Stored Prayers, Sovereign Timing, and the Miracles in Between

Sitting in the Quiet In-Between

I went into my esophageal procedure this week expecting a routine step forward in my swallowing journey—focusing on my esophagus and hoping for clarity. But if there is one lesson chronic medical challenges teach us, it is that our journeys rarely follow our expected human scripts.

During the procedure, my doctor found an unexpected visual concern regarding the tissue lining my esophagus. He immediately took a biopsy to send off for pathology testing. Just like that, the trajectory of my day shifted. I found myself sitting in that familiar, quiet in-between—the space of waiting, holding my breath, and anticipating results.

It is a deeply vulnerable place to be. Your mind wants to race ahead, to anticipate every scenario, and to wrestle with the unknown. Yet, right in the middle of that vulnerability, God showed up in His quiet providence. He gave me a gentle, timely reminder of who is holding my story, who has always held my story, and why I can trust Him with tomorrow.

Proverbs 3:5–6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

A Note Tucked Between the Pages

The other day, my mom was looking through my Mamaw's Bible. She passed away almost two years ago, leaving behind a legacy of faith that still warms our hearts. Tucked tenderly between the pages of her well-worn Scripture was a handwritten note in her distinctive, familiar handwriting.

On it, she had written a simple, heartfelt prayer:

"Jesus please heal Felicia completely and thank you holy Father."

Holding that slip of paper brought immediate tears to my eyes. It was a profound reminder that long before I fully understood the depth of my injuries or the long road ahead, someone who loved me was faithfully carrying my name directly before the throne of God.

It immediately brought to mind the vivid imagery in the Book of Revelation, where John describes the atmosphere of heaven and how our earthly petitions are received by God:

Revelation 5:8 "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints."

Later in the vision, John sees these prayers again at the heavenly altar:

Revelation 8:3–4 "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

What an breathtaking promise! Our prayers are never wasted, forgotten, or lost in the ether. God hears them, treasures them, holds them in golden vials, and answers them according to His perfect wisdom and timing.

Remembering the First Miracle

As I reflected on that handwritten note, my mind drifted back to another miracle early in my recovery. Years ago, after my severe motorcycle accident, my right arm would not move at all due to extensive nerve damage. The medical team discussed performing a nerve graft—a complex surgery to reconnect the damaged pathway in hopes of restoring function.

It felt like an overwhelming hurdle. But before that surgery ever became necessary, something incredible happened: my arm began moving again on its own. The neural pathway reconnected, and I never needed that graft. It was a clear, unmistakable touch of God’s restoring hand.

Now, after my recent esophagus procedure, I find myself standing in a strikingly similar place. My doctors explain that my swallowing difficulties aren't simply a matter of strengthening muscles through routine exercise. The deeper challenge is that the nerve pathway between my brain and the involuntary muscles responsible for swallowing must reconnect and function properly. In so many ways, it mirrors what I faced with my arm.

I admitted to my mom that I couldn't understand why one nerve-related issue had fully resolved back then while the other hasn't yet. When I mentioned that connection to her, she looked at me and quietly said something I will never forget:

"I strongly believe your arm recovered because that's something your Mamaw specifically prayed for."

The Persistent Echo of Faith

I can't say exactly how God chooses to answer each individual prayer. I don't know every single petition my Mamaw prayed for me in the quietness of her room, and I certainly don't remember every desperate prayer I prayed for myself during those raw, painful early days.

But I do know this absolute truth: God hears the prayers of His people.

Psalm 34:15 "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry."

Sometimes He answers immediately. Sometimes He answers years later. And sometimes He answers after the warrior who prayed has already finished her race and gone home to be with Him. Finding that handwritten note reminded me that even though my Mamaw is no longer here on earth, the God she prayed to is very much alive and present. He has not forgotten me, nor has He forgotten a single word written on that piece of paper.

So while I wait on medical results and continue praying for healing in my swallowing, I find deep hope in remembering that the same God who restored movement to my arm is still fully able to do what seems humanly impossible today. He holds every nerve, every outcome, and every prayer stored up in those golden vials.

Jeremiah 32:17 "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee."

God in the Details and the Exact Timing

Recently in Sunday school, I was studying the story of Elijah in 1 Kings. Elijah declared a severe drought to King Ahab as a direct judgment upon his kingdom for their disobedience and idol worship. In those days, Baal was worshipped as the god of weather, rain, and agricultural prosperity.

When God answered their idolatry with a drought, it wasn't a random penalty. It was a direct, intentional response that exposed the complete powerlessness of their false god.

