We were decorating a downstairs sitting-room and I had decided that rather than move the carpet into another room, I would just fold the carpet over in the middle of the room and cover it with cloths. Decorating had proceeded well and there was just a small patch on one wall which needed an extra coat. My wife Ruth went out to a meeting, and I was just carrying the paint can to the wall when I tripped on the carpet and fell on to a long-handled dustpan and brush set that was standing in the middle of the floor. (This brush had always been a frustration to me, because frequently when sweeping, the brush would come out of the handle and drop to the floor.) The handle was 15cm long and went into my face under my chin, smashed through my mouth and went up behind my nose. I was still conscious. I remember deciding that it would be safer to get to the telephone to phone 999 if I held the handle (about 2cm was still able to be held outside my chin) and pulled out the brush part. I walked to the phone, told the emergency services the key information, then in an act of neatness I decided I couldn’t sit down on the new suite and drip blood on it, so went to sit down on a stool in the room where I was decorating! The paramedics came quickly and rushed me to Pinderfields, our local hospital. I remember telling them where my wife was and her mobile number, and then I don’t remember anything about the next three days. The surgeons operated successfully as far as they could estimate, then put me on a life support machine in intensive care under sedation to make sure that my airway didn’t close up.

Meanwhile Ruth finished her meeting and was expecting to ring me at home so I could pick her up. When there was no answer she wondered what had happened. Then God spoke to her and said “Jon’s in Pinderfields, but he is all right.” She thought the best thing was to go home first and check things out. On her way back her mobile rang – it was the A&E unit telling her “Your husband’s in A&E with a paint brush in his neck. We’ve had to take him to theatre and we’re operating now. Don’t worry: we suggest you go home, have a cup of tea and we’ll call you when he’s coming out of theatre.” Immediately Ruth contacted our youngest daughter Jennifer who was at work. She came straight back home. Just as Jennifer returned, the hospital called again to say they were just finishing up in theatre but I would be sedated overnight. Jennifer contacted all our other four children and our pastor Paul Sheffield and news spread for prayer around the church  and other related church leaders nationally. When she arrived at the intensive care unit the Ward Sister told Ruth “Your husband’s a very lucky man”. She had several key phone calls and visits from leaders who encouraged Ruth to hold onto the word God had given her. But then for two days it was just a case of claiming the promises and praying at my bedside.

It wasn’t until I came round from the anaesthetic that I realised two things:

1. It was a miracle – The handle missed every major blood vessel in my neck, missed my vocal chords, had hit one of my eye sockets but had not damaged the sight and had stopped travelling a couple of centimetres before it hit my brain. Medics have a different way of describing miracles – the anaesthetist asked me whether I had bought a lottery ticket on the day of the accident – I said “No, I am a Christian, I don’t do the lottery”. He said “You would have won, it was your lucky day.” Statistics on winning the lottery suggest it’s one chance in 14 million which is as close as you’ll get to an admission that something miraculous had happened!
2. No-one apart from me had any idea what had happened – had I fallen from a ladder on to a paintbrush? I tried to tell them on them on the first day, but I was still coming round and they thought I was light-headed. It wasn’t until the day of my discharge from Intensive Care that the doctor in charge asked me if I would like to see what had caused the damage. “Oh yes” I said “It will help to resolve a family discussion”. She brought the handle round and next visiting time I was able to prove that it wasn’t a paint brush handle but the dustpan brush.

From the time I woke up, recovery was rapid – of course there was the normal drifting in and out of consciousness when withdrawing from anaesthetic and pain killers and there were sixteen external and a similar number of internal stitches in my mouth and neck. But I had good vision in both eyes and was able to speak normally. There were broken bones in my palate and cracks on one eye socket. The medics were concerned that I was experiencing some double vision, but this subsided as the swelling reduced.

Jennifer, Ruth and Michael (our eldest son). started to read the Psalms to me, particularly Psalm 104 which had sustained Ruth while I was unconscious and I was just overcome by how amazing and powerful our God is. Our other three children came and just shared their love, which was beautiful to receive – I’d prayed when I was in the ambulance to see all my children again. Paul came everyday and brought a card from the youth in our church which was really encouraging: they were praying for a speedy recovery and for me to be back at church soon.

