As a mother, from the first day my son, John, was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in June of 2004, I began praying for him. I developed an email prayer network of interested friends and family, and with each “John” update, I would begin with this simple prayer, “Thank you, Lord, that you and your angels are protecting John and his buds every minute of every day in every way—mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” God said in His word, “If you ask anything in my name, it will be done for you.” He also said if we believe and do not doubt, it will be done unto us—and that’s what we did! We prayed in the name of Jesus and believed and did not doubt that God would protect John.

A Feature Story

We first realized the positive effects of those prayers in 2005 after John and his unit deployed to Kunar Province, Afghanistan. In October of that year, while serving as a machine gunner, John was shot twice in the same arm, in the same week—both rounds of an enemy AK47. Miraculously, no permanent damage resulted, and within two weeks, John was able to return to his post as a machine gunner.

God has also said that “All things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” In this case, good did come from John’s two-times in one week hits. Not only did God keep him from being seriously injured, but his story was featured in the Stars & Stripes, a worldwide military newspaper, and also in our local newspaper, The Columbia Daily Tribune. The reporter for the Columbia paper allowed me to give God the glory for answering our prayers for John’s protection, and the story gave a wonderful witness to the entire community of the powrr of prayer.

A Late Night Call

Eleven months later, on September 11 , 2006, John deployed to Haditha, Iraq. At midnight on September 26, 2006 , the phone rang in our Columbia , Missouri home. Little did I know, this call would be the beginning of an emotional and spiritual journey that would change our lives forever. Usually, when my husband, Carl, and I received late night calls , they were from John. Haditha was nine hour s ahead, so his days were our nights. Consequently, we expected and looked forward to those late night calls.

Excitedly, I answered the phone, “Hello? ” There was a hesitation on the other end, which was routine for o verse as calls. I anticipate d and inquired, “John, is that you? John?”

A man’s voice came through the receiver, “ Mrs. McClellan ? ”

I hesitated, “Yes?”

“My name is Sgt. Hickem; I’m calling from Balad Hospital in Balad, Iraq.”

“Yes?” I felt the blood draining from my face, as my heart began to rise in my throat.

“I regret to inform you . . .” Oh my God, this can’t be happening! “Your son has been injured.”

So relieved was I that he didn’t tell me John had been killed , for a brief second, my heart leapt with relief. “Injured! Injured! We can do injured!” Then as the conversation continued, the Sergeant expounded on how critically injured John was.

While on patrol with his unit, John was shot through the head by an enemy sniper. The bullet penetrated just below his protective helmet, in front of his left ear and exited the back of his head in the lower, left quadrant. While his father and I slept, we were totally oblivious to the five hours of life saving surgery John had just endured. The Sergeant informed us that the doctor s had removed bone fragments and brain tissue, and that one of the doctors who assisted in the surgery would call us in an hour to give us more details on John’s condition.

Bad News!

One hour later, almost to the minute, we received a call from the doctor. “My name is Dr. Hill. I assisted the neurosurgeon during John’s surgery.”

He continued, “John has sustained a very serious in jury, and I’m sorry to relay that the prognosis is not good. If he survives the brain swelling, which is our biggest and most immediate concern, he will not be the same and... will more than likely be a vegetable . For the time being, however, he is stable.”

Dr. Hill advised us that some one would call us back in twenty-four hours to update us on John ’s condition. In the meantime, he advised that arrangements were being made to fly John to a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, as soon as his condition would allow. His intracranial pressure had to stabilize before he could make the flight and even with that, the flight would be longer than normal, since with his vulnerability of elevated, intracranial pressure , the plane would have to fly at a low altitude.

After hanging up the phone, with the word “vegetable” resounding in my head, I rushed to my computer to send an email requesting prayer to my network and anyone else I could think of. Realizing the critical nature of the situation, I knew I had to rely on my prayer partners to begin praying for John as so on as possible. We had to put our hope in God, because at that moment, truly, that was the only hope we had.

Standing on God’s Promises

Every morning from 7:0 0 t o 8:00 a.m., my church, Family Worship Center, held an early morning prayer service. This was not something I routinely attended; however, I was there at 7:01 that day! My Pastor, Tom Leuther, was standing in the back of the sanctuary next to the window where he saw and heard my truck screech to a halt in front of the church . He met me in the foyer and could see, from the look on my face, the seriousness of the problem. I relayed what had happened, after which we stood and prayed...and p rayed...and prayed.

Up to that time my mind had been gripped with fear and I was verging on hysteria. In retrospect, I realized the brief moments Pastor Tom and I prayed in the foyer, were the precise moment s in time that I crossed the threshold from fear into faith. From there we proceeded into the sanctuary where I was immediately surrounded by the morning worshippers, who enveloped me with their prayers. Putting all my hope and trust in the Lord, I proclaimed that good would come from John’s situation, that God would heal him, and this miracle of miracles would be a testimony of God’s great power to the whole community.

That afternoon some friends notified everyone on my email list, that there would be a candlelight vigil on our front lawn at 7:30 that evening. The 6:0 0 evening television news also relayed notification of the vigil. More than one-hundred-fifty people met at Oakland Park, just a half block from our home, to unite in prayer. Everyone either brought or was provided a candle. At 7:30, I walked onto my driveway awaiting their arrival. At approximately 8:00, I looked up the street toward the park, and saw a sight I will never forget. The police parked perpendicular to the street with their lights flashing, allowing a twenty foot swath for people to cross. As dusk fell, all I could see was a flow of flickering candles as they came down the sidewalk for half a block, single file.

