Is It My Turn Yet?

This is an article that I wrote about 5 years ago that was published in the Edmond Sun. I thought this would give you a good history of my family and the foundation for the upcoming blogs that you will read:


What a loaded question - is it my turn yet? Have you ever asked the Lord that question? Is it my turn to get blessed? Is it my turn for a miracle? Is it my turn to receive the answers I've been praying for? There are so many times in my life that I have asked my God those questions. I've never really said "why me?" because I truly believe that God deals His cards appropriately to the perfect cardholder without any mistakes. I have, however, often wondered if I got stuck in God's waiting room and He just plain forgot about my family. Just like each of you, my family and I have had our share of tribulations.

The one that is heavy on my heart is my precious baby girl. She is a spunky child with long, slender legs, brown hair and big, beautiful brown eyes. She has the most treasured smile with a quaint dimple on her right side to match her grandmothers. The joy she has is contagious and her witty humor is truly amazing - a definite gift from the Lord. Her name is Victoria and she is profoundly deaf.

We discovered that Victoria was deaf while we were in a rental house waiting on our home to be re-built from a disastrous house fire. We believed Victoria had discriminatory hearing and was choosing to ignore us at an early age of 10 months. We soon learned otherwise. After six months of waiting for an extensive two-hour A.B.R. hearing test, we were told that Victoria could only hear sounds as loud as a fighter jet plane. She was profoundly deaf with very little residual hearing. My husband and I were devastated at this news since those are words no parent ever wants to hear. We were also ignorant in this area but educated ourselves very quickly so we could assist our daughter in every way possible. We decided to utilize Signing Exact English as our means of communication and then began the tedious process of teaching ourselves a new language at such a mature age!

The last 8 years have been challenging yet rewarding. Full of sadness while impregnated with joy. Consistent speech therapy, group therapy, articulation, hearing tests and non-stop signing have been a way of life for us that we have grown accustomed to. We adjusted fairly quickly to the life God blessed us with and have been in constant prayer for Victoria's healing. This is where the waiting room makes its appearance. Between my family and friends, we pray for Victoria on a continual basis. In faith, we repeatedly take her to the altar fully expecting a complete and divine healing. Yet she still wears her hearing aids and is still profoundly deaf.

Did God desert us? Did our prayers just ricochet off the ceiling and slap us in the face? Is He ignoring us like we thought our daughter was at 10 months of age? I think not. These are all valid questions with only one indisputable answer - God's glory is not ready to be revealed in her life. Or as my oldest son would say, "It's not His time yet, mom." When it is, her complete healing will take place. I say "complete" because the Lord HAS gently touched Victoria on many different occasions. I remember one specific occurrence when Victoria screamed "Owww - that hurt my ears," when the telephone rang during our family devotions one night. The telephone ring has never caused her pain before and the volume on the ringer had not been increased. Only one explanation - the Lord touched her. We believe that Victoria's situation is like the ten lepers who were healed in Luke 17:14, "And as they went, their leprosy disappeared." Victoria will be healed as she goes. The Lord has spoken to me about this over and over again. He has specific reasons for not completely healing Victoria and I do not need to be made aware of those reasons. All we know is that her healing will not be a miraculous one-time event but rather little episodes throughout her entire life.

The bottom line is that God has not forgotten us and that we should consider it an honor to be sitting in His waiting room. He IS working behind the scenes in Victoria's life and every now and then He chooses to make an appearance to replenish our patience and give us strength to carry on. We serve a gracious God with a wonderful sense of humor and an overflowing amount of compassion. The same God who is working in our life is also working in your life. Don't be discouraged, but press on and claim His promises and blessings for your life. Make the choice to have joy each morning you awake. If you just wait...your turn is right around the corner!