Chapter 1: God Births a Dream

God is doing a new thing! “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19 ESV Carol This is the story of God’s faithful and providential hand upon a ministry that began in the dust-blown plains of Oklahoma in 1898. Founded by Mattie M. Mallory, a school teacher with a burden for neglected children, the Oklahoma Orphanage became a highly recognized and successful orphanage. It eventually became Bethany Children’s Health Center, broadening its mission to provide comprehensive care for children and teenagers with complex medical and physical disabilities through both inpatient and outpatient programs. The Center would ultimately become one of the most respected children’s hospitals in the country, but this was not without its challenges. In the 1970s, financial turmoil began to mount, and the future looked bleak. It was at this critical point in the Center’s story that I was hired as the volunteer coordinator on April 2, 1977. From the moment I arrived, the tremendous level of need was overwhelming. Each child faced immense challenges in their daily lives and yearned for love, attention, and support to help them thrive. Some were confined to wheelchairs and needed constant care due to the nature of their disabilities. I had a college degree, but due to a small operating budget, the Center could offer only $1.80 an hour and only twenty paid hours per week. However, I was driven by an unyielding passion and frequently volunteered thirty to forty additional hours every week. My heart was deeply burdened for these children and their families, and I was grateful to serve them through this beautiful ministry. It is very difficult to describe what I felt in the depths of my spirit the first time I held a crying infant who had been born without arms or legs. A nurse was preparing a crib for a newborn named Jimmy and asked me to hold him. When she placed him in my arms, I could feel the smallness of his body through the blanket. Words can’t express the feeling of helplessness that swept over me. He was going to face hardship in his life far beyond anything I could fix. Even now, recalling this memory brings tears to my eyes. Holding Jimmy had an emotional impact I hadn’t experienced before. I didn’t feel just a heaviness in my heart. It broke my heart. But helplessness didn’t give way to hopelessness. My heart was never the same, that’s for sure. It was stronger when broken wide open by a child’s suffering, driven by the desire to love in a way that helped bring healing. I knew I wanted to do whatever I could at the Center to achieve that. I also have memories of watching Jimmy develop and grow. I witnessed his joy. I can still picture the incredible way he learned to roll his body down the hallway to push a toy truck. It was amazing! He learned to do something that requires so much strength and coordination that most people with two arms and legs couldn’t do it. His laughter was beautiful and he was full of life. Eventually, he had a uniquely designed chair that he could direct using a mouthpiece. Jimmy’s life is a remarkable example of hope and determination. He taught me a valuable lesson that influenced my personal mission at the Center. I knew I wanted to help care for him before I even knew what that looked like. Then I witnessed the powerful impact that love and care could have on a child like Jimmy, helping him experience the fullness of God’s love in his life. It was such a gift! Jimmy’s story showed me that the Center wasn’t just an opportunity to comfort children who were hurting by minimizing their pain, but to help Jimmy—and many other children like him—to thrive. I worked tirelessly to help make the Center a better home for the children in any way I could. Whether it was cutting expenses, encouraging donations, contributing directly toward needed items, or cleaning and organizing the children’s clothes, I made myself available for Christ to work through me. I remember lying awake at night many times, asking God what else I could do to help the children. But during my first nine months, I witnessed three different administrators come and go. We were barely hanging on by a thread when we learned of a new government regulation that affected the Center. To remain compliant, a costly sprinkler system would have to be installed. For an organization with a humble budget and already overstretched, it seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. By all accounts, the closing of the Center seemed inevitable. God Calls Ordinary People Carol With the closing of the Center all but finalized, I found myself in a place of uncertainty. I had personally experienced the miraculous work the Lord was doing in the lives of children and families through our efforts. Was this really the end? I felt an overwhelming weight of sadness. Thinking back on this time, I can’t help but recall a song by Danniebelle Hall called “Ordinary People.” The lyrics encapsulate how small I felt as I sought to follow the Lord in the face of impossible odds: Ordinary People by Danniebelle Hall1 Just ordinary people God uses ordinary people He chooses people just like me and you Who are willing to do what He commands God uses people that will give Him all No matter how small your all may seem to you Because little becomes much as You place it in the Master’s hand. The Bible is very clear that God calls each of us to a purpose. In Jeremiah 1:5, we read these profound words he heard from the Lord: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (NIV). There are countless stories throughout Scripture where God calls ordinary people and works through them to accomplish great things. Why does He do this? Because in our weakness, His great power is revealed—both to us as His vessels and to the larger world around us. The biblical stories of Moses and David are examples of this. Moses was an outcast with a speech impediment. When God told him to lead His people out of slavery, Moses resisted, saying, “Who am I that I should go?” Moses felt inadequate for the job. It was much too big for him—or for anyone—to do in their own fallible human strength. But God gave Moses this assurance: “I will be with you …” (Exodus 3:11–12 NIV). David was a teenage boy with no more to his résumé than tending his father’s flock, but God used him mightily when he defeated the giant, Goliath, with only a sling and a rock. He went on to become king of Israel and Judah. He failed, and failed mightily, too. But Scripture tells us God chose him because He “sought out a man after his own heart …” (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV). Just like all humans who are sinners saved by grace, they were stubborn, flawed, and imperfect. But while the world overlooked them, God saw vessels for His redemptive purposes. He desires to use each one of us if we let Him. Looking back on our journey, it is amazing to see how God miraculously prepared the most unassuming people to serve as His hands and feet in this sacred work. Now, after many fruitful years of meaningful work, it appeared the Children’s Center was closing its doors for good. I was deeply saddened, but I couldn’t see any alternative. It was reasonable and good business sense to conclude that the Center had fulfilled its purpose for a period of time, and that time was coming to an end. That’s what it looked like, anyway. However, God had another plan—bigger and greater than we could have ever dared to imagine. But to fully appreciate the Lord’s miraculous work in Bethany Children’s Health Center, we need to go back to the beginning of this story.