My Pastors, Tom and Vicki Leuther, led a moving, prayerful appeal to God for the miraculous healing that could only come from Him at this time in John’s young life. A supernatural energy penetrated the air that night, and before the vigil concluded, I felt God’s assurance that He really was going to heal John. In fact, I was so assured, I proclaimed it right there on our driveway. “I know John’s going to be okay. I know God’s going to heal him!”

Before everyone left, I assured them that when we heard from the doctors at approximately 12:15 the next morning, I would immediately put the word out on the “wire,” so they could know the latest.

Good News!

As promised, almost twenty-four hours to the minute after the first contact, Dr. Hill called again. His first words were, “I don’t know if I misread this report yesterday or what, but...I’ve got some incredible news for you! John is doing great. H e has movement in all four extremities and he’s responding to sensory stimuli. His pupils are reactive and his vitals are good. His intracranial pressure is 12. Normal is 10-15, so the brain swelling is being kept to a minimum. At this point, he is still unconscious, but it appears, from what we can tell, he may have a good chance of making a full recovery! With any luck he should be off the ventilator in the next week, at which time we can back off the sedation, which will allow him to wake up. Then, we’ll be able to tell if his eyesight is affected, as the part of the brain that may have been damaged may affect his eyesight. There is the possibility that he could be blind.”

That afternoon, we were contacted by the Marine Liaison’s office at the National Naval Medical Center (NNM C) in Bethesda, Maryland. Initially, we thought we might be flying to Germany; however, John’s recuperation had miraculously progressed to the point, it appeared he would be immediately flown to Landstuhl, Germany, and then on to Bethesda, Maryland. John had endured the critical surgery in Balad on the 26th, was flown to Germany for evaluation on the 28th, and arrived on home soil on the 29th. Truly miraculous!

Miracles! Miracles!

I remained with John for twenty-six days at NNMC and twenty-eight days of rehabilitation at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida. While at the Tamp a V.A., John regained many skills, including walking and the use of his left hand. Since returning from Tampa on November 21, 2006, John has continued to be the recipient of other miracles, each of which was a major concern at some point and was prayed over by the hundreds of people plugged into John’s story via email. One by one, God answered our prayers, and we gave praise to Him.

He’s not a vegetable!!

He can see.

He can hear. (His left ear is deaf, but right ear is perfect.)

He can talk. (Sometimes brain injuries can cause a problem talking, so this was a serious concern.)

He can talk with both vocal chords. (For 1 1/2 months, John had only one functional vocal chord.)

He can swallow. (For one day, after removing the breathing tube, he couldn’t swallow.)

He has no headaches or pain of any kind. (For two months, this was a problem, but since December of 2006, he has no pain of any kind.)

He has no dizziness. (For over a month he was extremely dizzy.)

He laughs a lot. (It to ok 1 1/2 months for him to get his “joy” back. Now, it’s 100% restore.)

His left hand and left side work again. (This was a problem that was 95% restored around February of 2007.)

He can walk. (He had to totally relearn walking.)

He can run. (With imbalance created by the injury, this was difficult for about one year.)

He is not retarded.

His personality is exactly the same. (This is a major concern with Traumatic Brain Injury victims.)

His left dimple is restored. (His left dimple was initially lost with the loss of the facial nerve.)

His face is not marred except for a very small (1/2 inch) scar in front of his left ear where the bullet entered.

His left eyebrow movement is restored. (This was also initially lost with the loss of the facial nerve.)

His left eyelid closes.

He has his forehead wrinkles restored. (This was initially lost with the left facial nerve.)

His left eyebrow works. (This was initially lost with the loss of the facial nerve.)

He has his full smile. (With the loss of the left facial nerve, his smile was only half.)

He can read.

He can write.

No cranioplasty needed. (In March, 2007, we returned to NNMC for cranioplasty surgery, but the surgery was cancelled because the muscle had miraculously grown over the brain sufficiently to protect it.)

Vision in left eye is 20/20 as confirmed by the doctor in May 2007. (For the first 6 months after John’s injury, his left eye was very blurry.)

The prayer network is continuing to pray for the return of short-term memory, restoration of hearing in John’s left ear, and that he would be seizure free. (On 4/6/07, John experienced his first seizure; he is currently on anti-seizure medication and doing fine.)

Mom’s Pray

John’s story is a story of hope, not only for our injured soldiers and Marines, but for every living, breathing, human being. No matter how big or small our problems, God has invited us to bring them to Him. God does not always answer our prayers immediately, but we can be assured He’s working on them. Perhaps He has a better plan, which may not be in this lifetime, but in eternity.

I’m not the only Mom who prays for her child. Thousands of Moms all over the country pray. Some have prayed for and lost their children—not just on the Battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan but lost on the battlefields of life. Moms pray because we know the greatest blessing we can give our children is to pray without ceasing for them—because we know All things are possible with God!

Connie McClellan is an insurance agent and a freelance writer. The remainder of this incredible story is shared in the author’s recently released book, My Miracle Marine, which can be ordered through www.mymiraclemarine.com (autographed copy), or Amazon.com. My Miracle Marine also serves as a valuable, instructional, coping handbook for any parent or loved one of a deployed soldier or Marine. For a pictorial account of God’s miracle working power in the life of LCpl. John McClellan, please visit www.mymiraclemarine.com.