That night I cried myself to sleep, terrified of the future and terrified of the murders I had almost committed.

A few weeks later, we brought Laura home from the hospital where she continued her profound sleep.  Meanwhile, the stirring of life grew in my womb.  Nine months later, I put my cheek against Laura’s. With one hand on my swollen belly, I whispered in my sleeping daughter’s ear.  “I love you. I have to go to the hospital, but when I come back, I’ll bring you a baby brother.”

Laura gave me no response. 

How I dreaded leaving my daughter and how I dreaded bringing home yet another baby.  How would this impossible situation even work?

Two days later, just as I promised, I came home from the hospital with Laura’s new born brother and placed him in her arms. It was in that moment, captured on camera, that wonder danced in her eyes. Laura had awakened from her coma! God had used baby Jimmy to save Laura, not once, but twice!

I’d finally gotten my miracle, but it was not the one I’d sought. You see, Laura came back to me disabled, but whole in spirit and innocent in heart, and just in time for Christmas.

As I look back on all that my family and I endured the year my daughter slept, I can now see God’s hand was at work all along. Just as Romans 8:28 promises that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose, I can look back to see what I couldn’t see at the time. God was growing a miracle inside of me.

Could it be that despite your own painful circumstances that God is still in control, working for good in your situation too?

The miracle of your life may not be what you asked for, it may, as in my case, be even better.  For you see, today, now twenty years later, my disabled daughter is a joy and my son a delight.

So continue to seek the one whom the angles celebrated that Christmas night long ago night in the little town of Bethlehem.  In the mean time, here are some tips on how to wait for your miracle.

1. Continue to seek God, asking for his miraculous grace and favor over your situation.
2. Remember as you seek God, that you are not his boss, you are his child.
3. Learn to trust God as you wait.
4. Let go of the concept of what your miracle should look like.  Allow God to be God.
5. Start thanking God for your miracle now.
6. Wait as patiently as possible, living life not for the future, but in the now.
7. Read the book of Psalms as you wait.  It will teach you how to pray through your difficulty.

In the meantime, record all the little miracles you find along the way, then later you’ll be able to read these messages to yourself to see that yes, God was at work all along. One day, as you look back on your present circumstances, you’ll see that the miracle may not have come just as you ordered it. God may answer, like he did for me, with something even better.

© Linda Evans Shepherd 2008. Used with permission
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Linda Evans Shepherd is publisher of Right to the Heart of Women eZine. She is available to speak at your upcoming event. See www.Sheppro.com. Sign up for Right to the Heart of Women here.
Linda Evans Shepherd and Carol Whang Schutter launch their new talk show, Miracle Quest, on the Internet TODAY, November 13, at 1:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, 12:00 p.m. Central Time, 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time and 10:00 am Pacific Time. Go to: www.MiracleQuest.com for more information, click on the Blog Talk Radio link.