1 Kings 17:1 "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

That lesson was a striking reminder that God is meticulously in the details. His timing is exact, His logic is intentional, and His purpose is always specific.

I see that same sovereign design woven throughout my own medical journey right now:

• Step 1: If I hadn’t been working closely with my speech therapist, I wouldn’t have had the specific swallow study that prompted me to revisit my ENT.
• Step 2: If I hadn't gone back to my ENT, he wouldn't have suggested this specific procedure—one we hadn't tried yet.
• Step 3: If we hadn't agreed to move forward with the procedure, he never would have seen the visible tissue abnormality or been able to send it off for a biopsy.

Without those earlier steps, that underlying issue would have remained completely hidden and untreated.

Nothing in this process has been wasted. What felt like a roundabout, indirect path was actually God ordering my steps to reveal what needed to be brought to light. Just as He held the weather in Elijah’s day, He is holding the precise timeline of my health today.

Psalm 37:23 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way."

Milestone Days and Answers to Prayer

Today marks the 17th anniversary of my motorcycle accident—the day my life changed in an instant, but also the day God began showing me undeniable miracles.

On this exact milestone day, I received a callback from my ENT with the official biopsy results: it is positive for Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE).

While receiving a chronic diagnosis can feel overwhelming on the surface, I genuinely see it as an answer to prayer. If we hadn't gone through every step of this exact process, we would still be in the dark, wondering why my progress felt stalled.

Now, we have clarity. I have a clear follow-up plan with my ENT and a referral to a gastroenterologist to begin targeted treatment to calm the tissue.

Seventeen years ago today, God preserved my life on the pavement. Today, on this exact anniversary, He gave me clarity for my health moving forward. He is still in the details. His timing is still perfect. And He is still answering the prayers stored in those golden vials.

Psalm 28:6–7 "Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him."

 Be encouraged. 🧡

 

Stronger Together: we need each other

I recently had the privilege of speaking at a summer youth camp, sharing parts of my personal testimony. The camp’s theme was "Stronger Together," and as I prepared my heart and my words for those young people, I found myself reflecting on what those two words actually mean in the quiet, daily reality of our lives.

For me, "stronger together" isn't a modern self-help slogan or a catchy camp theme. It is a biological, emotional, and spiritual truth. It is the very reason I am still here to tell my story.

Looking back over the last 17 years since the unexpected tragedy that changed my life, I realize that surviving, healing, and continuing to grow has required an entire ecosystem of people. God never designed us to walk this earth as isolated islands, yet we so often try to do exactly that.

To understand why we must stand together, we have to look at two fundamental truths: the fragile nature of our earthly existence, and the divine blueprint for our relationships.

The Vapor of Life and the Suddenness of Change

These concepts are not new. They are as ancient as scripture itself. We live our lives making plans for next week, next year, or our retirement, forgetting how thin the veil truly is between our normal routine and a completely different reality.

The Bible pulls no punches when describing how quickly our earthly status can shift. In the book of James, we are reminded of just how fleeting our time here is:

James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

Our life is a vapor. A flash in the pan. A breath in the wind, so quick to be gone.

My own history began with a sudden, tragic accident—a moment that instantly divided my life into "before" and "after." When I spoke to the youth at camp, I wanted them to understand a hard but necessary truth: tragedy does not have an age limit. It does not wait for you to grow up, finish school, get married, or feel "ready." It doesn't respect our timelines.

But as I’ve shared before, it doesn’t even take a massive, dramatic tragedy to completely rewrite the course of your life. It can happen in the middle of a completely normal, everyday event.

Years ago, during my initial recovery at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, I looked around at the other patients sharing the rehabilitation unit with me. Some of them were there, like you might expect, due to high-impact car accidents or traumatic gunshot wounds. But others were there because of things so mundane, so ordinary, that you would never think twice about them:

• One patient was there simply because they tripped over a loose shoelace.
• Another was wearing a favorite knitted sweater, and as they stood up from a porch swing, a single button got caught causing the wooden swing to hit her where her neck and head meet.

A loose string. A snagged button.

These were not daredevils or people taking massive risks. They were just living a normal day, and in a fraction of a second, an ordinary moment turned into a life-altering catastrophe. If our lives can hinge on something as small as a shoelace or a button, how can we possibly think we are strong enough to walk this path alone?

The Divine Rescue of Community

Because our lives are so fragile, and because the unexpected is always just around the corner, God built a safety net into the very fabric of creation: each other.

