Here, We Speak Life ~ Robyn Schwarz Ep. 84

Christmas is a great time to discuss reviving hope in our lives. We are celebrating the hope of the world arriving as a baby. One definition of hope is to "expect with confidence." We can put all our hope in Jesus because we have confidence in who He is.

What happens when life throws us a curve ball? When in the natural, it doesn't look as if we can confidently expect what we desire more than anything. Our guest today, Robyn, deeply desired for her son- to be healed. 

As you hear her story, you will hear some very tender moments, and you will hear moments of celebration. As she takes us on her son Thomas' journey, I think you can relate to her story in many ways.

Perhaps you can relate to the tension she felt in the midst of the unknown or the number of emotions that existed in the gap between challenge and breakthrough. In some way, we have all been there.

When life throws you a curve ball, we pray that you will remember Robyn's story. That you would lean into your relationship with Jesus a little closer, worship a little louder, and allow others to carry the hope for you when it feels too heavy. May you find hope and encouragement in today's episode with Robyn.

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Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated. 

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

pray, appendix, doctors, faith, Thomas, reviving, life, god, hear, vbs, moment, foot, hope, sick, home, people, robin, story, nancy, toes

SPEAKERS

Robyn Schwarz, Denisha Workizer

Denisha Workizer  00:00

Christmas is a great time to discuss reviving hope in our lives. I mean, we are celebrating the hope of the world arriving as a baby. One definition of hope is to expect with confidence. And we can put all our hope in Jesus, because we have confidence in who he is. But what happens when life throws us a curveball, when in the natural, it doesn't look as if we can confidently expect what we desire more than anything. Our guests today Robin, deeply desired for her son to be healed. And as you hear her story, you will hear some very tender moments. And you will hear moments of celebration, as she takes us on her son Thomas's journey. I think you can relate to her story in many ways. Perhaps you can relate to the tension she felt in the midst of the unknown, or the number of emotions that existed in the gap between challenge and breakthrough. In some way. We've all been there. when life throws you a curveball, we pray that you will remember Robins story that you would lean into your relationship with Jesus a little closer, worship a little louder, and allow others to carry the hope for you when it feels too heavy. May you find hope and encouragement in today's episode with Robin Schwartz. Welcome to Living the Reclaim live podcast. I'm Tanisha. We're glad you're here for conversations that revive hope, inspire healing and encourage you to live a vibrant life with Christ. So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest. Robin, welcome to the podcast.

Robyn Schwarz  01:49

Thank you for having me.

Denisha Workizer  01:50

I am so excited because so this is fun how we ended up getting connected. Nancy, who was our executive assistant and also just a dear friend. Um, we, Robin, you and I both go to the same church as Nancy does. Yep. And Nancy came back to me it had gone to like I think like an employee volunteer Christmas party or party.

Robyn Schwarz  02:11

Thanksgiving. Friendsgiving.

Robyn Schwarz  02:15

Fun. Yeah.

Denisha Workizer  02:16

Oh, I love that. So fun. And Nancy heard your story. She heard this amazing story that God has given your family and not like 10 years ago, but like in the last six months. Yeah. So we are going to talk about that today. And we're talking about reviving hope this month. And as we do that, you guys, I just have to tell you, as Nancy shared Robin story and her family's story with me, I revived hope in my heart. So I'm excited as you share this. And there's definitely some tender moments and there's some celebratory moments. And so as we kick this off, Robin, you and your husband have been married for 13 years we have and three kiddos, what are the ages of your kiddos?

Robyn Schwarz  03:00

Our oldest is 11. He's boy, and I got a girl at six. And then our Thomas who's 220.

Denisha Workizer  03:07

I learned to have little ones. We both have a history in kids ministry, which just made me happy. So how long did How long did you work in kids ministry and you still are too.

Robyn Schwarz  03:20

I'm still involved? Just not working anymore. But I was working there for about two years.

Denisha Workizer  03:26

Wow. Nice. So I love that you said you had toys on your desk to remind you like this is what we're here for the kiddos. So yes, I loved working in kids ministry myself. So we have that in common. So proud of this incredible story that Nancy told me about. It began this June like we're in December right now, of 2022. Because some people maybe listen to this even a couple of years from now. And this happened in June. So you have three kids, normal family life, your work and doing all the things and everything kind of just came to a halt in some ways. Take us back to June. What would that look like for your family?

