By Staff, Baptist Message
“If your heart is of goodwill and your love of God is unconditional… you will see the Glory of God, the Glory of His Promises and the Magnificence of His Deeds done through your life and answered through your prayers. Open your heart, forget your mind – for God answers all prayers.”
JACKSON, MISS. — God does answer prayers.
Saturday (Aug. 27) at 10:03 a.m. Kelly Longoria, accompanied by her mother Lisa Kiper and her husband Shane Longoria walked out of the Jackson, Miss., rehabilitation hospital six weeks after being shot in the head by an assailant and left to die.
When she was first brought in to NSICU (Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit Hospital and Medical Center in Jackson), doctors gave 22-year-old Kelly little hope of surviving the night. They could not remove the bullet because it would cause significant damage and were unsure what effects leaving the bullet alone would have. She was intubated, unable to move her left side could not open her eyes or speak.
The prognosis was grim.
This family, whose faith was so strong, did they only thing they could … they turned to prayer … and asked others to pray as well.
A prayer chain, which consisted of individuals, prayer groups, Sunday school classes and churches, began slowly but through word of mouth, phone calls, newspaper articles, TV reports and social media it grew by leaps and bounds.
An army of prayer warriors lifted up Kelly and her family. From Winnsboro across Louisiana then the country, and finally around the world, people prayed.
“We can never say thank you enough for your prayers,” said Lisa Kiper. “God bless each and every one of you.”
And God began to move.
Kelly and Shane Longoria pose for a photo as they leave the hospital Aug. 27.
Kelly grew stronger. She began to breathe on her own. She opened her eyes and started communicating … first with her eyes, but then with her hands. Then she spoke. Doctors were stunned.
“The doctors asked, how was she still alive, how was she following commands, how was she able to respond to what they were saying. My only answer is we have a God that is not limited to our understanding. Kelly is a fighter and she has the strength of Christ in her,” wrote Longoria on one of several blogs he had detailing this time. “The Lord has been so faithful.”
Her strength returned, slowly, and so did movement to her left side. First, with the help of the physical therapist, she stood, then started taking small steps at a time and before long she was walking around her room. Eventually, she was able to walk in the hall with her husband.
Doctors were amazed at her progress.
“Every doctor here is talking about what a miracle she is, and we are eternally grateful to our Great Physician,” said Kiper. “Because without Him and without all of your prayers, we know this wouldn’t be happening.”
Kelly was moved to a rehabilitation hospital where she continued her miraculous recovery. It has been an arduous time for the family, but through it all, they have never lost faith. Six weeks after she was brought to Jackson and given little chance of survival, she was able to walk out of the hospital under her own power Saturday.
In a Facebook post showing a photo where the three are flashing a ‘thumbs up,’ as they leave the hospital, it reads “…Thy power throughout the universe displayed … then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art …”
There is such truth in those words.
