A Treasury of Miracles for Women by Karen Kingsbury

regain consciousness during that time, Laura made a steady recovery.
    Then, almost three weeks after the baby's birth, Laura's condition suddenly took a drastic turn for the worse. Once again she began bleeding uncontrollably throughout her body. Because her organs were already weak, her stomach ruptured, forcing doctors to perform emergency surgery. They removed more than half of Laura's stomach and at tempted to close off the areas where she was bleeding. She survived surgery, but doctors gave her almost no chance to live.
    “It's miraculous that she's made it this far, Jake, but the truth is very clear. She's dying,” the doctor said when the surgery was done. “You'll need to tell the boys.”
    The next morning, Jake pulled his sons close to him and told them that their mother was expected to die. With tears in their innocent eyes, the boys immediately joined hands with their father and prayed that God would let their mommy live.
    Despite the gravity of Laura's condition, doctors allowed Cody, eight, and Carl, six, to visit their mother in the intensive-care unit that day. At one point Laura's eyes opened, but she did not respond to her boys' presence in the room. That evening after the children had gone home, Laura's fever soared to more than 105 degrees. Doctors braced for the inevitable, but Laura clung to life throughout the night as Jake and Pastor Ryan prayed continuously in the waiting room.
    The next day, Sunday, was Laura's birthday. Ryan and Jake knew that most likely it would also be the day she died. The pastor left Jake early in the morning and reported to church, where he was scheduled to preach at 8:45 that morning.
    “I've been thinking about Laura West,” he told the con gregation. “How today is her birthday and yet she lies dying in a hospital bed having never seen her newborn son and with two other sons waiting at home for her,” he said. His voice was shaky and lack of sleep was evident in his eyes. “I know we're praying for her, but I'm not sure we're doing everything we can to call upon God's divine assistance.”
    Evan held up a sheet of paper that read “The Laura Prayer Chain” across the top. “So today, we are going to or ganize. I'll be passing this sheet around and asking you to sign up, committing to pray for Laura West for thirty minutes sometime in the next twenty-four hours.”
    There was a rustling as people reached for pens and pen cils, and Jake started the sheet in the first pew.
    As the sheet quickly filled with the names of volunteers, Jake returned to the pulpit. There were tears in his eyes and his voice was uncharacteristically shaky.
    “At least now we can say we've done everything we know to do.”
    Later, when Olivia Riley began praying at noon, it was the start of one full day of continuous prayer for Laura. They prayed through the day and into the night. Even as the peo ple prayed, Laura's mother called Jake from the hospital the next morning.
    “Jake, get down here right away. Please, hurry.”
    Laura's father stayed with the boys, and Jake ran for his car, racing toward the Tulsa hospital. He'd recognized the tone of his mother-in-law's voice. Laura was dying, despite everything. As he drove, he cried as he had never cried be fore. He begged and pleaded that God do whatever was nec essary to let Laura live. It was the single lowest moment of his life.
    Meanwhile, back in Bartlesville, Cindy Cummins was praying the 9:00 A.M. shift—tearfully asking God to work a miracle. In Australia, the elders of a small church gathered at the request of a friend of theirs from Tulsa to pray for Laura. In Arizona the people of a small rural church received word about Laura and activated their prayer chain. And across the world, pilots were gearing up for a night of flying, praying silently as they worked.
    Jake sped on, unaware of the prayers being said for his wife even at that moment. Then, a few miles from the hos pital, the cloud of doom that had engulfed Jake since the