Our family was going great back in 1998.  We had two beautiful daughters, a happy marriage, and really couldn't ask for anything more. 

UH OH!

Then we noticed Marie's left eye stopped tracking the same as her right eye.  A series of tests ensued.  The doctors gave us the grim news.  Marie had a brain tumor behind her left eye that had wrapped around the optical nerve and also filled up her pituitary gland.  Of course this was a terrible shock for all of us.  We wept outside the doctor's office. 

The doctor also told us that this tumor explained why Marie had not ovulated in the past several years.  She had not had a period since Holly our youngest daughter was born in 1995.  

SURGERY

Well both our families gathered with us to figure out what to do.  We chose the best brain surgeon on the West Coast who did brain surgery in an attempt to remove the tumor.  Unfortunately he could only get a small portion of it.  He did have good news however.  The tumor was a benign meningioma.  So it was not cancerous.  It was a slow growing tumor that he recommended should be radiated in an attempt to kill it and stop the growth. 

After the surgery and recovery we relocated to Los Angeles for several months of intensive radiation.  A new procedure had been developed at UCLA where they radiated a very specific area twice a day for 8 weeks.  At the end of that series of treatments the Doctor announced that the tumor tissue was in effect dead, and would not grow anymore.

"NO MORE KIDS"

Unfortunately he also confirmed that Marie would be unable to have any more children as the pituitary was full of tumor tissue and had been heavily radiated.   I ask him point blank, "so your telling me if my wife has another child that would be a miracle".  He said yes...absolutely. 

His prognosis proved true.  My wife went into menopause and over the next several years we dealt with all the hormonal ups and downs that go with that. 

PRAYER

Prayer had always been a core principle in our lives.  During the surgery and afterward we literally felt the prayers of our families and our church every day.  It was awesome.  God spoke to us clearly during this time about trusting him and how he would use doctors like he used mud in the blind man's eye in Scripture.  There was obviously no miraculous healing during that whole season of our lives but somehow we never lost the faith for a child... specifically a son.   We never lost faith that God could do the impossible.  And we spent many hours in our California home praying for Marie's healing and the proof of a son.

A CHANGE OF SCENERY

In 2001 we felt the call of God to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado and we did so.  What a scenery change.  Form Sacramento, CA, to the Rocky Mountains.  During the next couple of years we occasionally felt the urge to pray for a child even though Marie had not ovulated now for nearly 7 years. 

THE TEMPLE PRAYER

Then in 2002 I discovered the Temple Prayer model.  Wesley Tullis, then director of the World Prayer Center, introduced me to a method developed by Dr. Cho of South Korea, pastor of the largest church in the world.  I felt the grace of God  to begin practicing this type of extended prayer (about 1 hour per day).  The Lord blessed me in many ways over the next year and the Temple Prayer became my main devotional tool.  My wife Marie saw the change in me and decided to try it herself.  The year was 2003.  Marie and I began to pray the Temple prayer together each morning for a period of over 8 months.  The Lord blessed her as well, healing some deep emotional issues she had wrestled with for decades.  It was during that season that Marie really came to a new level of faith regarding the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ.  Scripture is very clear.  One of the many benefits of the Blood is that by His stripes we are healed.  Our healing is a finished work.  As Pastor Cho says, sickness is actually illegal in us today because of the blood of Jesus.  By the praying the Temple prayer we developed greater faith to reject the devil's packages, and receive what Jesus has already won for us.  Our faith became much stronger.

THE MIRACLE

That takes us to late 2004.   One Friday a good friend of ours was over talking about adopting kids.   We said well maybe we should think about that.  Perhaps that is how we would grow our family.   Well the very next evening Marie and I had gone to bed and she felt something strange in her stomach area.  She placed my hand on her tummy and I felt an unmistakable "tap" "tap" "tap".  We were shocked.  What could this be?  Our minds went racing.  I drove to the store to buy a pregnancy test.  In fact I bought three to be sure.  They all came up very positive. 

At the doctors office the next week the sonogram showed a 6 month old baby boy alive and well inside my wife! How could this be?  She was not overweight.  How could she be 6 months pregnant?  Well all we can say is God works in mysterious ways. Three months later our miracle son was born on Dec. 15, 2004.  DJ Packard, now 15 months old as I write this,  is a perfect son in every way.

Every time we look at DJ we think of God's faithfulness.  And we marvel at the power God available to all His sons and daughters.   We are very grateful to Wes Tullis and to Pastor Cho for introducing us to the Temple Prayer.  AND ONE MORE THING...   Marie, it appears has started normal menstrual cycles again....this is after many years of no cycles and after going through menopause.   God is sovereign in the affairs of men.  Lord, your will be done in all things!

Let our story be a testimony of God's power in spite of the best that doctors can do.  We love the medical profession.  But they are just mud in the Lord's hands.   He is our great physician and it pays to keep your appointments with Him. 

Needless to say, we recommend the Temple prayer as a fundamental way to go deeper with God and see miracles happen in your own life.

This is just one of the ways the Lord is transforming our family from the inside out through the Temple Prayer model.  Hey it really works!

Derek & Marie Packard
March 9, 2006