Family Prayer Made Easy is now released in Spanish and English. The book is a practical guide for praying together as a family in just ten focused devotions. It includes simple ways to come together in prayer, stories to share with children of all ages, Scriptures on prayer and God's promises, and 100 interactive ideas for prayer and family worship. It also includes the story of our daughter miraculously healed of blindness and double vision, prayers for our country, president, world and community, families, teachers, work, economy, and much more.
Spanish version released May 2017! La Oración Familiar al Alcance de Todos es un manual práctico para orar juntos como familia en tan solo diez devocionales enfocados. Incluye maneras sencillas de unirse en oración, historias para compartir con niños de todas las edades, escrituras sobre la oración y las promesas de Dios, y 100 ideas interactivas para la oración y la adoración familiar.
FROM THE BOOK, MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN TODAY: Our family, like most, has suffered through the trenches. Yet, it is often in the trenches that we learn He is at work in miraculous ways in our family. This was brought home to me through the blindness of our dear adopted daughter, Meyana, adopted from China.
Meyana was legally blind—20/2400—when we adopted her at age twelve months, but we didn’t realize it at first. As she grew older, we kept noticing her rubbing her eyes. She began telling us, “It’s so blurry.” We took her to the optometrist for a diagnosis, and were shocked and distraught at the diagnosis. We requested the intervention of doctors. We patched her good eye for more than a year.
Then, she had a disastrous surgery leaving her with double vision and extensive vision issues for years. We sought guidance from six doctors. Meyana endured eye patches, special vision glasses, and years of therapy, but nothing seemed to improve.
What proved persistent and increasing, however, was Meyana’s faith. Saved at an early age, she trusted the Lord wholeheartedly. She told me often, “Mom, Jesus is the only doctor I really need.” Along with our pastors and fellow believers, we pleaded to God for a breakthrough. We felt desperate. One night a program came on TV about a specialist treating a boy who had double vision, like Meyana, and was about the same age as Meyana, too. The boy was healed. We knew we must find this doctor.
With the support of many friends, church members, and family, we traveled to UCLA to meet the specialist. Initially, he planned to conduct surgery only on the left eye but later told us that he needed to operate on both. We felt confident that it was all in God’s hands. Pleading on our hands and knees for a miracle in a stark, crowded waiting room, we believed in nothing short of a manifestation of His power and glory. We prayed “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) over and over and over.
Meyana woke up in recovery with two extremely bloody, swollen, nearly-shut eyes. We breathlessly asked what she could see—and she quietly responded that she still saw everything in double. Drowning in disbelief, I cried uncontrollably, thinking God had let me down.
God, however, wasn’t quite finished. Despite her pain, Meyana noticed a splendid rainbow outside the window. She could see what I couldn’t with 20/20 sight: God’s power and love beamed through into the hospital room. She said, “We have to keep faith in God. Maybe it’s just going to take a little longer.”
At the follow-up appointment, the doctor altered lenses and prisms over Meyana’s eyes. She saw a single picture for the first time, even if for a mere second. It was remarkable!
A few weeks later, Meyana asked if she could read the Lord’s Prayer. She began reading the passage. Then suddenly, she exclaimed, “I can see! I can see one picture!” The double vision had healed. To this day, it has never returned. Praise God in all of His glory!
