FIVE MORE ARROWS!

After our third son, Kith and I both agreed that we didn't want any more children and I planned to have a tubal ligation following his birth. Finances were  tight. I was a nervous wreck and did not enjoy the precious children God had entrusted to me. Following Caleb's birth, my epidural had worn off, so they told me we would have to schedule the surgery in six weeks. I look back now and know that God was closing the door to the surgery.

Needless to say, we never went back for the surgery, and 11 months later, I became pregnant with Andrew, my fourth son.  When I found out I was  pregnant , instead of being overjoyed, I was devastated. I didn't desire any more children and still had the frame of mind that children were more of an inconvenience than a blessing.  I complained  throughout the pregnancy and said that I didn't want any more children.

At eight weeks pregnant, I began to bleed with a threatened miscarriage. I had  never experienced a miscarriage before and became very fearful. I asked God to forgive me for complaining about the child I was carrying, to give me a peace and make me happy that I was going to have a baby. A couple of days later, the bleeding stopped and I had a normal, healthy, pregnancy, and baby.

I was very happy to have another beautiful son, and my attitude changed a little about having four children, but through ignorance, and  pressure from family, I did have a tubal ligation after he was born. I thought four children were more than enough for any mother.

Nothing could describe the emptiness I felt when I awoke from the surgery, but I convinced myself we had made the right decision.  After all, we already had four little boys to raise, and that was more than  most people had. My husband seemed happy with the decision and verbally  expressed the fact that he was happy we wouldn't have any more children. I look back now and realize how this must have saddened our Lord who had lovingly blessed our family with more children, and who had made me wonderfully fertile and healthy to bear godly seed for His glory.

Having the tubal reversal is one of the biggest mistakes I made  in my life. I tried to put it out of my mind and tell myself that our family was complete, but deep down I knew I had made a horrible mistake and I wasn't sure it could be fixed.

God did an awesome work in my life. Through His Word, He showed us that children are a  wonderful blessing from Him.  He totally changed my attitude about my  children and spiritually I have grown by leaps and bounds. He showed me my place as a godly wife and mother, and in full submission to my God-given role, I have found wonderful contentment.

God touched our hearts about a reversal. I called  several doctors in my area, and always got the same response, $10,000-$15,000. Through Above Rubies we came across Blessed Arrows and found a doctor in my area that does tubal reversals as a ministry at a much reduced rate. We began praying that if it was God's will for me to have the surgery done to repair my tubes that He would provide the money we needed.  My Heavenly Father saw every tear I cried as I poured out my heart  to him, asking Him to forgive me and allow us to have more children. I give Him all the glory, and I humbly thank Him for forgiving me, loving me, and for faithfully revealing His ways to me.

We had the tubal ligation in May 2002. Six weeks after my surgery, I conceived our first reversal baby and first daughter, Kaylee Grace. I had prayed the Lord would give me a daughter and I gave birth to Kaylee in March 2003.  he Lord blessed us again with two more daughters, Emilee Faith in November of 2004 and Olivia Joy in August of 2006.  He opened my womb and blessed us again with a fiery little boy, Aiden Samuel in October of 2007!

Obviously God is not through blessing us as of yet. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant with yet another blessing, due May 2010!  That makes five reversal blessings since we decided to be obedient and trust God with our fertility. This will make a total, so far, of nine beautiful arrows for God's glory.

It hasn't been "easy street" since we decided to commit our fertility to God. The enemy has fought us full force with everything from financial struggles to sickness in my body. It is so obvious that the enemy is mad and doesn't want us to add another arrow to our quiver. Every time I get pregnant, the spiritual warfare begins. The devil attacks all our family, but especially me during pregnancy.  I have experienced high blood pressure, severe pre-eclampsia and unexplained nervous system symptoms.  It always starts when I get pregnant, and sometimes I feel so bad I wonder if I can go on.  However, I know that the Lord has called us to give my womb to Him and we pray daily, "Not my will, but thine be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  The Lord is faithful and He always gives me the strength to go on.

In February 2007 the Lord blessed my husband with a job promotion which moved us from San Antonio to Waxahachie, Texas, 30 minutes south of Dallas. It is so wonderful to see how the Lord is using our family here. Our oldest son is now a junior in college and is called into politics. Our next son, Taylor, will be graduating homeschool this year and feels a call to the mission field. They are being used mightily here among the young people in this area. What a blessing our children are and it is obvious to me that they are being used as mighty warriors.

