Vaughn and Acirfa

Check out Vaughn’s story below

Chelsea’s Story

I remember when I was young my mom had me repeat a prayer after her to accept Christ. Of course, I didn’t fully understand what it was that I was doing but I knew I should. I remember one winter camp in Jr High with the youth group we were in chapel singing the “Nails in your Hands,” and it just ‘clicked’ in my mind. I started crying as I realized what Jesus went through and that it was all for me. The words in that song were and still are so powerful to me.

Because I grew up as a Christian and accepted Christ at a young age I don’t really remember what my life was like before I accepted Christ, but I look at people who don’t have faith and I know how fortunate and blessed I am to know Christ. I know that no matter the situation I find myself in, somehow it is in God’s plan. I believe the Lord has blessed me with being able to trust Him no matter whatever happens, because I know that He is there by my side.

In life we all have struggles that we have to work through and one of the biggest struggles I have had was growing up without a dad. My parents divorced when I was 2 so I never had a relationship with my dad. When I was younger it never really fazed me to think about not having a dad around, but in the last couple of years it has gotten to me. There were times I would lie in bed and cry because all I longed for was to have a father. I saw friends with their dads and I wished I had one. Last summer when the youth group went to CHIC, a christian youth conference, I went to a workshop about growing up without a father and there was a woman speaker that talked about how God has helped her with her relationship with her dad. Through this experience, I realized that God is my father.

On that trip, God filled a hole that was within me. God Himself replaced my earthly father and became my dad and He is far better Father than any other. Sometimes I still struggle with not having an earthly father, but I rely on what God has taught me and I look at the blessings He has given me. Even though my parents are divorced, I think I have the best family. I am so thankful for my mom. She raised 3 daughters on her own and I love and respect her so much for that. She is the best mom ever. I also deeply love my sisters. I am so blessed to be so close to them and that all 3 of us can get along and share the love of Christ.

Not having a dad around has caused me to rely upon the Lord. In my AP English class this year we had to write a sonnet and it took me a while to get started because I had never written a poem or anything like a poem before. I ended up writing about my dad and our relationship. This is how the poem goes. It is called ‘His Love’.

Like a distant relative visiting
Both can sense the awkwardness between two
The converstations as thin as a string
Memories never old, not even new
The bond between two that was never made
Can hurt in more ways than she can explain
The thought of having a father can fade
As tears flood down like a gray sky and rain
Knowing that he will never change his way
That he may never feel her hurt or pain
She’s still strong knowing God is here to stay
Leaning on the Lord like a walking cane
His love is greater than the world can give
Heaven gave her another chance to live

The poem sums up what I said earlier about God being my Father. God has also blessed me with “replacement” fathers. I have my grandpa that I am really close to and love him so much. Pastor Greg has also been a father-like figure to me. He, Mari and the girls are basically my second family and I am so incredibly blessed to have their love and kindness in my life. Being on the topic of blessings, I know the Lord has blessed me with so many things. From family to friends and the gifts he has given me down to the clothes on my back and the food provided for me. My favorite bible verse is John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I like this verse because it shows you the value of friendship and if you look at verse 12 it says “my commandment is this: love each other as I have loved you”. God commands us to love our friends not just with words but in action. Knowing that I am graduating from high school in June, God has showed me where he wants me as far as college and my profession. My passion is to help people. I know God is calling me to be a Physical Therapist. I find so much joy in that and I believe that God has gifted me the ability to follow this dream. I am going to Mesa College this fall. At the beginning of my senior year, Mesa was not even an option I was thinking about. I wanted to go to APU or Point Loma. I applied to both and got accepted to both, but what I wanted wasn’t what God wanted. He wanted me to go to Mesa. I never thought I would be going there, but now I am and I am completely content with it. God has also opened my thoughts about the mission field. I went on all the missions trips with our youth group to Mexicali and Mexico City. I loved them. I knew I went on these trips for reason, but God has really shown me that I have a passion for missions. I really desire to go to Africa and help anyone I can there. I know I would like to become a Physical therapist and then travel to Africa or anywhere and use those skills to help others. So don’t be surprised if in the near future you hear that I am going to Africa because any chance I get I will take it.

