The Response to Izzie

I always think it's interesting the response I get to Izzie's name and the conversations it takes me to. Last week we were at mom's pool and a father was there with his two daughters. Emma began to play with them and he was asking her what her sisters name was. Emma said "Izzie". He said, oh is her name Isabella? "no said Emma" Is it Izararua? Emma was flustered. She said no, she is a girl. I chuckled. It's funny how no one thinks Izzie is her first real name. They always think it is short for something. They are always surprised when I say that it is not.
We were at the Salty Dog in Hilton Head on Friday and I was chatting with the mother of the youth minister from the church Dave was doing the camp for. We were having to wait a long time for food so we had a lot of time for conversation. Izzie's name came up and she also asked what her name was short for. I went on to explain the meaning behind her name and how we named her that after she became our miracle girl. Well this Lady had such an interesting miracle herself. She had just had her first child when she found out that she had a mass in her spinal area. The dr's first thougth it would be inoperable since the area was delicate. They decided to go ahead and operate telling her that there was 100% chance she would never walk again. The mass was not cancerous but to take it out they had to sever most of her spinal cords. The first week she was paralyzed but then she started having movement and then began to walk. When they took the x-rays there was nothing there that showed that there was any connection to her lower extremities. The dr's were so baffled that the Dr who did the surgery did not charge her for it because he said he did not do that surgery. To this day he keeps her z-ray in his office to always tell patients that when they get the most devastating news he always says but as you can see, this lady is walking and there is no reason that she should be so you see there is always hope. Don't you just love that? I love hearing about miracles in other peoples lives. We have an amazing God who does things when we can't explain them. I keep the x-ray of my ovaries 2 weeks before I got pregnant showing that there was nothing there no eggs and thus no medical explanation of how Izzie was ever possible. When I have days when I see into other peoples lives and the struggles they are facing I always want to offer people hope that God can still work in their lives. He does not always intervene in every situation but we can always rely on the fact that we can trust him and that he is good. I was just so encouraged to hear about her story and to know God has worked and is working in the lives of so many who dare to believe that by only Him our situations can have hope. You see there is always hope.