answered prayer
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared
for those who love Him.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Last October I got a phone call from my friend Joanna, who I hadn't talked to in a few years. We worked together at K-EYE TV when she was the Art Director and I was the Assistant to the Director of Advertising and Promotion. Not quite as irritating as Dwight Schrute, but still... We had lots of good times and some not so good times in the high? drama of promoting our news anchors and Touched By An Angel.
"Call me back - do NOT deny me the pleasure of talking to you," her message said, full of the emotion I know her creative soul to be. I didn't get a chance to call her before my dog wrecked out my phone and her number, and it was November when I got another call. She left a message that she knew would make me call her back. "I had a baby. Call me."
As I drove in my car listening to the entire message, I was overcome to the point that I had to pull over and call her. I was crying already without knowing all the details. But I have to back up...
As long as I have known JoAnna she has wanted a baby - when we first met in 1997 her husband was contemplating having a reverse vasectomy. When we talked in 2003 I believe he had just had the operation, 17 years after his vasectomy. Statistically, there was about a 1 percent chance they would conceive a baby. We prayed much for them to conceive a child and not have to have a donor. I still remember our last conversation over greek food in 2005, the seemingly hopeless scenario getting more bleak. I told her I believed God could do a miracle but the look on her face was a mixture of sorrow and wanting to hope. It just killed me.
Forward to this November. I'm sitting in a parking lot off of Bee Caves Road, waiting for her to answer her phone. She does. "Anne, I had a baby. He's a boy. His name is Cannon and he is Kevin's!" I started to cry again and could only say "Praise the Lord!" She continued, "He's a miracle baby. I kept praying for a miracle and I said to my sister, 'Why would God want to do a miracle for me?' and she said, 'I don't know, but that is what everyone says He does - performs miracles!' I prayed for a miracle. It wasn't long after that I got pregnant."
He is named Cannon because he is going to be a weapon of mass destruction. That I believe. And I know there are a lot of people who pray to have children and don't ever, and it's heartbreaking. But take hope in this. When I told JoAnna I wanted to write about her and Cannon, she said, "It would make me very happy for you tell our story of the miracle baby God presented to us. Not only was his conception and birth a miracle so is he. He is such a good baby. He is amazing. I would like everyone to know that it is OK to ask God for a miracle. He likes to grant miracles especially, if he knows it will bring someone closer to him. Miracles do happen. I am a believer."
God knew exactly how that baby would impact JoAnna and Kevin's lives. I got to see him the other day at Whole Foods, and I know Jesus was there - He's always hanging out in the grocery stores but that day there was a rush of excitement over this precious Cannon.
By far my favorite Christmas card this year was Cannon's birth announcement from July, a portrait of a beautiful boy with the simple phrase below him: Answered Prayer. He is my absolute favorite answered prayer this year. There are so many more...