Stacy and Riley Coulter’s Story

Stacy and Riley Coulter’s story

On May 18, 2006, the eagerly anticipated birth of my second daughter suddenly erupted into a life-and-death emergency for both of us. Looking back, I can see that God had known what was coming, and had arranged everything so that she and I would survive.

I hadn’t grown up Christian—church only until I was 10, then nothing for 15 years. But when my mom renewed her Christian faith after the birth of our first daughter, Kasey, I joined her at church. I felt empty, and knew something was missing. I did enjoy church, but still didn’t feel faith. My mom took me on a women’s retreat, but I was uncomfortable. The women were singing, their hands in the air, and I thought I would never feel like them. Afterwards my mother wrote a note saying she realized my brother and I were gifts from God, and that she loved us. I realized then that I had not thanked God for Kasey, for my wonderful husband Rob, for our life. I realized that God had been missing from my life. Our family then started attending Clairemont Covenant Church, about a year before I became pregnant with our second daughter.

With my first pregnancy, I had gestational diabetes, which usually gets worse with each pregnancy. In my second pregnancy, my blood sugar levels soared off the charts during my third trimester. So my doctor induced labor at 38 weeks to safeguard the baby’s blood sugar levels. The doctor began inducing labor at midnight, then left the hospital, expecting to arrive at 7 a.m. to deliver our baby. That night, only God knew that I also had a condition called vasa previa: Braided blood vessels in the umbilical cord fed the baby, but they splayed out precariously where they should have attached to the placenta. This weak connection cannot survive a birth – the vasa previa veins literally explode with the pressure of contractions.

Almost 6 hours into my induction, Rob and I were sleeping. I was barely starting to feel contractions, with no pain medication, dilated only to 2 cm. Suddenly I felt a gush and thought my water broke. Immediately, alarms went off at the nurses’ station, footsteps pounded to my room, and the door slammed open. I still thought my water had broken, but actually the blood vessels had burst, blood had instantly drained from the baby, and her heart had stopped. In all the panic, no one explained to Rob or me what was going on.

A nurse tried to force the fetal monitor to the baby’s head, but at 2 cm, that wasn’t going to happen. Rob and I were barely awake, and this rough treatment was alarming. An unfamiliar obstetrician rushed in, quickly assessed the situation, then ordered, “Get her out of here! “ Rob held my arm, but we raced out so quickly that I lost him. I heard the announcement “Stat, stat, OB team” and started to panic. I yelled for Rob and heard him yell back that I would be okay, that he was there, but I didn’t see him again until hours later.

Somewhere on another floor an entire pediatric team from ICU assembled immediately, took a private elevator, and arrived just before us in the operating room.

We pushed into the OR - bright lights, surgical instruments, crowds of people yelling “What’s going on?” It was like I wasn’t even there. Nurses instantly strapped my arms out to the sides and tipped my head back so I couldn’t see anything. That’s when I knew I was entirely in God’s hands.

Everybody was rushing. The doctors seemed so far away, down by the baby. A voice snapped, “We’re going to try to save your baby, calm down!”

But I needed to grab someone, to hurt someone, I was so scared. I clutched the anesthesiologist and yelled, “I haven’t had any pain medication! What are you going to do?”

“Either a spinal tap or knock you out,” he replied. I thought I was going to die. You hear about people saying their life passed before their eyes - it did. I wasn’t thinking about the baby. I wasn’t praying. Why didn’t I pray? I was cursing, panicked. From that rush of fluids to this point had been less than 10 minutes. It was too much for my brain. Veronica, my wonderful nurse, stayed with me to calm me down. When she started to turn away I said “No, keep looking at me, at my eyes!” And she turned back and looked at me until they knocked me out.

Our baby girl, Riley, was delivered lifeless. She had lost 80% of her blood volume and was white as a ghost. The obstetrician handed her through a window to the neonatal unit that was prepared for anything. Dr Alison Graham and six nurses with different specialties began CPR - nothing. Sodium bicarb - nothing. Epinephrine -first shot, nothing. The 2nd or 3rd shot finally started her heart, and they immediately did 2 blood transfusions, all in 15 minutes.

Rob had been in the hall all this time, and they finally opened the door and told him what was happening. He followed them to the newborn ICU, where Riley was having a third blood transfusion. It wasn’t until this time that the obstetrician discovered the erupted vasa previa.