PAULA COLE
Waxahachie, Texas, USA

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DOCTORS WHO REVERSE VASECTOMIES AND TUBAL LIGATIONS:


Dr Dennis Streeter
Sterilization Reversal and Infertility Center, L.L.C.
119 East 89th Avenue
Merrillville, IN  46410
Phone: 219-769-6221
Fax:     219-769-1609
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website:  www.surgicalreversal.com
He has performed more than 6,000 reversals.

 

DOCTORS WHO REVERSE TUBAL LIGATIONS:

Dr. Albert Rath, Jr.

274 E. Garza

New Braunfels, TX 78130

Ph: (512) 625 7714

 

Dr. J. Peter Ferney III

712 N Houston

New Braunfels, TX 78130

Ph: (512) 629 5000

 

REVERSAL GRANTS

http://www.thelordsheritage.com/

http://www.vision-of-faith.org/index.html

http://www.blessedarrows.org

 

OTHER WEBSITES WITH LISTS OF TUBAL AND VASECTOMY DOCTORS:

http://blessedarrows.org/doctors.htm

http://www.vision-of-faith.org/ReversalDoctors.html

OUR MIRACLE

When our third child was born, I had a tubal ligation  We were not Christians at the time and felt we could not afford any more children. I had always dreamed of having a large family and staying home as a homemaker but we bought into society’s propaganda that says, “How will you ever do it?” or “You’ll never be able to afford a college education,” etc.

I immediately regretted my decision, I always said that I came home from the hospital full of joy for the child we had but also in mourning for the children we would not have.  After the surgery, I felt empty and lonely inside. I felt such loss.

In the next several years, Lord did an amazing work. First of all, we got saved and started going to church. In 1996, a friend gave me a copy of an Above Rubies, # 42 which had reversal stories in it. The Lord used that magazine to stir my heart at the thought of having a reversal.

I began to pray. I asked my husband if we could have a reversal surgery, and he said No. We did not have that kind of money. The average cost for the surgery was $15,000.00. I began to pray, “Lord, if it is your will, please change my husband’s heart.”  God is faithful.  And change my husband’s heart he did. Over the next couple of years we had the finances to cover the cost of the surgery. It was only a little over $3,000 because God, in His faithfulness, provided a Christian doctor in Jackson, Tennessee by the name of Dr. John Curlin who performs reversal surgeries as a ministry!  Isn’t that awesome!

On January 28, 1998 Dr. Curlin performed the reversal, seven years after the initial surgery.  Several months later, at the suggestion of the doctor I had a dye run through to see if my tube was open as he could only repair one tube-- the other was destroyed during the initial surgery.

I received the devastating news that my tube was blocked, possibly by scar tissue. I was absolutely devastated. I took all my doubts, fears, disappointments, and pain to the Lord.  He is the only one with the power to heal broken bodies and broken hearts.  I kept on praying for six more years for a miracle to happen.

The Lord says in Jeremiah 29:11-12, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil to give you an expected end.  Then shall you call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you.”

In the spring of 2003, the Lord brought a little angel into our lives named Josie whose name means God will Increase. We had hoped that we would be able to adopt this little girl but it was not to be. After being in our lives for a year, she was placed back into her mother’s custody. It left a huge void in our lives, but it was truly amazing to feel the strength of God all around us. I knew God had a good plan. Even through the pain we can and must trust God.

Our lives went on. We were busy with gardens, canning, traveling and all the things that make summer an enjoyable and busy time. I had not been feeling well and was very tired. I was beginning to think that something was seriously wrong with me; I even had the church anoint and pray over me.

Sometime during the last two weeks of October something amazing happened.  I began to feel movement in my abdomen. Afraid to get my hopes up, tried to explain it away. I can’t begin to explain the feeling that came over me the day I realized that it was a very good possibility that this was a baby moving on the inside.

In November I went to the doctor, explained why I was there and asked to be given a pregnancy test. A few minutes later the doctor called me into her office to talk further. I had had problems before concerning my female health; not only were my tubes blocked but I’ve also had problems with my monthly cycles. I can go several months at a time and not have a cycle.

Finally she said, “Well, the pregnancy test came back positive; you are pregnant.”  I nearly jumped out of my seat and shouted, “PRAISE THE LORD!” I know the people in the waiting room had to hear me. I was so excited I could have run around the room. We had an ultrasound a week later to find out that I was 26 weeks and 6 days or right around 6 months pregnant! Wow!

My due date was February 12, 2005. Around 11:00 pm on the 12th, my water broke. I had absolutely no pain but we decided to go to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital around 12:45 am. The contractions began around 1:30 am and progressed very quickly.  At 3:01 on the Lord’s Day, Rebecca Grace was born! What joy flooded over my whole being!  She was beautiful and truly God’s gift to this world

I am standing in faith and believing God will send us more children as we delight in Him. I would also like to add that was seven years between the tubal ligation and the reversal and seven years until the Lord blessed us with Gracie!

