading.” I muttered back, “Pretty sure I’m not dead yet.”


During the ride to the hospital in the ambulance I caught snatches of sentences as I fought to remain conscious. I realized I was very ill, yet I had no fear, only a deep sense of calm and peace.


The calm came to an abrupt end as the wheels of the stretcher hit the ground and the attendants moved me at breathtaking speed into a large brightly-lit room. Suddenly I was surrounded by machines and people. They hastily cut off my clothing, applied icy electrodes to my body, and placed an oxygen mask over my face. I heard muffled voices and caught only phrases as I drifted in and out of consciousness.


“Collapsed veins.”


“Can’t get a blood pressure reading.”


“Can’t get the IV in.”


Leonard explained to our family doctor “This may seem really strange to you but a few days ago when this first started, as I was praying for Carie, I clearly heard the words 'tubal pregnancy.' And today when I prayed I heard those words again."


Reluctantly, the doctor replied, “I will do an ultrasound and pregnancy test just to be sure. Your wife is in critical condition.”


Later he reported to Leonard that I was indeed pregnant but the ultrasound showed that the pregnancy was in proper position. “Still”, he said, “She is very ill and we don't know what's wrong with her.”


Knowing from the doctor’s responses that I could possibly die, Leonard went to a small chapel in the hospital and cried out, asking God to spare my life. Once again he heard the words 'tubal pregnancy'.


He returned and pleaded with both our family doctor and the specialist that had been called in to recheck the possibility of a tubal pregnancy telling them "I heard those words again."

“Okay, we will do one more ultrasound on our larger machine upstairs to get an even better look at things.”


When the tests were done, the doctor reported “It’s a tubal pregnancy, clearly confirmed by the second ultrasound. She’s lost a lot of blood since her tube burst when she had that first pain. The surgeon will be ready in minutes.”


When I woke up hours later, I found myself in a hospital room with a large metal clock ticking softly on the wall. It was dark outside. Was it morning or evening? I wondered. I could vaguely hear soft muffled voices coming from the foot of my bed. “One more hour and your wife would have died. You got her here just in time. She lost over half the blood of her body into her abdomen.”

The words "I almost died" began to synchronize with the ticking of the clock like an endless refrain in my mind bringing this reality deep into my heart. Then softly a new refrain began. "A miracle of God's love. A miracle of God's love. . . " filling my heart with peace. Yes, it was a word from heaven spoken three times. A miracle of God’s love that saved my life.


Catharina Terry