Robyn Schwarz  04:12

Okay. So June, we were preparing for our VBS at church and so I'm very busy with that. And Thomas had been sick for probably a week. You know, he all the things babies go through you think oh, it's teething or Oh, it's this or Oh, it's that. We had taken him to the doctor multiple times in a week's time. And they always sent us home and said it's a virus.

Denisha Workizer  04:41

Oh, aren't those viruses that's such a booger because they can't learn anything about it. What is it? Yeah, but what do we do? And I have two older kids. Yes. So Thomas being two this is not your first rodeo. It's

Robyn Schwarz  04:52

not. It's like I've been through this Okay, so we'll go home we'll take Tylenol. You know, watch her pee There's all that stuff. And so I had went with our church, we had volunteered, and we're, you know, getting everything ready for VBS because it was starting the next day and came home and realized he is not okay. I looked at him and I was like, Hey, we've got to go, right now we have to go the ER. And he's vomiting, he is not drinking, he is not eating, he won't play he, what the doctors will call output was not great. So we got to a point and we thought, No, we can't trust or we have to trust our intuition. And so we rushed to the emergency room. And where normally, because I know a lot of people have probably visited an ER before you wait in the lobby for probably an hour or two, then you go see the registration person, and they kind of evaluate how sick you are. And then you go back to the lobby, and you wait another hour, two, sometimes three, like you don't know. It could be very long time. But we went in 10 minutes, we were sitting with the registration lady. And she got his heart rate, which was 220. And she took his blood pressure. And it was like, I think the bottom number was like 40. And she looked at me, he's got a rash all over his body, he's still vomiting. And she said, I'll be right back. That's usually not a good sign. So she comes back, she says, I have a room for you. We were there. 10 minutes, we go to the ER, which is the pediatric er, it's great. When we walk in his little room, we are followed by the doctor, not the nurse, but the doctor. And that's when I'm like, Okay, we're, we're clearly I thought, well, maybe they're just really on top of whatever is going on with him, you know. But he got incrementally sick in that emergency room. Like his little belly was just growing and growing. And we're like, why is this happening? What's going on? So they did all the tests. They did the CTS they did the ultrasound they did. I don't even know all the things. They just brought machines and starting to work on him. And in passing one of the nurses said, Well, you do know what's going on? I said, No, no one's talked to us at all. Because they're so busy treating him that parents sometimes get left in the wake of this. And she said, Well, it looks like his appendix was burst. And I'm like, he's 20 months old. Like what? That doesn't happen, you know? And she said, yeah, he has three abscesses in his stomach. And we found out later that he's also septic. So his entire body is toxic. It is literally killing him from the inside out. We didn't know we had, we thought, oh, it's the flu. We thought, oh, it's strep. Oh, it's something because that's what our doctors it said, Well, it's a fire. And that's what they thought too. Yeah. In all fairness, it was, you know. So, that night got incrementally worse. And they escorted us to another room in the ER. And the social worker arrives. And she's trying to give us you know, sodas and snacks. And you're like, I don't care. I don't want that right now. Why are you here? And it's starting to kind of hit us as they wheel out the code machine. And I'm like, This is bad. This is really bad. So then you have you have the cert John's generally said, the surgeons are coming in plain clothes, they don't have their lab jackets on, they don't have like they're coming from home. You know, you're like, okay, so they come in and they tell you, we're going to do all that we can

Robyn Schwarz  09:21

we got this one. You know, one last thing we can try. And so we're like, Okay, what do we do now? You know, because you're helpless.

