Moments of Grace
When her son falls ill, Dana Foreman learns a lesson in faith.
In early December 2017, my oldest son, Jake Rayborn, became very ill— to the point of respiratory failure—and he was placed on life support. As a mother, you never want to hear that one of your loved ones is fighting for their life. Dropping everything, I raced to be by his side at the hospital in Mississippi. For two months my son fought so hard just to stay alive, battling infections, fever and several episodes of collapsed lung. He was placed under heavy sedation and chemically paralyzed. At one point it was necessary to airlift him to a larger hospital for more intensive care. His medical team and the lead doctor said, “We might need to have the conversation to turn the ventilator off.” You want to talk about rocking me to my core and feeling emotions that have never flooded my soul before—at that moment I almost went down. Today my son is at home and improving, by the grace of God. I am hopeful Jake will make a full physical and mental recovery. The endurance he has shown to make it to this point is amazing. When I learned about Jake’s hospitalization, my first emotion was panic. The second reaction was to cry out for God to come to his rescue. The trip from North Carolina to Mississippi took about 11 hours of driving through rain, wind and fog. During that awful time I cried, and then I prayed. My loved ones and friends immediately joined with me in praying as the news spread. The power of our faith cannot be dismissed. Jake received his miracle, and the calls of “prayer warriors” were answered. I believe that God worked through the medical team to help them treat my son. As I look back on this harrowing experience, I see that I now have greater strength and resilience, which developed from leaning on my faith. If I could sum up what I have learned, it would be “simply trust God.” If you ever go through a trial or a storm, remember there is someone who hears your prayers, cares for your pain and never fails. Next time a storm comes into my life, I first will call out to God, and then I will cry tears of joy knowing that He hears me and will answer my prayers.