When Emily Brooks joined our small group, we had no idea she and her family would become some of our dearest friends. We are so excited for you to hear from Emily today, as she shares her story of God’s faithfulness. Enjoy!
I’ve always loved the story in Joshua when God led the Israelites across the Jordan River. They piled up stones as a remembrance of what God had done for them as a physical testimony to God’s work for His people. A “thing” to make the children ask “What’ is that? What does it mean?”
I’ve seen the importance of reminding myself of God’s faithfulness and provision and I know how it has impacted my kids when we retell past stories of how God has taken care of us. My husband, Kevin, and I have been married for 14 years now. Some stories are fresh, from today or this week, and some are old, stories that have become stones on the bottom of our pile. They are a testimony of how God has taken care of us for many years. This is a bottom stone story.
It was the winter of 2006 and we were living in New Orleans because Kevin was in seminary. James was 6 months old and at his checkup, the doctor heard a murmur in his heart. He attributed it to the fact that James had just had RSV and said we’d check it again at his year checkup. The time for his one year checkup came and we were hopeful but nervous. Everything seemed fine with James but the murmur was still there. The doctor referred us to Dr. White, a pediatric cardiologist. After a 
slew of tests including blood work and an echocardiogram we meet with the Dr. White to discuss what he had found. I’m not even sure what he said to us after “There’s a hole in your child’s heart.” I remember walking to the car and crying the entire way back to our apartment. We began to pray that day for a miracle. The doctor had said that sometimes these kinds of holes heal with time so we would wait and pray, trusting that God was in control of all of this. After this, we decided to move back to Indiana to be closer to our family and give James a chance to be seen at Riley Children’s Hospital. We started to see Dr, Caldwell, a pediatric cardiologist at Riley every 6 months for X-rays, EKGs, and echocardiograms so they could monitor James’s heart. When we took James to his appointment at Riley when he was 2 and ½ years old Dr. Caldwell looked at us and said, “It’s time to talk about surgery. It’s not healing and if we don’t fix the hole, James will die before he is 30.” I think I just sat there and stared at the wall as Kevin scheduled the surgery for 6 months from then, in May.
I didn’t know what to think. I really had believed that God would give us a miracle. He had the power to heal James, I knew that. Why didn’t He do it? I really struggled with that for a long time. Kevin and I had centered our lives on Christ. We sought to be obedient and to live in a way that 
would point others to Him. I felt like he owed it to me to fix my baby. I know that seems crazy, but honestly, that’s how I felt.
About this time, God really started to work on my heart about how I viewed Him. I had a really small view of God. I trusted Him but I also put a ton of my trust in me and in Kevin. I relied on us to do so much. I struggled for several months with frustration at God’s “No” to healing James with a miracle. The day of his surgery arrived and I was anxious. We had a waiting room full of family, friends, and pastors from several churches in our community who had all come to pray and wait with us at the hospital. I remember nervously handing James to the nurse and watching her carrying my 3 year old son down the hall, not knowing if he would be okay but trying to trust in God’s sovereignty. I waited anxiously, pacing the waiting room for hours while they worked on his heart. During that time, I kept retelling myself of times when God had provided for us, remembering the stones we had laid as testimonies to His faithfulness and love. I leaned on truth from the His Word, and praying that God would take care of my little boy. Peace settled in my heart. I remembered that 
James belongs first of all to God and that He loves James even more than I do. James came out of surgery just fine. The hole turned out to be much larger than they had thought but they were finally able to seal it. God gave us a huge stone to put on our testimony pile!
In the years since James’s surgery, we’ve had 3 friends and family members who have had babies with heart defects. Our experience with James’s heart has allowed us to give hope and speak Truth to those families. We have been able to come alongside them, cry with them, and offer love and support and empathy. We’ve had the chance to see glimmers of God working this hard time for good in our life. 
Since James’s surgery we’ve also had big health scares with each of our other 3 children. While I didn’t love going through these experiences, God’s work in my heart and on my attitude helped me remember that these children belong to Him. I know that I can trust Him and that even if things don’t go the way I hope, He is good. Each time we have weathered a health scare with our kids, we add another stone to our testimony pile. We retell the stories and point out God’s faithfulness to our family, His provision, and His love.
James is 9 now. He’s a healthy 3rd grade soccer player. We did get a miracle with James. Not only was the hole in his heart filled through the skill of the wonderful doctors at Riley, but his mom’s heart was filled too. Her heart was filled with a new found trust in God’s sovereign hand. 
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