I couldn’t sleep on the ICU: it was too noisy (with all the life-saving devices). Next night I tried cotton-wool earplugs – not much better. The third night Jennifer suggested an MP3 player. I said that my mobile had got some MP3 albums including my favourite “Lift Him Up” by Ron Kenoly. Although I didn’t sleep much I kept playing it over and over again to let the words and music bring healing, encouragement and declaration of the mighty power of God. The night after, Jennifer transferred Matthew Ling’s “We see your Glory” which was equally faith-building. Over the time of my stay in hospital I received news that lots of specific people of faith had been praying for me. Each piece of news was like a shot of spiritual adrenaline.

I recovered so well that I was walking around the ICU by day 5. On day 6 I was discharged to home. The ward sister had to ask for advice from a colleague on how to do this, because it was virtually unknown for anyone to walk out of the ICU!

I had an outpatient appointment for my eyesight a week after my accident. The specialist told me that although I had slight occasional double vision, that was just bruising and she confirmed that my eyesight was quite ready for driving if I wanted to. She was so confident that she didn’t need to even give me a follow-up appointment.

The next day was the appointment with my facial surgeon, who said the healing process was going well although there might possibly be some minor reconstructing of the mouth and nose bones. He approved the removal of my external stitches which healed completely. At the next outpatient appointment he said that no further reconstruction was necessary!

The only difficulty that remained was being without dentures for eight weeks while my mouth healed. But I can’t remember anywhere where the Bible encourages us to praise the Lord with our teeth! It suggests mouth, voice, instruments, hands – I did all that enthusiastically on the following Sunday back at church. The week after, when I was stronger, I danced my thanksgiving for God’s wonderful and miracle-working love!

John and I were married in October 2005. We knew before we were married that we wanted children. I had known problems with my ovaries and knew conception would be difficult. We did not know however that John also had medical problems.

We prayed, and were prayed for, and looked into IVF and went through the initial screening. After going though the screening we were informed that we had less than a 1% chance of conceiving by ourselves. Even though we knew God could use IVF, we wanted a baby naturally. I was upset and my prayers became very inward looking. Talking to my mum and dad I realised I needed to change the way I prayed. Instead of asking all the time I needed to be thankful to God for all he had done in mine and John’s lives, and what he was going to do. I changed my prayers from why can’t I have a baby, to thank you God for the baby you are going to give me.

God gave me a word from Isaiah 54 “Sing of childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labour. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband says the Lord. Enlarge your house, build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.”

At Bible Week 2007 in the 1st meeting, Matthew Ling said that if anyone had any problems or issues in their lives to lay them before God and let them go. In that moment John knew that he had been healed. He came out of that meeting that night and said he knew for a fact that God had healed him. Later on in the week we were called out for prayer. Two prophetic words were given to us. Mine was to let things go and stop worrying about situations, and John’s was that we would be bursting at the seams, just as it said in Isaiah 54. 5 weeks after returning from Bible Week I found that I was pregnant.

Jonah Daniel Ledgeway was born on the 21st May 2008.

This 1% impossibility, in God’s hands had become the reality.

I’ve not written of God’s provision for several weeks; believe me he provides for me constantly, but today I was bowled over by his provision.

Several weeks ago my old warped plastic garden table was blown across the garden by the wind and a large piece was broken off.  My old table had served me well but it had been past it’s best for the last couple of years, and as I love to eat in the garden I had been looking for a replacement but with no success.  I like to have a fairly large table so that I can have people over but the cost of larger tables was out of my budget.

So this morning I wrote a Prayer List of my wants and needs to take down to the Charity Shop, where I work, so that it could be put on the notice board. Then if anything suitable came in they would hold it for me. The third item on the list was a garden table, we rarely get garden tables in the shop but I put my trust in God that he would find me one.  When I arrived I showed the list to the manageress and she said there was a table at their Church and she promptly rang the pastor to enquire about it.