Rob went home that night, put Kasey to bed, then researched vasa previa until morning. He brought the info in: 10% survival chance for the baby; can be fatal for the mother. Usually the blood vessels rupture when contractions start - at home. We prayed when we realized that because of the diabetes, my contractions had started at Mary Birch, a hospital with an amazing neonatal team.

Riley had been dead at delivery. As soon as the neonatal team revived her, they put her on a cooling pad to lower her temperature to 90 degrees, with an IV for sustenance. Riley spent the next four days in a coma-like state in hypothermo therapy to try to avert brain damage - anything from dyslexia to cerebral palsy. I couldn’t hold her for four days because it would warm her. Every four hours I could visit the NICU and touch the top of her head with my finger. It was agony watching her shiver.

Pastor Greg had asked us to call his cell phone when the baby was born. But after Riley’s birth, I was in the worst pain of my life and didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. So Rob called Greg, then went to see him. Greg really helped Rob understand what happened, and to calm him. When Riley came home 10 days later, Greg was the first one to visit besides my mom. I think that’s really cool. And Rob has never been so joyous about going to church as he is now.

An initial MRI showed that Riley had two brain infarctions where the cells had died. But seven months later a developmental test showed that she has rebounded beautifully. The doctors feel that any problems would be evident by now, and there are none.

Riley’s room has a mural of angels and clouds and stars, and next to it are the names of everyone who worked to save her life. I had been looking for a Bible verse to go above the mural, and my mom just found it: Mathew 10:16, “Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.” I walk away from all this with two beautiful, healthy daughters, an incredible thankfulness to God and a favorite Bible verse to treasure.

Mari’s Story

I LOVE to hear people’s stories. I love biographies, autobiographies, testamonies, even ballads. I love the stories of famous people, unknown people, Godly people, worldly people, influential people, simple people, wealthy people, or poor people. I find most people’s stories inspirational in some way because God is always there. Whether or not He is talked about or acknowledged, the Bible tells us that God was at work, reaching out to that person in love. Sometimes it’s obvious what God is doing in a person’s story. Sometimes, especially in tragedies, it is very hard to see.

Often times, people’s stories tell us more about God than about the person. The reason for that is because mostly our lives don’t unfold exactly as we had planned. Right? Mine sure didn’t. Telling you what I had planned for my life tells you more about me. Seeing what God has done with those plans tells us more about God.

I was born here in San Diego, the youngest of 4 siblings. We moved up to the San Francisco Bay Area when I was 5. In first or second grade, a school friend invited me to a vacation Bible School at her house. I remember memorizing Psalm 23 and earning a pocket New Testament. I’m sure I raised my hand when an invitation was given to accept Jesus as my savior. I remember staying inside after kids went out to play and a nice lady asking me if I understood what it meant to have Jesus as my savior. I understood to the extent that I was able, but I didn’t think much more about God for the next 14 years or so.

The amazing thing is that God was thinking about me. Psalm 139: 1-3 tells me

“O, Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.”

So even though I wasn’t thinking about God, (and the Psalm tells me He knew I wasn’t thinking about Him; He perceived my thoughts; they were no mystery to Him), He was still thinking about me. He was keeping track of me. The New Living Translation says “Every moment you know where I am” (verse 3). And it’s a very good thing that He does.

I studied International Relations and French at UC Davis and lived in France during my junior year in college. My hopes, plans, and dreams included working at the United Nations in New York and traveling a lot. French is a good language for international politics and at that time in my life I could converse in French.

Psalm 139:4-6
“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in - behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.”

The New Living Translation says, “You both precede and follow me.” God knows where I am and He goes ahead of me to prepare the way. He also comes along behind to make sure I get there. In fact, one of my daughters is named Geneva because God was paying attention to me before I was paying attention to Him.

During Easter vacation while I lived in France, I went to Germany to visit friends. From there, I traveled by train to meet my roommate back in France. But I missed my connection in Geneva, Switzerland. It was about 11 p.m., and I had German marks and French francs but no Swiss francs (this was before the Euro). A sign said the train station would close at midnight until 6 a.m. the next morning!

