Miracles DO still happen devo
Miracles
Do you believe in miracles? What is a miracle? Have you seen a miracle? Have you been a part of a miracle?
Webster’s defines miracle as a supernatural event. Random House defines miracle as an event that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a divine or supernatural cause. It also 
defines miracle as an unusually marvelous thing or fact.
What do you think a miracle is? What is your definition of a miracle? Take a second and think about it.
Okay, now that I’ve got you thinking…..let me tell you about just one of my many miracles. Before I go there, you need to know that I am one of those people who believes in miracles. I believe they happen every single day. I believe they happen when we ask and when we don’t ask. I believe we miss them all the time… So, about my miracle. The pictures on this page are my miracle. The big boy is my brother Chris and the little one is my nephew Camden.
As many of you know, I was abandoned by my mother as a child. My dad went to work one day and in came a big truck. My mom and her ‘friend’ loaded up all the furniture. She went to the bank and wiped out the account. Then she hit the road. She drove off with my brother and never even looked back.
There was always a lot of questions. There isn’t a day of my life that I don’t think about that day. But what may surprise you the most is that I don’t miss my mom. Don’t get me wrong…I have tons of questions for her and things I’d like to say…but it would be no skin off my back if I don’t get to see her ever again. I don’t have many memories of her, but the ones I have are unpleasant to say the least. What I missed and what I really wanted to know was where my best friend was, my brother. Every good memory I have is about him. He was my best friend and my protector.
I thought about trying to find my brother for many, many years. But I was scared. I was scared of what my mom did to him. I was scared he was dead. I was scared that he had gotten involved in all of her vices, drugs, alcohol, and etc. I was scared he wouldn’t remember me. And most of all, I was scared that if I found him, I would find my mom and I didn’t want that….so I didn’t try to find him…but little did I know, he was thinking along the same lines…..
Summer 2002. I lived in Cornelia, Georgia in an apartment by myself. I was taking it easy one night, watching Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio on my flowery couch. I was taking a break from packing because I had a women’s Christian conference in a couple days and right after I returned home from it I had to go back to school. So, relaxing and the phone rings. I was in the middle of the movie so I let the machine get it. No message. A little odd because everyone I knew at the time left me messages. Whatever…so I continue to watch the movie. The phone rings again a couple minutes later. I answer and they hang up. Now, I’m just annoyed. Finally, it rings again a couple minutes later. They ask for Melissa Nichols. I’m thinking telemarketer call…but at 9:30 at night….so instead of yelling I say yes, I am Melissa Nichols. Then the person on the other line tells me my middle name…now, I’m a little freaked…and no, I’m not telling you what it is. Then they ask if my mother’s name was Genie….now, a nerve has been hit so I ask who the heck it is. And the most amazing words I have ever heard were said, “My name is Christopher Patrick. I am your brother. I have been looking for you.”
In the background, there are cheers. All of his friends had helped him to find me. One of his friends found my website and when he saw me, he said he knew it was me. So, he tracked down my number and called.
My brother spent the first 10 minutes convincing me he was really my brother (which I really didn’t need convincing) and I spent the first 10 minutes going ‘Oh My God’. Then we spent another 10 minutes with both of us saying ‘Oh My God.’ My brother and I talked on the phone for hours and hours. I got absolutely NO sleep that night. We talked about his life with our mom, how she didn’t change, how he ran away when he was a teenager, how he moved all the way to Missouri to keep her from finding him. I asked him a zillion questions about her and about him and talked about my dad and sister. When we finally hung up at like 5 in the morning, I called my dad and sister. I woke them up by calling over and over. My dad freaked out because I told him he had to wake Holly up and get her on the other line. He thought something serious had happened to me. When I told him who I just got off the phone with…dead silence. He didn’t know what to say. My sister didn’t know what to say. I talked about a mile a minute telling them all about our conversation. I kept them on the phone for another 2 hours.
It gets better…that weekend, I went to my women’s Christian conference. Apparently, each one of us who attended had a prayer cha, someone who had been praying for us since we were accepted to the conference. The last couple days before the conference, the prayer cha and others prayed for hours and hours at churches around the region for all the women attending. When I got to the conference, my prayer cha handed me a letter. It said that she felt the need to pray for something specific for me… a miracle. She didn’t know what the miracle was but she just knew that’s what I needed. I didn’t even know I needed a miracle. Honestly, I didn’t pray for my brother to find me. I thought about him constantly but I had just settled on the fact I was never going to see him again. Apparently, God had other plans. And when my prayer cha found out my long lost brother had found me while she was praying that….let’s just say every single woman in that conference found out about it and every single one of them cried. As a matter of fact, every single person I told cried. And I think I cried more those first couple weeks afterwards than I have ever cried. And it was all happy tears.