Now she said it was wooden and needed sanding and varnishing but it was good quality and had 4 chairs with it, she said it would be £35 delivered to my home.  We had a dining table in the shop which she said was roughly the same size, so it was agreed I would buy it and pay for it over the next few weeks. As the van wasn’t booked for any deliveries at the charity shop a work colleague went to pick it up and deliver it to my back garden.

When I arrived home I could hardly believe my eyes, the table was closed up when I first saw it and a little larger than the table in the shop, but I soon discovered that it had an extra section that could be raised up into the centre to make the table even larger.  The four chairs all recline.

Yes it needs a little TLC, but if far exceeds my expectations and I would imagine it cost a few hundred pounds when it was new.

So I urge you all to have faith in God’s provision, see

Philippians 4:6

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Love and Blessings to all of you, may God answer your prayers as magnificently as he has mine, JF

A little over a month ago I found out that my last Aunt had died, she had married an Italian in the early 1960′s and had lived in Italy since her marriage, although I had visited her before we had never been very good at keeping in touch, but when we did, it was like we had never been apart.  I telephoned her husband, my Uncle Sergio, who I haven’t seen in 25 years and he invited me to their youngest son’s wedding in June.  But because of my financial situation I had to refuse the invitation.

Two days prior to this one of my neighbours, Kath, had died and at her  funeral I couldn’t help thinking about my aunt and how much my uncle loved her.

In my heart I really wanted to go and visit him but I knew there was no way I could afford it,  I didn’t pray about it as I just thought it was out of the question, but I did pray for my uncle and my neighbours husband.

Last week, my neighbours husband, Ken, asked me to look through Kath’s clothes and take anything that was suitable, there was a lovely wedding outfit, which fit me perfectly and he insisted I took it, at the time I was thinking of wearing it to a wedding in December and just accepted this was another of God’s Blessings.

On Saturday, my cousin Matteo, contacted me by email and again asked if my children and I could come to his wedding, he said for us to be his guest, which I took to mean that he would provide accommodation for us.  I checked out the cost of flights to Milan, but it was still out of the question.  I replied to his email on Monday evening, again explaining that my financial situation would not permit it.

On Tuesday night I checked my emails before retiring to bed, and there was another email from Matteo; as follows:

Hi Julia!

It’s incredible to get in touch with you after so many years!

In my last email when I say I would like to have you and your kids as
my guests I mean that I would be glad to offer you flight tickets and
accomodation.

Today I’ve searched for a flight from Manchester to Milan and I found
one by Ryan Air.
Would it be ok?

It would really be a pleasure to have you here but, please, don’t feel
obliged to come

Love Matteo

I went to bed, thinking about this invitation, the children’s passports had expired and there would be less that 3 weeks to get replacements and there would still be a cost involved in taking such a trip.  I gave the question as to whether we should go or not to God and I picked up my Bible and turned miraculously to Ruth Chapter 3, where Naomi instructs Ruth to wash, anoint herself, put on her best clothes and go down to the Threshing Room Floor to Boaz, her kinsman.

On Wednesday morning I contacted the Passport Office and they assured me that if I got the passport applications straight off we should get them back on time, the lady further advised me to contact the Passport Office 5 days after the applications had been sent off to check the progress of the applications. I emailed Matteo and said we could come.

I went to the Post Office and got the forms,  whilst filling them in I discovered I needed the children’s father’s passport details.  I telephoned him but he was working, but amazingly he was very helpful and agreed to go home at lunchtime and phone me through the details.  I knew I needed to get the children’s photos taken, which would have to be straight after School and the passports needed countersigning.

I rang my friend who is a policeman and He was able to countersign the applications straight away!

Of course there was alot of rushing around, collecting the children, having photos taken, countersigned and back to the Post Office to get them checked and submitted.

Of course, everything just went to plan perfectly.  I returned home by 5.30 and another friend called by with a bag of clothes she had cleared out of her wardrobe and there were several items that were just perfect for a trip to Italy.

By 9pm the flights were booked and everything for the trip was provided.

You can see from this testimony that God’s plans are perfect and he knows what is on your heart even if you don’t pray for it.