Meeting the Angels

It happened sometime ago, in 2002, when I was still taking my BA at Ukrainian Institute Of Arts And Sciences. My friend and I used to love visiting Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which is just 30 min away from Boucha, where we studied and lived. The campus of my university is located in a thick pine forest - quite a scary place to walk at night taking into consideration crime statistics in Ukraine. The students had their free time after they attended their classes, so that particular day my best friends and I decided to go to Kiev again. It was getting late already. We were supposed to be back to the dormitory by 10-30 PM and we calculated that we would make it back on time. Off we went - to the picturesque Kiev city!

Kiev

I do not remember exactly why, but we forgot about time constrains... we rushed to the train station in order to catch out latest train only to watch the train go in the distance. That was a disaster! The consequences would be the worst ones for me and my friend - eviction from the dormitory which meant expelling from the university. No other public transportation was available around - 10 PM in Ukraine is a time, when usually people are back home safe and sound. Good girls do not walk on the streets for not only it is dangerous, but also it would mean that they search adventures.
We were good girls, - we thought. But how can we get home now? - that question we were pondering upon.
T'was getting chilly. Unfortunately there was only one way to get to our room on time - to catch a car (not a taxi cab - there was no money for that).
We prayed somehow fast but sincerely (realizing that we ourselves were to be blamed for all the problems). "Dear Jesus, we confess that we did not pay attention to time, and we are afraid of the consequences, but more over we are very sorry to make you said by putting our lives in danger in such a silly way. Please forgive us, and let your will be done. We are ready for all kind of punishment." And truly we were...
Up we went to the highway which lead to our university campus. 

Still silently praying, we simply started approaching cars that were parked. We asked 2-3 drivers if they would be so kind to take us to Boucha for free. The answers were negative. In despair we hastened to one more car. We noticed 2 young men sitting in side, and we asked reluctantly if they could drive us home to our uni. To our joy, mixed with suspicion though, the lads agreed to help us. We were still hesitant to go in, but then that was the last chance. So we jumped into the car and the driver started on our way.
While we were with the young men there, we were keeping quiet. Then one of the guys started asking us very particular questions, like Why are you late? Did not you know the dormitory policy? What made you play with the rules? We could not justify ourselves, but we were regretful about the situation and our carelessness. The car approached the university and stopped. We expressed our gratitude to our 'saviors', and got off. It was dark in the forest, only the stars slightly lit the path between the trees. Having made 2 steps only, we looked back to see the car go - SURPRISED TO FIND OUT THAT THERE WAS NO CAR! 

Empty Road

Impossible! - we said to each other. - Where are they?
But still there was neither sound nor trace of a car going away...
We realized that God had sent us His angels that night............

God's Healing In The Forest Of Uncertainty

In 2005 I went to Ukraine. I usually go to my country to visit my parents, relatives and friends at least once a year. That was a special trip. Due to an accessible to all citizens health care, I always do my tests and health check-ups in Ukraine. It is for free and I trust our doctors. So did I that time, in the beginning of summer 2005. After I had my x-ray, I was directed to do another one, a larger picture needed to be obtained. It did not give me any suspicions, for I have always been a very healthy girl. When the appointment to pick up the results of the x-ray was scheduled, I was unpleasantly surprised to be diagnosed with something which in normal case a healthy, not stressed person can not develop. Directly I was sent to a special hospital in the suburbs of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. I wish you visited that place! Dispensary (that is the real name of the place) has long time ago lost its decent facade. It was somewhere NOWHERE TO BE FOUND in the middle of the fresh smelling pine forest. 

Pine Forest

Unkempt, full of lush greenery, with the cemetery  just behind the fence - a place one always 'wished' to stay to get healed! The ghastly smell of not tasty food mixed with medicine all the way upstairs would make me feel like vomiting. My ward was on the third floor so i had to pass those horrible stairs everyday up and down, up and down. I prayed when I entered my ward. I just fell on my knees and wept: Jesus, do You want me to remain alive? If yes, just give me a sign, Lord! Just give me a sign... then I got up and went to the balcony. I had a privilege to share a room with my Lord only. There was no one else to stay with me. So I stared at those pine trees that have surrounded the place, and thought of my future. Am I going to have Future?.. besides that gloomy rustle of leaves Jesus heard my heart beat and saw my weak lungs movement. 

Hands check up

It was a disgrace when my doctor asked me to show my hands and toes. The majority of the people that were suffering from the same disease were drag addict and my doctor suspiciously examined me for this, too. She was delighted though when she realized that I had no connections with any of bad habits, so she assigned me the treatment course for next 6 months. I had to remain in that place for 6 months!.. I could not believe my ears: half a year of my life, IF everything goes fine. If...

The same night my prayer was even more fervent: If it is your will, Jesus, if it is your will for me to live, just one sign, only one

When I lay my head on the pillow and closed my eyes, I felt something touching me - touching my lungs. I felt some burning on the sick place of my lungs, exactly where the x-ray showed the defect. The burning was strong, it remained for 2-3 minutes. Then the feeling went away.

The next day my doctor new about the incident. She just grinned and sent me to the nurse to get my injections. 

Exactly in 2 months my doctor made the scheduled x-ray. There was such a huge regress of the disease that she had no reason to keep me in the hospital. She even said i could travel back to Lebanon as soon as I wanted. I still had to take pills though for next 2 months. The traces of the disease will remain till the end of your life - the doctor mentioned. Whenever you are going to make an x-ray, a doctor will notice that you were sick. 

I was more then palmy: thanking God was the first thing I would begin my day with! (even till this day)

Lung X-ray

In one year, before my regular trip to Ukraine, I made an x-ray in Beirut, Lebanon. The doctor said that my lungs are fine. I asked him if he could see anything strange or unusual, which he did not. I still insisted on his checking the picture once again. The same result. He could not figure any thing wrong. When I openly told him that i had a particular disease, he said he still did not see any trace of it. 

My Ukrainian doctor was very surprised to observe my whole restoration, when I came to Ukraine again and just decided to greet her. She told me that if I did not contact the hospital on time, I had only maximum half a year to live. half a hear of my life!..  :D 

What a miracle! - i thought... Thank you, my Lord!