It has been almost 4 years since my brother and I reunited. We visit each other at least once a year, more if we can. I was in his wedding. I was the first person he called when his son Camden was born. I was the first person to hear Camden cry beside his mom and dad and doctors and nurses. He called me when his son was taken to emergency surgery, and I was the first one to tell him I would jump on a plane and comfort him the very second he said go. He already has plans for being in my wedding and spoiling my future son or daughter. We were incredibly close as kids…and the years apart….somehow they made us closer. He is my big brother. I love him so very, very much. I cry every time we have to say goodbye from seeing each other. He cries when he has to say goodbye. I visited him this past New Year’s. As that plane took off and I looked at the lights below me, a tear fell down my cheek as I smiled. It was both a sad tear and a happy tear. Sad because I wanted to be able to see him more. Happy because I knew God had given me a BIG miracle. A miracle I could talk to, I could be comforted by, and a miracle I could put my arms around and hug. And even better, a miracle I wasn’t even expecting.
I sincerely hope you get a chance to meet my brother one day. You will see that although we were separated for more than 20 years, we are just alike and we are incredibly close. You will see a special sparkle in my eye and special sparkle in his dimple. You will see that we are very thankful for each other and that he is indeed the older protective brother. You will see that I am the little sister who listens carefully to his advice and respect it very much. You will see a love that distance nor time can separate.
Okay, so what’s the lesson here? HELLO…miracles…they’re everywhere. They’re everywhere around us here on Earth. They’re everywhere in the Bible. They’re big and they’re small. It can be the miracle of a tornado skipping a house or a child being born. It can be the miracle of simply having a roof over your head and food to eat. It can be the miracle of having a great friend or even forgiving an enemy. It can be the miracle of getting up every morning. It can be the miracle of being cured of a disease or even a cold. It can even be the miracle of your mom or dad not killing you when you bought that bad grade home or stayed out past curfew. I like how Random House says that a miracle is something that surpasses all known human powers. In that case, everything is pretty much a miracle because the fact is that everything we do is because of God, not because of us. He gave us all of our abilities and even our life. Without him, we are nothing. So just us being here….a miracle.
The Bible has tons of these…Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. Dude, I would love to have the ability to turn one drink into another. In that case, everything would be sweet tea. (I know what you were thinking….shame, shame.)
Five thousand people are fed with two loaves and a couple fish in Matthew 14: 15-21, Mark 6: 35-44, Luke 9: 12-17, and John 6: 5-14.
Jesus controlled the weather, calming the storm in Matt 8:23 – 27, Mark 4: 35-41, and Luke 8:22-25.
A sick woman is healed Matt 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, and Luke 8:43-48.
A boy with an evil spirit is healed is Matt 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, and Luke 9:37-42.
Luke was defending Jesus and cut a soldier’s ear off who was taking Jesus captive and what does Jesus do? He restores the soldier’s ear in Luke 22:49-51.
Do a little research. See if you can find some more miracles Jesus performed. The gospels recorded more than 30 and they were just a fraction of the people who were touched and healed. Pause a moment and find some of these miracles. Mark them or even write them down in a journal. That way, when you start to doubt….take a look at the list of miracles Jesus performed.
Now that you’ve found some miracles…notice they can be small such as turning water into wine or huge such as raising Lazarus from the dead. They can be something you’ve prayed or asked for. They can be something unexpected. Some are quiet and some are loud. They happen more than you realize. As Psalm 106:2 states, “Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise Him enough?” Miracles cover every aspect of life and are innumerable. The more we think about what God has done, the more we can appreciate the miracles He has done for each of us individually – birth, personal development, salvation, specific guidance, healing, loving friends and family – and it goes on.
Now, time for prayer and reflection. I want you to think about all the miracles in your life. Thank God for them. Give Him all the praise for them. I thank God every night for the miracle of being able to teach you girls. Then pray for a miracle. It can be whatever miracle you want, a general request or a specific request. And when you pray for that miracle, I want you to pray with faith because you know that miracles exist and are possible. You’ve heard it time and time again…that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. You know it…miracles didn’t just happen in Biblical times thousands and of years ago…they happen now. So, remember that when you pray for your miracle. Write down any thoughts, any miracles you’ve received, and any specific prayer requests down in that journal. I personally love to go back in my journals and remind myself of the blessings I have and see if my prayers have been answered and then praise God for that. It’s also interesting to look back and see those prayers that haven’t been answered my way, and see how they were answered and why.
Lastly, please keep these in your hearts and souls. Every one of YOU are a miracle to me! I never thought in a million years I would have the opportunity to serve Christ through youth ministry…you are also a miracle that was unexpected! And those unexpected miracles are the BEST!
