Prayer is so amazing! Post by Jon (Ella's Daddy)

Prayer is so amazing! I know that we would have never gotten this far if we hadn’t had the prayer support that we received, and for that we’ll always be grateful. So, thank you all for the prayers! This has been an amazing journey, that has not just strengthened us in our faith, and in our prayer lives, but has strengthened and impacted so many others lives as well. I can tell you countless times individual people have contacted us and said, “Our prayer lives have never been this strong before”, and “This has strengthened my personal walk with Christ and my faith in Him”. This alone would make it all worthwhile, but on top of this we were blessed with a beautiful little girl named Ella. Wow, God really does make ALL things work together for good for those who love Him. It’s not just about us or what we think is best, it’s more about God’s bigger plan that He has in store for us, and trust me His plan is always the best, even if we don’t get to see it in this life.

So the real reason I’m writing all of this is for another little girl God has put in our path, so let me catch you up.

If you remember Ella’s first open heart surgery things didn’t go according to the doctors original plan; they ended up doing something they had never done before, and much to their surprise it ended up better than if it had gone ahead with their original plans. I know that God was listening to everyone’s prayers, so again thank you! A day or two after Ella’s first surgery, Amy and I were with her in her room when two case workers that have been working with us from the beginning stopped in to see her and handed us an envelope that someone had given them to give to us. Upon opening it we read the card out loud. It was from a young couple that loves the Lord and is expecting their first baby, and someone had given them Ella’s blog address. This is where it gets really interesting. They are having a little baby girl with HLHS which just to remind you the chance of having a baby with HLHS is 4 in 10,000 and the odds of that baby being a girl, vs. being a boy, is around 1 in 4, so that means having a girl with HLHS is now 1 in 10,000, as rare as this is, the success rate is really fairly high. But that’s not all, if you remember HLHS is just one of Ella’s conditions; she was also diagnosed with a restrictive PFO or restrictive atrial septum, this causes the success rate to drop drastically. Now the chance of an HLHS baby having a restrictive PFO is a 5% chance. So the chance of Amy and I having Ella is 1 in 200,000 or a 0.0005% chance, and you guessed it, their baby has almost the very same thing. They also live in Oklahoma just 45 minutes from us, and they also, like us, will be going down to Dallas for their delivery and surgeries in a week or two. My favorite part is that they’re naming their precious little baby girl Emma. I’m looking forward to someday when Ella and Emma can meet! I know that God has had His hand in all of this, and I also believe God has used Ella to pave a path for Emma and to give the doctors new ways to help save other babies with her condition.

So we continue to ask for prayer, because it really does work. But not just for us; I’m asking all of you now to be praying for Emma and her parents as they’re just starting their own personal roller coaster ride.

You can get updates and learn more about Emma (Ella’s little heart buddy) at… http://www.emmajanae.blogspot.com/

Please check out this blog; we’d love to share our strong prayer support team with this family, that God has placed on our hearts.

Thank you ALL for your time, love and support; it means the world to us, -Jon (Amy and Ella)