Power of a Vision Coupled with Prayer
8/5/10
It was August 9, 2009, Dale’s birthday. The previous night, we had taken the children to the Passion Play in Eureka Springs, AR on our way home from the Buildings for Babies Ranch. In the darkness of the early morning hours, Jannice was awakened by the familiar pains of labor. It had been 8 weeks since she first visited the midwife and was unable to hear a heart beat. Now, 12 weeks along, each day they prayed for a heart beat and each day she continued to carry the child, she persistently trusted that God would show Himself strong and faithful to give life and strength to this child. She would encourage herself with the Hymn of “Every Promise in the Book is Mine” and the verse in Exodus 23:26, “There shall nothing cast their young...” However, as the pains grew worse, she knew something was wrong. Eventually, she woke Amber to alert Dale of the situation. (He was in the next room with all the boys.) Just when the contractions were getting so tormenting that she was ready to have Dale take her to a hospital, the pains all of a sudden stopped. After a few hours of rest, we decided to head home. We tragically lost the baby in a dirty bathroom at truck stop somewhere in the middle of Kansas. This was not exactly the miraculous, glamorous or glorifying ending we were expecting.
After such a horrifying event, it is easy to question God and wonder why He allows such things to happen. Had He not heard our prayers? Is there sin in our life, do we not have enough faith? Often discouragement follows such experiences, and to many times we begin to lose our vision. The Bible warns us that a people without vision will perish. (Pr.29:18) But, we had the hope that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
Two months later, due to attended a business conference and deciding to reset our goals, Jannice began to evaluate her desires in life. She knew from past experience that having goals and dreams in life made life more exciting and productive, and was reminded of those facts as she listened to other’s stories. She began to think seriously about what she wanted. She has been exceptionally blessed, and doesn’t lack for any worldly goods. As she pondered what she wanted, the one thing that came to mind was, “I don’t have any twins!” Not that Dale and Jannice lacked for children, God had graciously given them nine healthy, wonderful children. Yet, the desire was given her for twins.
So, like anyone who has a dream, the visualization of the dream began to take shape as she searched the internet for pictures. While she searched, she considered the story of Jacob, when he made a deal with his father-in-law to get all the spotted animals as his compensation. Jacob had put rods that were spotted and striped in the watering hole of the animals so that they would look at them as they conceived. “The flocks conceived before the rods and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.” (Gen 30:39)
“Hey, if it worked for animals, why wouldn’t it work for me?” She reasoned.
A suitable photo was found and posted as the screen saver on her laptop. Meanwhile, Melody, our 10 year old daughter had also caught the vision for twins. (And so did some of the other children, but Melody was the most vocal.) She began praying for twins. Soon the whole family was eager for a double blessing.
About the first week of December, Jannice tested positive with a home test for pregnancy. To strengthen her faith, she put the test results in a gift box to present to Dale that night, along with the photo of the twins she had on the screen saver.
Soon the children were on the phone with grandma. “Grandma! Guess what! We’re having twins!!” “Oh you are? How do you know that?” “Because mom’s been looking at a picture of twins and then she got pregnant!” “Hum, well, we’ll see,” grandma replied doubtfully.
An early ultra-sound in December revealed what appeared to be two sacs, but the midwife told Jannice that the one could be her bladder. We all knew better, but we waited until further verification in February, when the ultra-sound clearly showed two babies. The test wasn’t even over before two girls were on two phones quickly spreading the news to the community.
The whole thing seems too crazy to be true, but when you look at the “Vision” picture that was Jannice’s screen saver, and compare it to the “real” picture of Keren Rose and Caleb Courage, born July 29, 2010, it’s amazing how much they resemble!
Coincidence you may think. I don’t really believe in that stuff? Well, ye of little faith, there’s more! Six weeks before our twins were born, they were both breech. We did not want to have to endure a C-section for their birth, but realized they were getting bigger and it was getting more crowded in there. How could we get them to turn?
“You know what the problem is?” Dale asked Jannice. “You’ve been looking at that picture right side up all these months,” he continued.
“Hum. I guess that’s true,” Jannice replied thinking “What could it hurt to try?”
So, you guessed it, we turned the photo upside down and at the next appointment Keren was head down. We were ½ way there. The following week they were both head down! We were able to have our full term birth without surgery. No wonder God reiterates three times that His law is as frontlets between our eyes! There is a power to what we keep in front of us. It shapes us and our future more than we realize.
Because God allowed the death of the first pregnancy, Jannice was able to go on a trip of a lifetime to Israel in April with Dale, Amber, Ben, John, and her parents. If that first baby had lived, it would have been only 2 months old, and the trip to Israel and all the touring would not have been possible. Also, we were expecting the twins before the other child would have been born. We couldn’t have had both.
Jannice questioned if God gave her the dream in anticipation of the blessing, or if the dream and prayer with visualization caused God to grant her the desire. It works both ways really. Remember Joseph, the “dreamer”? God could have given him a nightmare. God could have shown him how he’d be thrown into a pit by his own brothers and sold into slavery in a foreign country. His dream could have included being thrown into prison and forgotten about for years while his beloved father thought him dead. Yet that isn’t what God showed him is it? God gave Joseph a dream of the end result. Joseph saw himself as a ruler with is brothers and even his father bowing down to him. The dream God gave Joseph was so incredible that it was almost unbelievable. Yet, it was the dream that kept Joseph going during the dreadful and difficult circumstances that lead to the results.
Similarly, Jannice in her pregnancy with the twins faced set backs and difficulties. Whenever there is a Vision or dream, there are always unforeseen difficulties. One can get caught up in the challenges, or keep their eye on the dream and goal and get past the “speed bumps” of life. What we focus on is up to us.
What is your wildest dream? Does your family have a Vision? Why aren’t you pursuing it? Is it a worthwhile, morally sound desire? How do you know God himself isn’t the one who placed that desire there? Have you lost the Vision for your future or your family? Or perhaps you’ve achieved them all. Well, if you’ve done everything you were set here to do, why are you still here? Ponder your own heart and seek God if you’ve lost your dreams, and consider what the Lord might have for you. If you’ve got a dream, put it in front of you! What can it hurt to risk a little ridicule and pursue your dream? What if I put my dreams in front of me and they don’t come true? Well then, I lost a little time dreaming. What if you don’t put your dreams in front of you and they could have come true? What do you stand to loose? The bottom line is this, if you try it and it doesn’t work, all you lost was a little time! If it works and you don’t try it, you lost your Vision! And with out vision our people perish!
We would like to sincerely thank our Lord Jesus Christ for allowing us this fun and inspiring reminder of His goodness and grace! May the Lord grant you faith to believe in His perfect will for your life! Keep us updated as the adventure continues in your life. We’d love to here your stories of how God’s working His will in you!
-The Schamel Family