Train stations aren’t in the best part of town. I had no money for a taxi and didn’t know how to find a hotel where I could pay with a credit card. Fortunately, the God who “hems me in - behind and before” had put a phone number in my wallet 8 months earlier. Just to humor my stepmother, I had taken the number of her dear friend who lived in Geneva. I was certain I would NEVER use the number, but of course I did.

I spent a restful day with my stepmother’s friend and caught the train the next night to France. At that point, I had no active relationship with God and hadn’t even prayed for help. So why name my kid Geneva?

After I returned to the United States, Jesus made himself known to me in a way that affected my daily life. Years later when I was pregnant, I read my Bible one morning, and the Lord reminded me vividly of this incident in Geneva. It seemed His angels had been surrounding and guiding me as I had figured out what to do and called my stepmother’s friend. It was clear to me that God had been caring for me, even when I was ignoring Him. That’s when I decided to name the baby Geneva. Good thing she was a girl!

Psalm 139:7-12

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me’,
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.”

I am convinced that God’s hand was guiding me and holding me fast all those years that I ignored him. As I look back now, I can see his presence in specific incidents where I caught a glimmer of the truth, but didn’t hold onto it.

After college, I volunteered in the high school ministry at Marin Covenant Church, where I met and eventually married Greg. We headed off to Denver Seminary to pursue our Master’s degrees. My background in International Relations was ideal for missions, right? But before our first anniversary, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. My symptoms were mild, so I continued my seminary education. About 18 months later, Greg and I attended a huge missions conference called Urbana, but every missions organization told us the same thing: They would not send me overseas with Multiple Sclerosis.

Psalm 139:13-16
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”

My story is not so much about me as about God. My life has not turned out as I planned. It has been so much better. He knows me better than I know myself . I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. Before that, my sister had been diagnosed with a very aggressive breast cancer. The doctors might easily have overlooked my cancer without the red flag of my sister’s history. My sister passed away in 2002. We don’t know why things happen, but I know all the days ordained for me are written in God’s book. I’ve been cancer free now for over 5 years.

Psalm 139 tells me that God knows me, knows where I am, knows my thoughts and my words. I cannot run away or hide from him. He created my body. He knows the number of my days. How well do I know Him?

Psalm 139: 17-18
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would out number the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.”

How precious ARE God’s thoughts to me? Do I want to know God as badly as He wants to know me? Have you ever been in a one-sided or lop-sided relationship? Whichever side you’re on, it’s uncomfortable. God created us to be in relationship with Him and our life works the best when we are.

Some translations say, “how precious are your thoughts about me“ or “concerning me.” WOW! Do you want to know what God thinks about you? Do you want to know His thoughts? If you’ve ever been in love, you know the desire to know exactly what the other person thinks of you. Love letters may be a lost art in this day of cell phones and e-mail, but if you’ve ever received one, it is a treasure. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It tells us His thoughts, including His thoughts concerning me. I’ve shared with you how Psalm 139 is God’s truth about my life. The amazing thing is that it’s true about your life as well.

It takes effort to get to know people well. You have to spend time together and share some experiences. You pay attention to what they tell you and notice how they feel. You listen and learn their likes and dislikes. It’s the same with God. He already knows you completely, and He’s given you the bible so that you can know Him. Will you make the effort to know Him better? If you do, it will be worth it.

Linda’s Story

I am a real-life miracle patient, having recovered 100% from an aneurysm, blood clot, and brain surgery. I hope you can see the “God thread” all the way through this tapestry of my life.

