by Karen Weigand
In 1963, my son Brett was born with a physical problem that doctors first had a difficult time diagnosing and then didn’t know how they were going to treat. But when Brett was two and a half, God stepped in and did a miracle. I’d like to share the story with you . . .
Brett was born unable to swallow. Part of what he ate went to his lungs instead of his stomach because of a constricted muscle. I could not feed him anything by mouth because of the danger of it going directly to his lungs. Instead, I fed him through a tube going directly to his stomach.
Brett was born unable to swallow. Part of what he ate went to his lungs instead of his stomach because of a constricted muscle. I could not feed him anything by mouth because of the danger of it going directly to his lungs. Instead, I fed him through a tube going directly to his stomach.
For about two years, no one could identify what was causing the malfunction. We made more than one trip to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. Then when he was about two and a half years old, I took him to a new specialist at Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. He x-rayed Brett using a new kind of equipment and identified the problem as a muscular one. He wanted to consider a polio-type muscular surgery but stated that if that didn’t help Brett, nothing could be done to help him.
Shortly after that time, Mrs. Evelyn Murdock, Brett’s babysitter, called me at work one afternoon to ask me if she could keep him for a while that evening. There was an evangelist in town who prayed for people to be healed. I told her she could take Brett, as I couldn’t see any harm in his going, although I was quite sure this evangelist was a hoax. I had a feeling I should go to the meeting also but talked myself out of it. I convinced myself that there was nothing to it and going would be a waste of time. (Although I was a Christian, I was not walking close to the Lord at that time and had never learned about miracles still happening today.)
When Mrs. Murdock brought Brett home that evening, she told me she had talked to the evangelist about Brett and he had told her to come back the next night with me and Brett. I decided that it might be interesting to go see this fellow for myself. And I did hate to hurt Mrs. Murdock’s feelings–I knew she had her heart set on going.
I planned to go that night right after work without eating dinner first–that would give me a good excuse to leave early. Picking up Mrs. Murdock, her daughter, and Brett, we headed to the service. Mrs. Murdock was filled with hope and prayer. I was filled with skepticism with just a faint glimmer of hope. We arrived late at the auditorium and had to sit in the back row. Soon a man came to us and asked us if this wasn’t the little boy who belonged in the front row (which was now filled). They promptly made a new front row for us.
The evangelist’s appearance was impressive. He was a captivating speaker. But I questioned whether God was using him to perform miracles. He came up to me and asked me to stand and briefly explain Brett’s problem. He said he was going to pray for Brett later that night and that he wanted me to take him back to the doctors and run the tests they had done before. I assured him I would, although he knew I was quite skeptical.
Then over the next couple of hours, I watched as person after person seemed to be healed as he prayed for them. My doubts were beginning to be replaced with faith slowly building within me. Finally, the evangelist again approached me and told me to bring Brett up to the stage near the pulpit. He prayed for Brett. Since this was not the type of healing that could be physically seen, I didn’t want to try feeding Brett until I had medical confirmation that he had been healed.
The next day I took him to a local doctor and he said his gag reflex, which had never worked properly, was quite active. They x-rayed him [same new equipment as in San Francisco] and found nothing wrong! His esophagus worked a little sluggishly, but this was to be expected since it had never been used. The joy of teaching him to eat began! It didn’t take long. A doctor removed the tube running into his stomach on Good Friday that year–and God did another miracle by closing the hole in Brett’s side almost instantly!
It has been many years now since Brett was healed. Through this healing, God has blessed us and others. Many have received encouragement and increased faith through knowing about this wonderful miracle of God. I came back to the Lord. Brett grew up with the knowledge that Jesus healed him.
As you can imagine, that was a real turning point in my life. The Bible became more real to me than ever before, and I drew closer to God. I learned later of other children being healed because their mothers had heard about Brett’s healing. Their faith grew because they knew if God could do that for Brett, he could do that for their child as well.