Denisha Workizer  09:36

Your whole world just changed in the matter of 24 hours. I mean, it was just,

Robyn Schwarz  09:41

it was just like, How is this possible? You're supposed to come into the ER, you know, get a little bit of medicine or something right, and it's going to be better that oh my gosh. So they said we had to sign some forms to let them do these procedures and stuff. So they went in and they placed a drain. And they said, we're going to we're going to do this. And our hope is that it turns him around. I don't know if he'll make it out of it. So they escort us out. And they let us give him one last kiss. You know, it's like, and the nurses and doctors won't even move they would have if I push them, you know, but all I had access to was his hand. That's it. I couldn't even get to his face. And I remember, they wheeled him out. That I said, God, just give me that hand back. I want those little hands again. It was, it was a rough night. I can't imagine. The procedure worked. They were able to put a drain in. And they came back and we're like, hey, this worked. But we can't promise you anything.

Denisha Workizer  11:12

They still didn't know at that point, even that they didn't even get

Robyn Schwarz  11:15

there. Like, they I think they were so shocked that he was still alive at that point. And so they you know, he's back at the PICU. And they're like, he made it through this. But let's not put our guard down yet. It's not time for that. And I was like, okay, okay. And so we get in the room and he's sedated. You know, he's got wires coming out everywhere. And it's, you know, he, you never expect to see your kid like that. Yeah. But he made it through the night. And then he made it through the next day. And the next day, and it's just like, every day was a little bit of a win. Yeah. And then it was like, Okay, so we've got a major flaw here. We've got to really work on this, you know, but he was he was sedated for. I think I told you about two weeks. Yeah, something like that. Timelines are messy when you're in the hospital. So there may be a need to go back and see just how long but I mean, he had they thought maybe his kidneys would fail. They weren't sure how his heart would do. You know, it, there were so many questions, but the first part was like, okay, so we have to get the fluid out. We have to get that the abscesses taken care of. So they did that. And then they had to do transfusions on his blood, because his bloods toxic and he's, you know, basically his blood cells are attacking him. And so they have to do transfusion after a transfusion, I don't even know. I think he had like three or four. Honestly, I

Denisha Workizer  13:05

don't know. 20 sets old.

Robyn Schwarz  13:07

I said, Do what you have to do. You don't have to ask me. Yeah, I don't know how to do it like, clearly, clearly, we don't know. And so you just do what you have to do to save him. And so they did. They did all these things to him. They had PICC lines, they had to go place a PICC line they had, I don't know if I'm saying it correctly. But we had arterial lines, we had IVs. For medicine we had the drain was in like the tube for breathing like all this stuff, like tons of things all over him. But I had his hand to touch and see and kind of sandbag him back. And I was telling somebody this past week. It's really it really brings you a different level of faith. When you pray over a child when you lay hands on the child and pray, especially your own, but just in general. Because that happened all day long. All night long. You know, we had lots of people come to visit pastors from our church and pray over him and pray for us. keep us sane around there and pray for the nurses. We did that a lot too.

Denisha Workizer  14:29

And at VBS that still happened, right? VBS still happens. What happened during VBS What did they do for Thomas?

Robyn Schwarz  14:39

They sent me the video and I cried and I cried and cried. But they had a great turnout. And they said you know little Thomas is sick. And we're gonna pray for Thomas that he will be healed miraculously, because at that time, he was really really sick. My old daughter was in that room, you know, cuz she's still got to attend. And they sent me a video and our pastor kids pastors on stage and he said, This is how we're going to pray. And he taught them how to pray for our baby. And every kid in that room had their hands raised. And they were praying over him. I mean, like, I think there was, like, 400 kids, I don't even remember the number, I should ask. But I'm looking at that going, Okay, God, this is bigger than us. This is bigger than just Thomas getting sick. And going through this when you feel like you're alone in that house where there's so much power going out for you that you don't even know about. And that was one instance. And I know that it happened at a movie theater or Valley campus, and it happened, you know, our South Campus and all this other stuff. And it's, it's just amazing to see that kids are learning to pray because of Thomas. If nothing else, right, right. Like that, that brought me hope in that time. Because I'm like, Okay, God, you're already doing something. Yeah, you're already working. Even through tragedies, you know, he's, he's working it out for his good. And so that was a little snippet of hope, although he

Robyn Schwarz  16:26

came through that die hard part.

Robyn Schwarz  16:31

And then trying to think what happened. So he had the PICC line, by His leg is upper leg. And because he's so little, and the lines are just what they are, they're bigger for him, in a blocked blood flow to his right extremity. So within a couple of days, his foot was black, his toes were black.