When my accident happened, my need for people was immediate and overwhelming. In the beginning, I needed the highly specialized, intense physical care of doctors, surgeons, and therapists. As the weeks turned to months, I needed the round-the-clock care and comfort of nurses, family, and close friends. And alongside them, I needed the community of people who sent cards, wrote notes, offered up prayers, and visited me—small gestures of encouragement that kept my spirit alive when my body was broken.

Even now, 17 years later, that need has not disappeared. I still need people. I still rely on their expertise, their physical assistance, and their encouragement when I am trying to make new physical gains and push past my current limitations.

Scripture speaks directly to this lifelong, reciprocal need for partnership in the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."

There is a profound warning in that verse: "Woe to him that is alone when he falleth." Falling is an inevitable part of the human experience. We will fall physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The tragedy isn't the fall itself; the tragedy is falling without a hand to reach down and pull you back up.

The Power of Your Circle

We have all heard the secular phrases before: "There is strength in numbers," or "Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future." But these aren't just modern sociological observations. Who you surround yourself with—your "circle"—has a massive, undeniable influence on your life, whether you want to admit it or not.

The writer of Proverbs understood the sharpening power of deep, intentional relationships:

Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

If we surround ourselves with dull, unsupportive, or negative influences, we become dull. But when we build a circle of faith, strength, and encouragement, we sharpen one another. Throughout scripture, we are given beautiful, concrete examples of people who survived their darkest moments purely because of the strength of their circle.

1. Aaron and Hur: Holding Up Weary Hands

In Exodus 17, the Israelites found themselves in a fierce battle against the Amalekites. Moses discovered that as long as he held up his staff in his hands, Israel prevailed. But Moses was a human being, and his arms grew heavy.

Exodus 17:12 "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun."

Moses was a great leader, chosen by God, but he could not hold his hands up alone. He needed Aaron and Hur to literally carry the weight for him. Sometimes, we are Moses—weary, exhausted, unable to keep fighting. In those moments, we need friends who will bring us a stone to sit on and hold our hands high until the victory is won.

2. The Lame Man’s Friends: Tearing Down Barriers

In Mark chapter 2, we find the story of a man sick with palsy (paralyzed) who desperately needed to get to Jesus. The house where Jesus was teaching was so packed with crowds that there was absolutely no way through the door.

A lesser circle of friends might have said, "Well, we tried. We’ll come back tomorrow." But this man’s circle was different.

Mark 2:4-5 "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."

Notice that scripture says Jesus saw their faith—the collective faith of the friends who carried the stretcher, climbed the roof, and tore up the tiles. This man received his healing and walked out on his own two feet because he had a circle of friends who refused to let barriers stand between him and his miracle.

3. Jonathan and David: Strength in the Wilderness

When David was on the run for his life, hunted like an animal by King Saul, he was isolated, terrified, and weary. In his moment of deepest despair, Saul’s own son, Jonathan, risked everything to find David in the woods.

1 Samuel 23:16 "And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God."

Jonathan didn’t offer David a military strategy or a political alliance; he went into the dark woods simply to strengthen his hand in God. He reminded David of God's promises when David was too tired to remember them himself. That is the ultimate purpose of a godly circle: to point us back to the Father when our own strength is gone.

Who is in Your Circle?

Because our circle has such a powerful influence on us, we must be incredibly intentional about who we allow into our inner world. The Bible warns us about the quiet, eroding power of poor companionship:

1 Corinthians 15:33 "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners."

If we surround ourselves with people who feed our fears, validate our excuses, or pull us away from our faith, we will slowly find ourselves slipping. But when we choose a circle like the ones Moses, the lame man, and David had, we build a foundation that can withstand any storm.

As you look at your own life today, ask yourself:

1. Who is holding up your hands when you get weary? Do you have an Aaron and a Hur in your corner?
2. Who is willing to help you tear off the roof to get to Jesus? Do your friends push you closer to God, or do they pull you away?
3. Are you being that friend to someone else?

Tied Together for the Journey

Our lives are indeed a vapor. We do not know what tomorrow holds, and we cannot guarantee that a simple walk down the driveway or a button on a sweater won't change everything in an instant. Tragedy and change are unpredictable, and they do not wait for us to be ready.

But we do not have to walk this fragile road in fear. God has given us a remedy for our vulnerability: each other.

By building a strong, godly circle, by opening ourselves up to receive help, and by standing ready to hold up the hands of those who are weary, we fulfill the ultimate law of Christ. Let us cherish our circle, guard our influences, and live out the truth every single day that we are, by God's perfect design, stronger together.

Galatians 6:2 "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."