Amie, my youngest child was born in 1976. I wanted to name her Liberty but my folks threw a fit so she became Amie. Amie means dearly beloved and she was. My kids didn't ask questions they just told everyone she was a gift of God. She weighed five pounds and nine ounces, a tiny little thing. At four weeks she only weighed six and a half pounds and she began to lose weight instead of gain. I was nursing her and my doctor told me I was nervous and upset and that was why she wasn't gaining so I began pumping and feeding her from a bottle but it didn't help. She started screaming all the time. The cry was one of pain and I didn't know what to do to help her. I stopped giving her my milk and gave her formula but that was worse. she began throwing up all the time. They put her on soy but that didn't work. Goat's milk was worse.
I walked the floor day and night. In those days there wasn't twenty four hour TV. The first program on every day was a Christian station it was also the last one on each day. I couldn't wait each morning until it came on.
At six weeks she was down to her birth weight. The doctor sent me to Kearney to see a pediatrician. Dr. Schafer found that I had a very sick baby and I wasn't given much hope. She had a large hole in her heart, a serious kidney disorder, a bone disorder, and the problem causing all the pain was she didn't have a valve in her stomach. Without the valve the milk was coming into her esophagus causing severe ulceration. The doctor told me she would have to have several major surgeries.
I didn't know what to do. I was down in Kearney all by myself and I was so overwhelmed. I finally decided to call the TV program. I didn't know anything about healing but they talked about it all the time. The lady that answered was so sweet. She listened intently and finally asked me how I wanted her to pray. What could I believe God for? I told her I could believe not having surgery so she prayed that way.
About an hour later the doctor told me they were going to try to build her up before they did surgery. They wanted her to sit up at all times and cereal in her formula to thicken it so it will stay in her stomach. They would wait until she was six months old unless there was an emergency.
My dad took me to a special speaker at a Full Gospel Business Meeting. This speaker was suppose to be able to lay hands on the sick and they are healed. I went with him and he prayed for us. When we went for her next check up the hole in her heart had become a small murmur. She had gained some weight but was much to small. He sent us home but we were to come back at six months. I started going to a church that prayed for the sick.
When she was six months old I went to another Full Gospel Business Meeting. The speaker was a man from California. His name was Wild Bill Monteaf. I had never seen a man like this. He pointed to me and told me to come forward. He told me that God told him that I was concerned about my baby being born out of wedlock but God said He was here Father and just like Jephthah a son of a harlot saved his whole family so will this child save her family. Through this child your whole family will be saved. Then he laid hands on her and prayed for her.
I wish I could tell you that she was totally healed at that moment but God did touch her and me. I found out that God truly does love us no matter what are sins have been in the past. He filled me with the Holy Spirit and I have never been the same. Amie had tubes in her ears when she was one. She only weighed eighteen
pounds a wore six month clothes but after much prayer she began to grow. The bones in her skull were still as that of a newborn but after another three month she started to grow and the bones began to close up.
Amie was nine months old when they finally allowed her to lay flat. It was a long time for her to be able to sit and then crawl because of being unable to do these things she was really behind in speech and hand and eye coordination. She didn't walk until she was three and was unable to talk until then.
God was good to us. We learned of His wonders and His grace. My parents were saved because of what happened to her. My other three children were saved and the prophecy came true. Amie was a true blessing for me. I began to really grow in the things of God. I stopped dating. I couldn't pick out a decent man if he ran into me so I told God if He wanted me to marry He would have to make it clear. It has been thirty five years since I dated and God has been there for me. I have had a good life and though I am not opposed to marrying again but I don't want to go back to the dating process. My Maker is my husband the Lord of Host is his name my Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.
Until I was born again I did not know a decent man (other than my brothers) and I certainly didn't know anyone that was happily married. Since that day I have come to realize that God does make decent men and there are happy marriages out there. Some men loved their families. There truly is life after abuse. God can heal you of your pain and sorrows. Abuse is more than the bruises and scars on the outside. It runs deep in your soul and only God can heal those wounds. What about you have you ever been abused? Do you realize that no one has the right to hurt you? Verbal and emotional abuse are sometime worse that actual beatings. Do you need help getting out of an abusive relationship? There are many people out here who want to help you. God doesn't want His children hurt, wounded, and bleeding so why not ask us for help?
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