TONYA THROCKMORTON
Greenfield, Ohio, USA

 

 

Business Woman Blues

My mother worked while I was growing up so when Tom and I got married, it was only natural that I would work. How else could you obtain the American dream? Mom was always very good in administration and she climbed the ladder. When I started in banking the year before we got married, I also did very well.

Katie was born a month before our first anniversary. The pregnancy was a nightmare, 36 hours of labor turned into a C-section, and she had colic for her first six months. I was done having children. I didn’t do a very good job with the one I had, so who would want more? I thought it would be nice to stay home but felt that if I did, we would never make it financially or be able to give her nice things.

We continued with this philosophy for a couple of years when I accidentally fell pregnant. After a couple of months I got really excited. We had just moved into our first home which we had built. We had a brand new car and things were going good. It would be okay to have another child.

At 14 weeks I miscarried! I was so devastated that having a child became the most important thing to me. We tried for three months and I got pregnant with Phillip. Things at the bank were also going well. I was promoted to Assistant Manager and worked long hours.

After Phillip came I lost all interest in my job. He was so different from our first child. He never cried and was always happy. He nursed well. It was a whole new experience. When he was six months old I went back to work. At this time a friend offered me a part time job to do his books so I left the bank and went into book-keeping, working four days a week. I then got hired on at Boeing.

Two months after I started the new job I found I was four months pregnant. My mom had cancer. Tom’s mom had cancer and I had started a new job so I wasn’t paying attention to my cycle. Tom was worried about how he was going to pay for yet another child!

We decided to have my tubes tied when the third child was born, as this was going to be my third C-section. Since I had very difficult pregnancies the doctor thought it would be wise not to have any more. We didn’t pray about the decision, and while I was signing the paper in the hospital I knew I was making a mistake.

Bills were beginning to pile up, so I went back to work. For a year I robbed Peter to pay Paul and towards the end, it all started falling apart. I would pray and pray but no answer came. The house payment was one month behind and all the other bills were two to three months behind. I raced to the mail box to get the mail before Tom would see it.

Every time the phone rang I would cringe. I never knew which creditor it would be. I didn’t tell Tom any of this because he stressed so badly about money, and there was no point in both of us being suicidal.

We had a financial seminar at church by Larry Burkett’s group called Christian Financial Concepts. The seminar was wonderful but I knew we were in really big trouble. I asked the gentleman if there was anyone in the Spokane area who was trained in financial counseling and was given a phone number.

I told Tom I wanted this man to come and help us, one on one. He didn’t understand why but thought it would be fine. I was sure that Tom would leave me once he found out where things were. That would be okay, I thought. He could have the children and I would end it all. That was how I felt.

You can imagine how surprised Tom was, when at the appointment, I dumped all our financial problems on the two of them. Tom was in shock. How could his banking wife have let things get so out of hand, and not tell him?

Tom got over the shock and said that no matter how bad things were, we were in this together. He had married me for better or worse. If there was ever anything that would show me Christ’s forgiving love, it was Tom’s attitude. We started working hard at selling assets to pay bills. The Lord worked such miracles with our finances.

Soon after that area of our life began to get better I felt convicted that God wanted me to quit work. That made no sense at all since we weren’t making it month to month on two incomes. How could we even consider it on one?

Once again our dear Lord worked miracles. The things we have seen over the last three years have left me with the knowledge that anything is possible with the Lord and prayer. God worked it so that I could come home and be with my children. I gave my boss a two-month notice and began the process of quitting a lifetime of working in the business world. Every one thought I was crazy.

About this time I said to Tom, "It sure would be nice to have another baby." He said I might as well shoot him because he couldn’t handle the three he had. The answer was, "No! No way! Forget it!" I was discouraged but decided to pray about it.

One night Tom got up with Mandie in the middle of the night as she was sick. While he was rocking her and praying, he told God that it wouldn’t be so bad having another one. This started our journey on trying to find a way to have a reversal. We went to a doctor here in town and were quoted $10,000.

Ouch! We couldn’t afford that. Eventually, through talking to different ones, I was put in touch with Dr. Streeter. His price was $3,600.00. This was much lower, but we still couldn’t come up with that amount of money.

A few months later my mother called me and said she had purchased an airline ticket for me to go to Indiana with her for our family reunion. That was where Dr. Streeter was! We called him and asked if he could fit me in during that time. He only does the surgery once a week so I didn’t think I stood a chance. Miraculously, they scheduled me in. Wow, I now had surgery scheduled and no money!

