Dear ElijahStreams Family,
Birthdays don't always turn out the way you expect...and mine sure didn't.
I just turned 70 in August, and while I felt so loved by all your birthday wishes (thank you for that, by the way!), my week didn't end with balloons and cake.
It ended with wires taped to my chest and doctors telling me words like "stroke risk" and "atrial flutter."
Let me back up...
It was Thursday, August 15th. Derene and I were packing for our annual family trip with the kids. Bags
half-packed; food ready to go.
And then, out of nowhere, I froze. I looked at Derene and said, "Something's wrong. I can't do this."
Instead of heading off on vacation, we drove to Urgent Care. I thought maybe I had pneumonia... a heaviness in my chest, the pain when I breathed.
But within minutes of running tests, the doctor came back and said,
"We're calling an ambulance. You're
in atrial flutter."
So instead of a road trip, I took an ambulance ride just three blocks down the road to the hospital. (Yes, three blocks! But that's how serious they said it was.)
And that began six long days of wires, machines, and endless tests. Then came the night before my
birthday.
A WHISPER AT 8 PM:
DO YOU BELIEVE?
Around 8:00 PM, the hospital was quiet, Derene had gone home, and I was lying there, wires taped
to me, when the Lord began to speak.
"Do you believe I could send you home by 10?" I thought, that doesn't make sense... but I said, "Yes, Lord, I believe."
He asked again. "Do you really believe I could send you home by 10?"
"Yes, Lord."
And a third time. "Do you REALLY BELIEVE THAT?" Three times He asked. Three times I said YES.
I finally drifted off to sleep and forgot about that encounter.
At 11:40 PM, I woke up, still in my hospital bed, and shuffled into the bathroom with all my wires. When I came back out, the nurse was waiting for me, smiling. She said, "Steve, how do you feel??
I said, "I feel good. Why do you ask?"
"What? Really?" I instantly remembered God's question,
"Do you believe I could send you home by 10 PM?"
Stunned, I said, "Then they won't need to shock my heart in the morning like they were planning! They would just send me home, right?"
She said, "Yes, that's right. I've already reported this to the doctors. They WILL probably send you home in the morning."
The next morning, they ran the big 12 lead EKG test. Every single line showed a flawless sinus rhythm. No skips. No blocks. Just perfection. They printed it out so I could see it. It was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in years!
So, on my 70th birthday, the God of Heaven reached into my chest and gave me a miracle. I'll never forget it. I had wondered how this story would end, and it ended perfectly. On the dot.
A SHARED HEARTBEAT: WATER FOR UGANDA
But here's what I want you to see: this wasn't just for me. Hard seasons like this, long nights of waiting and wondering, can give you fresh vision and perspective.
Lying in that hospital bed, I was thinking about everything God has called us to do through
ElijahStreams.
And one part of that calling, so close to my heart and the heart of the Father,
is
bringing clean, living water to our neighbors in Uganda.
It was as if God was saying:
"I'm bringing things into order (10). I'm inviting you to agree with Me (3). And I'm giving you a new season to lead, to run, to do more (70)."
And just as God spoke to me that night, I believe He's speaking to you right now. You may feel weary, hooked up to your own 'wires,' wondering how your story will end.
But God is saying: "I decide the ending."
What looks one way is not the final story. I'm aligning things.
If He can do it for me, He can do it for you.
This isn't only about my heart coming into rhythm. It's about our heartbeat together. The heartbeat of villages in Uganda, the flow of clean water, and the lives of little orphan children.
Every well is a heartbeat. Every $10,000 is a miracle at 10 on the dot.
LET'S NOT STOP WHAT THE LORD HAS BEGUN
•
$10,000 funds a well
•
$1,000 moves us one-tenth closer
•
$100 keeps the rhythm going.
Revelation 12 says we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. This is my testimony: God heals. God provides. God moves on the dot.
So, let's keep believing. Let's keep
saying YES. Because God isn't finished with me. He isn't finished with you.
And He isn't finished with the children of Uganda.
With a HEART FULL of gratitude,
