Patti and Wade Jenkins knew they wanted more children.  When the fertility treatments worked, they were overjoyed to tell their young son Paxton that he would soon be a big brother!  However, their joy turned to dread when Patti started bleeding and continued to do so throughout the entire pregnancy.  Thankfully, Patti’s doctor, Dr. Linda Ramsey, of Evansville, Indiana, understood and incorporated the spirit teaching from the Nurturing Your Spirit DVDs by Arthur Burk into her practice.  As a believing doctor, she purposed to nurture both mother’s and baby’s whole person–spirit, soul, and body–during pregnancy.

Dr. Ramsey monitored the baby throughout Patti’s pregnancy, using sonograms.  By the end of the second trimester, she shared with Patti that the sonograms consistently showed that the infant had club feet and no sign of a nasal bone.  These features could indicate mental retardation.  In obstetric practice for over 25 years, Dr. Ramsey is a mature believer who is not quick to react or to cause alarm in her patients.  She seeks guidance from God, The Great Physician, trusting Him to lead her in treatment decisions.  Immediately after sharing the “condition” she had observed during the pregnancy, Dr. Ramsey prayed for Patti and the baby, and then called a specialist colleague who agreed to see Patti the next morning.

In shock, Patti left her appointment, went home, and called her mother Bunny Warlen who worked in California at the time.  Immediately, Bunny and a few other intercessors started crying out to the Father on behalf of the baby.  Bunny called the baby’s spirit to attention across time and space and spoke life, healing, and purpose.

The very next day, Patti underwent hours of special tests.  Both physicians and tech-assistants performed numerous scans, evaluating the baby from many different angles.  After contrasting the previous sonograms with the new images, the specialist concluded that a “shadow” caused the club feet to appear and the nasal bone to be hidden.  The new report showed absolutely no abnormalities, just a normal, healthy baby!  However, Wade, Patti, Bunny, and the intercessors received the baby’s new test results as a miracle from God!

Knowing her daughter still had several hurdles to overcome, Bunny changed plans, tied up loose ends, packed, and drove cross-country where she lived with Wade and Patti for the next five months, caring for Patti who had been placed on bed-rest and her son, five year-old Paxton.  In spite of the bed-rest, Patti experienced increasing sharp pain in her pelvic area.  At her regular appointment, four weeks before her due date, Dr. Ramsey detected no movement from the baby.  Additionally, Patti could barely walk.  “The baby’s telling us she’s in distress,” said Dr. Ramsey who checked Patti into the hospital directly from her office and scheduled an emergency C-section.

Events took an unexpected turn propelling the family into the hospital prematurely.  Yet, as they entered Patti’s room and prayed, the atmosphere exuded peace.  Wade, his mom Barb, and Paxton arrived and spoke quietly with Patti as the staff prepared for surgery.  Though she endured excruciating pain in her pelvis, Patti showed no signs of labor at all.  Bunny called the baby’s spirit to attention, “Baby Jenkins, I speak to your spirit, we are all listening to you.  You will be guiding Dr. Ramsey in the operating room, just let her know what you need.”  Shortly thereafter, Patti’s water broke, releasing a stream of blood.  Since babies trigger labor, the baby’s response proved that she heard and responded to her grandmother’s prayer and blessing.  However, the family was not out of the woods yet.

Later that day, a healthy, happy baby girl arrived in the Jenkins family.  They named her Hadley Jamison Jenkins.  At Hadley’s birth, Dr. Ramsey discovered the source of Patti’s pain. The 1/8” ridge in the baby’s skull showed where she had been wedged deeply into Patti’s cervix.  Trapped there, Hadley could not move.  Following examination of the placenta, Dr. Ramsey discovered that the umbilical cord had been bent in a stressful position where it deteriorated and subsequently shredded during the whole pregnancy.  Together with the family, Dr. Ramsey stood in amazement that Hadley received adequate nourishment, with the condition of the umbilical cord, to be born a healthy six and one-half pound baby!

Six months later, Paxton and his baby sister Hadley spent some time visiting their Grandma Bunny at her home in Kentucky.  When the phone rang, Hadley laid quietly on her back in the cradle.  Bunny received news that a project for which she had been praying (the book Pure Joy!) was “stuck in the birthing canal.”  Bunny felt impressed to garner Hadley’s prayers in addition to her own.  Walking to the cradle, Bunny explained the situation to Hadley and said, “I need you to intercede with me.”  Immediately changing from her relaxed position, Hadley vigorously kicked her legs, flung her arms, looked straight at Bunny, her face filled with joy and animation, and started giggling.  Hadley fully engaged her spirit to pray with her grandmother.  Bunny felt the spirit of agreement between them just as with any adult intercessor.  Responding to Hadley’s initiative, Bunny sang joyfully.  Together, they agreed with their spirits and prayers for the release of the joy book.

The human spirit is eternal.  Though a baby’s soul is not yet fully developed, his or her spirit is present, alive, and can be engaged to pray, to praise, and to worship the Father.  What a wondrous time!   Presently, Bunny’s phone rang again with the good news that the glitch in the book’s lay-out design had been manually fixed.  Hadley experienced a “manual birth” when she arrived by C-section.  Literally, this miracle baby helped to birth another manual.  At only six months of age, Hadley had the earned authority* to intercede with power and effectiveness, and her grandmother recognized this and engaged her spirit to implement God’s purposes!  “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger” (Psalm 8:2).

*For more information concerning this concept, see Earned Authority in the Keys for Parents section.

(excerpt from Perfect Peace by Crystal Wade, copryight 2010)