We started saving money. Air-line tickets went down in price so mom said she would buy Tom a ticket and we could pay her back when we could. We didn’t want to leave the children behind so Tom worked overtime to pay for the airline tickets for them to go. So all five of us were going to Indiana for a family reunion and surgery. Two weeks before the surgery we had $1,000.00 saved. I cried the whole weekend.

There was no way we could come up with $2,600.00 and we had agreed that we would not go into debt to finance the surgery. I had to die to the dream.

The next weekend we had a yard sale. Friends and people from the church donated things to sell. They were nicer things than we owned and they just gave them to us. I have done a lot of yard sales but never seen one like this before.

In two days we sold $1,700.00. Both days we came home there were checks of $300.00 in the mail. Another family gave us $100.00 towards the surgery, from allowances and savings from their children. These children gave because they would not have had their brother and sister if their dad had not had a reversal. We only had $200.00 to go.

We flew to Indiana and had a wonderful week of vacation before the surgery. We didn’t tell anyone we were short so imagine my surprise when the $200.00 showed up. I had the surgery and Dr. Streeter put both tubes back together - this was September 1995.

We came home to have our child. I got pregnant in January 1996. I have never seen anyone as far up on cloud nine as I was, but at the end of February we lost our baby. Each month I wait to see if we will be parents again. I can hardly wait for the blessings to start coming.

RENEE TOMSIERS

Tom and Renee have been blessed with three beautiful children - Katie (13), Phillip (9) and Mandie (7).

Written 1996.

Still waiting for children since reversal.

 

We Reversed The Biggest Mistake In My Life!

I regretted my decision to go ahead with my tubal ligation the moment I awoke from the anesthetic. I had three beautiful children. The world was over-populated, so why did I feel so empty? Gradually my eyes were opened to the truth of overpopulation (not true!) and my guilt was taken away as I confessed and repented of this sin before God. He is the Creator, the Giver of life, and the One who opens and closes the womb.

While I did receive forgiveness, my regret remained and greatly intensified after the death of my husband and subsequent remarriage. My husband, Randy, accepted my "fixed" state with a sigh of relief. "If we get these three children raised, we'll be doing good," was his attitude. Thus, my request to have a reversal was denied.

Several years later The Way Home by Mary Pride was sent from Heaven to my husband. Randy wept through the book as he realized that as a Christian, and in spite of fighting for the unborn by blocking abortion clinic accesses, his own heart was hardened to receiving more blessings from God.

At that time we started filling out the mountains of papers required for adopting, Our precious children came to us over a period of 19 months. They came from India, Indiana, and Romania. At one point we had four children aged three and under, with three in diapers. My heart and arms were full, and yet I still desired to be made whole again.

In November 1993, on a wonderful snow machine ride into the mountains with my husband, I again tearfully pled my case for a reversal.

At the age of 42, with my original surgery 14 years previous, I knew my "chances" of conceiving were not good. But as a child of God, I had seen my Father answer many a tough request. My heart longed for my body to be restored as much as God would bless, whether I conceived a child or not. My husband - once a bachelor and marrying a widow with three children, then a father happily adopting four more - this time understood. God had indeed turned the heart of this father to his children.

REVERSAL SURGERY 14 YEARS AFTER TUBAL

In January 1994, I underwent reversal surgery in Texas by Dr. Albert Rath. I wasn't even his oldest patient! I awoke from surgery this time with tears also, but these tears were tears of joy as I realized that we had actually reversed the biggest mistake in my life.

The excitement that God could, if He chose, create a new little life in me, added a new dimension to our marriage. Six months later (and 14 years after my tubal ligation), God opened my womb to cradle a precious baby boy, whom nine people longed to hold until his birth on March 23 1995.

Seth Abram was welcomed into this world in the nicest way possible. After 10 hours of back labor, praise music, prayer, hot tub relaxation, children's kisses and backrubs, Seth left his sheltered nest and entered the arms of his loving family and midwives. He never cried but looked straight into his papa's eyes.

Praise God, He is the Creator, the Restorer, the Miracle Worker.

DEBBIE SPECKELS
Copper Center, Alaska, USA

Randy and Debbie’s eight children are: Matt (22), Bethany (19), Mary (17), Grace Anna (9), Simon (8), Jeremiah (8), Reuben (7) and Seth (2).

Written January 1997.

One child since reversal.

 

Above Rubies Address

AboveRubies
Email Nancy

PO Box 681687
Franklin, TN 37068-1687

Phone : 931-729-9861
Office Hrs 9am - 5pm, M - F, CTZ