We were up to our necks in holiday festivities by the time that cold December night rolled around. Our church had welcomed a new youth minister earlier that year, and to celebrate his first Christmas with his new church, he invited all of the youth workers and their spouses to the church for a celebration of sorts to thank us for our work and warm acceptance of him.
My wife and I had been looking forward to attending the party, but our youngest son, fourteen-month-old Gabriel, came down with what appeared as a nasty cold. We didn't think much of it - he was our third child, and we were quite aware of the fact that it is common for young children to develop a cold quickly and to lose it just as speedily as they caught it. With this in mind, my wife convinced me to go on to the church alone. I hesitated for several minutes arguing with my wife, and then reluctantly kissed her good-bye, convinced that all would be fine. As I closed the door behind me, I made my wife guarantee that she would call me at the church if anything changed for the worse.
I was still worried about Gabriel when I pulled into the church parking lot and headed inside. As we ate dinner, my mind repeatedly returned home to Catie and Gabe, but as the conversation picked up and the games began, I was comforted by the thought that God would hold Gabriel in his hands and keep him well. It wasn't until I arrived back home later that evening, that I heard the story of that evenings happenings.
After I had left for the Christmas party, Gabriel began to show signs of getting worse. He began running a fever, and his body temperature continued to climb, until, at last, Gabriel's tiny body hit a shocking 105 degrees. He lethargically lay diapered but otherwise naked on Catie's lap. Catie futilely attempted to wake him, but received no response. She quickly became, as one would expect, quite frazzled. She called the church, but since we were not near one of the telephones, no one heard it. She called another minister of our church and asked him if he knew of any other way of getting in touch with me short of driving to the church, but he offered no alternatives.
Out of a combination of motherly fear and desperation, having quickly run out of other options, Catie called her mother and explained the situation to her. Acting in true motherly fashion, Catie's mother calmed her, quickly reassuring her that all would turn out fine, then asked Catie if she would like to pray for Gabriel.
Through the now flowing tears cascading down her cheeks, Catie agreed to pray, and the two mothers began praying for that tiny boy lying on his mother's lap with the length, the depth, and the breadth of their hearts. The prayer only lasted a few minutes but was filled with the emotions, the tenderness, and the compassion that comes from the very depths of the hearts of two loving maternal beings. Again, at the conclusion of the prayer, Catie was comforted and reassured, and then she hung up the telephone and gazed at her near-lifeless child through eyes glazed with tears. She rested her now wearied body against the back of the chair, peered again at her child, then at the ceiling, and quietly began a conversation with God.
The conversation with the last one she had to talk with lasted only a few minutes - no more than five to be exact. As she finished her talk with God, she felt a stirring upon her lap. Gabriel opened his eyes, sat up and began acting very animated. Catie in amazement checked him over, took his temperature again and sat in stunned amazement. As Gabriel climbed down from his mother's lap and began playing on the floor, Catie gathered in the happenings of the last few minutes. Gabriel had gone from running a fever of 105 degrees to running no temperature at all, without even breaking a sweat. Furthermore, this recently lethargic child was now playing as if nothing had ever been wrong with him.
A visit to the doctor the next day only added to what Catie had already began suspecting. The doctor's check showed nothing wrong with him. There were no signs of any sickness that could be found. We discussed what had happened the previous night with the doctor and were told that what we described, according to modern medicine, was impossible. The only answer that our doctor could give for those events was the only answer that those of us involved could reason out as well - God smiled on my son that night, and used him to show us all that miracles do still happen.