I arrived in the emergency room on a Wednesday afternoon in July. Shortly after, my memory stopped recording the events. Later, my husband told me all that happened.
I’d been whisked into surgery, where a spinal tap revealed blood in my spinal fluid, and an MRI showed abnormal brain activity in the form of an aneurysm. When the surgeon came out to talk with my husband, he was in tears. He said I was the first patient he hadn’t been able to help with a vascular coil. The aneurysm was too large to prevent further bleeding into my brain. I’d been left with my left side paralyzed.
In the ICU, they attached me to every monitor possible. Tubes and electrical equipment totally surrounded me, but I was aware of nothing. My husband held my hand, talked softly to me, and even sang quietly to me. At one point the head nurse said, “That’s it, no more visitors. She needs quiet rest, alone, NOW.” But as my husband started to leave, all those monitors went nuts! My blood pressure and heart rate soared sky high. It was clear: My husband had to stay, since the touch of his hand and the sound of his voice could bring down those vital signs so important to my recovery.
The next day the head of neurosurgery explained the options to my husband. The aneurysm was in the frontal right side of my brain. The easiest option, to go into my brain behind my left eye and over to the right side to coil the aneurysm, would leave me without speech and hearing. The second option, brain surgery, had less than a 10% chance of survival. Only 3% regain 80% of their faculties and strength. Only 1% make a complete recovery. My husband alone made the decision on my behalf. “Perform the brain surgery,” he said. “She would rather not live at all than live with no speech or hearing.” And he was right!
During the surgery, the doctors discovered a huge blood clot on my pituitary gland. Its removal added another 4 hours to the 8-hour surgery. I spent the next 2 weeks in a coma to prevent additional swelling in my brain. After that, I could have stayed at Kaiser on a floor for patients who won’t ever recover, but the doctors recognized the fighting spirit in this stubborn woman and sent me to Alvarado Convalescent Hospital, where I had the best chance for recovery.
After 2 weeks in rehab, I finally got to go home. The next 5 months, I worked hard 6 hours a day to regain the use of my left side and improve my speech and language. I gained physical and occupational living skills as well. When I left treatment, I had a new outlook on many things. The biggest one: This life is too short to concern myself with petty little small stuff that won’t make any difference in a hundred years!
I was invited to participate in our county’s only continuing adult education class for brain-injured adults. During the next 5 semesters, I learned a lot about my new self, including my “new normal.” The instructors, all medical professionals, were compassionate, understanding, and loving. We students were greatly encouraged to find a place where understanding peers and professionals accepted us.
During this time I was encouraged to take some college courses. I enrolled in an English class filled with interesting literature and assignments. Determined to at least pass, I completed the semester with a B! My goal is to return to college for a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling. Much is needed when it comes to the recovery and continued care for brain injured people.
All of this – my remarkable recovery – was possible because God chose to allow me to stay on earth a little longer. My friends at Clairemont Covenant demonstrated God’s love by supplying meals, prayers, phone calls, cards, and more prayers. Men of faith surrounded my husband every day at the hospital. Drivers took me to doctor appointments, and one couple even drove me every day to the months of classes I took in rehab. Just as God gave me a miracle, his church body helped shape its reality.

Sydney’s Story

Sydney’s Restoration Story…

He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” Moses said these words to remind the Jewish people that God was always with them during their desert journey. These words also remind me to focus on God’s wonders when I look back over hard times.

About ten years ago, my reality changed drastically. First, I learned my sister had been molested and abused in our family when she was very young. Then a few months later, I learned that at least one of my daughters may have been molested too; later, she became a victim of rape. These realizations shattered my history of the home I grew up in and the careful way I had raised my children.

Around that same time, my other daughter was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Then my husband lost his job, and I bottomed out in a severe depression.
I felt like I was in a soul-parching desert.

But God was there, too. He had given us a home fellowship group that supplied life-sustaining support through prayer and friendship. He led me to friends, counselors, psychiatrists, and life-changing medications. My husband got a new job. God was so real in my life that I heard the words he spoke to me; I felt him touch my hand. These awesome wonders kept me going as the hard times kept coming.

Our family ran into financial difficulties, so we downsized to a condo. Then my marriage fell apart. I wouldn’t have made it except for my home fellowship group who prayed and supported me, and for God’s presence in my life. One day I got an unexpected phone call from UCSD, inviting me to interview for a job I hadn’t even applied for! The job was clearly a gift from God.

God’s blessings were even bigger than I realized. My new job came with outstanding health benefits. Good thing, because about a year after I started working there, an MRI revealed that I had a small brain tumor. I went through radiation treatment, then had three surgeries over the next two years. God was constantly with me through his Word, the church, and loving Christian friendships.

Today I’m part of a discipleship group at Clairemont Covenant. The members of this group encourage me, learn with me, and challenge me to grow in God’s ways. It’s astounding to experience God’s answers to our prayers and to see the changes in our lives. Looking back on some of my desert days, the pain and hurt fade away, overshadowed by God’s awesome wonders that I saw with my own eyes.