Portraits of Grace – Bettina Shue

I was needing one more devotional for the month, so I am going to close out the month by sharing God’s “Portrait of Grace” in my life. We have a lot of new ones who have joined us this past month and there may be many others who have not heard this story of grace yet.

I grew up in Alaska as a missionary/pastor’s daughter. I went off to Bible College at Bob Jones University at the age of 17. The 2nd semester of my sophomore year I was experiencing some back discomfort. I had gone to a chiropractor before at home, so when my parent’s came to visit that spring, they took me. Come to find out, that back discomfort was coming from having a massive ovarian tumor. It was so large that it was pushing all of my organs out of the way and was pressing up against my aorta. The doctors felt like it was something that needed to be dealt with right away, so surgery was set up … for Friday, the 13th! All went well during the surgery. They were able to completely remove the tumor. The doctor    predicted it to be the size of a 6 month fetus. I do not remember them saying for sure after the surgery, but I do know that I immediately lost 20 pounds!

This really was a turning point in my spiritual life. It was definitely a time of growing and trusting God. It was then that I started a spiritual journal with scripture that God gave me and other thoughts that strengthened and encouraged me at that time. With each entry I made, I would date it. The following year, I was going back through my journal and I noticed the date that I found out that I had that massive tumor. It was March 6. My mind then began to calculate 365 days later … again on March 6 … what took place. It was exactly one year to the date later that I met my husband! It was like God was reassuring me that even though I had gone through a sad time, He had not forgotten me and had blessed me with a happy time on that 1 year anniversary.

When the doctors did the surgery, they told me that I may have a problem getting pregnant because of scar tissue that I had from an appendectomy at age 13. After I married, we did not try to start a family right away. But, when we did, I visited the doctor to test to see if there would be a problem. There was a slight problem, which actually turned into a   major problem because my tube got infected and ruptured after the test.

It was very disappointing to be told that I would never physically be capable of conceiving a child naturally. But, God gave us grace and unbelievable peace that if He wanted us to have a child, He would provide. He did! Just barely a year later (I should go back and check those dates), we were put in contact with a young woman who was considering putting her  baby up for adoption upon birth.

To make a long story short, God blessed us with that baby girl! We got to see her and hold her in our arms for the very first time when she was 10 days old. She stole our hearts and the hearts of our family! I do not have the space to share all the details and miracles that God performed for this blessing to happen to us, but be assured that God’s grace is as mighty as God Himself! So, my friend, rest in His grace!

We have not seen our daughter’s birth mom since then. But, for Mother’s Day this year (24 years later), I wanted to express my gratitude to her for sharing her beautiful daughter with us. So with my friend Debbi’s help, we have written a poem entitled A Tale of Two Mothers.