I didn’t receive this awesome blessing because I deserved it. Far from it. I received it because of God’s grace and love. Just as he reached out to me and to Brett, he offers his grace and love and power to you as well. Whatever your need, I encourage you to trust God for the answer.
And Brett? All these years later, he is walking with God. He is a husband, father, and grandfather and runs his own computer business. Through the years he has blessed many lives–especially mine. Above is a picture of him (third from left in back row next to my husband, George) and his family. Grams (that’s me!) is in the front row.
Shortly after that time, Mrs. Evelyn Murdock, Brett’s babysitter, called me at work one afternoon to ask me if she could keep him for a while that evening. There was an evangelist in town who prayed for people to be healed. I told her she could take Brett, as I couldn’t see any harm in his going, although I was quite sure this evangelist was a hoax. I had a feeling I should go to the meeting also but talked myself out of it. I convinced myself that there was nothing to it and going would be a waste of time. (Although I was a Christian, I was not walking close to the Lord at that time and had never learned about miracles still happening today.)
When Mrs. Murdock brought Brett home that evening, she told me she had talked to the evangelist about Brett and he had told her to come back the next night with me and Brett. I decided that it might be interesting to go see this fellow for myself. And I did hate to hurt Mrs. Murdock’s feelings–I knew she had her heart set on going.
I planned to go that night right after work without eating dinner first–that would give me a good excuse to leave early. Picking up Mrs. Murdock, her daughter, and Brett, we headed to the service. Mrs. Murdock was filled with hope and prayer. I was filled with skepticism with just a faint glimmer of hope. We arrived late at the auditorium and had to sit in the back row. Soon a man came to us and asked us if this wasn’t the little boy who belonged in the front row (which was now filled). They promptly made a new front row for us.
The evangelist’s appearance was impressive. He was a captivating speaker. But I questioned whether God was using him to perform miracles. He came up to me and asked me to stand and briefly explain Brett’s problem. He said he was going to pray for Brett later that night and that he wanted me to take him back to the doctors and run the tests they had done before. I assured him I would, although he knew I was quite skeptical.
Then over the next couple of hours, I watched as person after person seemed to be healed as he prayed for them. My doubts were beginning to be replaced with faith slowly building within me. Finally, the evangelist again approached me and told me to bring Brett up to the stage near the pulpit. He prayed for Brett. Since this was not the type of healing that could be physically seen, I didn’t want to try feeding Brett until I had medical confirmation that he had been healed.
The next day I took him to a local doctor and he said his gag reflex, which had never worked properly, was quite active. They x-rayed him [same new equipment as in San Francisco] and found nothing wrong! His esophagus worked a little sluggishly, but this was to be expected since it had never been used. The joy of teaching him to eat began! It didn’t take long. A doctor removed the tube running into his stomach on Good Friday that year–and God did another miracle by closing the hole in Brett’s side almost instantly!
It has been many years now since Brett was healed. Through this healing, God has blessed us and others. Many have received encouragement and increased faith through knowing about this wonderful miracle of God. I came back to the Lord. Brett grew up with the knowledge that Jesus healed him.
As you can imagine, that was a real turning point in my life. The Bible became more real to me than ever before, and I drew closer to God. I learned later of other children being healed because their mothers had heard about Brett’s healing. Their faith grew because they knew if God could do that for Brett, he could do that for their child as well.
I didn’t receive this awesome blessing because I deserved it. Far from it. I received it because of God’s grace and love. Just as he reached out to me and to Brett, he offers his grace and love and power to you as well. Whatever your need, I encourage you to trust God for the answer.
And Brett? All these years later, he is walking with God. He is a husband, father, and grandfather and runs his own computer business. Through the years he has blessed many lives–especially mine. Above is a picture of him (third from left in back row next to my husband, George) and his family. Grams (that’s me!) is in the front row.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
Psalm 111:3-4 NLT
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