Denisha Workizer  17:00

So something they were trying to do to help him right, ended up helping or hurting something else.

Robyn Schwarz  17:06

And so they had to replace it. So they had to go take it out and replace it somewhere else. And that was hard. Because, you know, when you're a baby, you only have so many spots for those, you know, the large arteries and things. And so they had to do that. And then we had to address the foot. And there were lots of talks, our surgeon would come in and she said, you know, we're probably going to have to amputate the foot. Wow. So it's like, it was like another crash to your to your spirit. You know?

Denisha Workizer  17:37

Yours, it feels like, you know, what about, like, you got kidneys as you know, feel like

Robyn Schwarz  17:42

you get all up here and you're like, Oh, we're doing so good. And then it crushes you. Yeah. But then I loved how a nurse put it. They said, Well, the fact that she's worried about the foot cannot his life. And I said That's right. I said, God, we can do without a foot. I'll trust you with it. So we prayed diligently over that foot. Right? We asked God, please bring back the blood flow to the foot. And he did. It was beautiful moment. Our pastor's wife was there. Our campus last year was there. And we're just paid and the doctor happens to come in, right just at that moment. And they they look, they use a pulse oximeter thing. Get remember, everything's called. So forgive

Denisha Workizer  18:30

me, you learned a lot of new times.

Robyn Schwarz  18:33

But I'm like, What is this? So she comes in and she just starts looking for the blood flow, because that's what they did. Like every hour, they would come check. And miraculously, there it is. It was faint, but it was there. And I tell you, I think we all were like jumping for joy in that room. Because I'm like, God answered our prayer. And, like, sometimes you don't always get to see a physical healing like that. Yeah, it was beautiful. And of course that doctor got to see it too. So it was just so beautiful at the moment. And they kept telling us they're like, well, adults when they have a necrotic toes like this would have to lose it. Like they said I've never seen an instance where it comes back. But with kids they're like sometimes they're like I'm not gonna give you all this false hope but sometimes it will come back and to this day, he has no black toes

Denisha Workizer  19:37

kid that's amazing and we have all 10 And you have all 10 Tell

Robyn Schwarz  19:42

us a little bit of a funny walk right now cuz he's you know kind of getting used to walking on that again and we're probably gonna have some reconstructive on it but we haven't.

Denisha Workizer  19:54

That's amazing. Have I mean I can. It's insane imagining Yeah, his his foot going black. So at one point, they're talking about his life being at stake. And then we get down to Okay, his organs, everything's going well, but oops, now this happened and his foot turns black, his toes are black, and you're thinking, Okay, we might lose a foot. But we get to keep our boy, right, and you're praying for blood flow to go, they're coming in checking it with the pulse ox, which we normally put on our fingers. Right? That they're looking for any sign that that foot is alive and moving, circulating. And then so they find that it's faint, but it's there. Uh huh. And they're like, Okay, here we are. Now, he's walking, what did he did that. So his his poreless sweet foot, I can imagine it being black, did it just start to the blood flow came back and

Robyn Schwarz  20:47

started like little I mean, and I'm talking like, weeks time, but little by little pink would reappear. Wow, we're a little more pink and a little more pink. And they put like, I can't remember what they call it, but it was literally like an air mattress full of hot air. And they would put it over his foot. Because if you think about heat, makes your blood flow and it it like relaxes your arteries and your veins and all this stuff. And so they use that for a long time. You know, it's like they did everything they could, could to make that work, you know. And so then he started to kind of wake up a little bit, and they, you know, one day they're like, Well, I think we're going to try to take off the breathing tube, and I'm like, Oh, my gosh, it's happening. And so that worked. And then he started to eat a little bit, you know, every day was a little bit of something. But then they had to get him off the pain meds, which that was really, really hard to see your baby come off of, because he had really strong payments. Because I mean, a poor kid was been through everything. And so that was, you know, there was different phases of his healing journey, that each time I was like, Okay, here we go again. You have to climb this mountain, believe that God's up there, and he's going to do this, he is going to do this, because he's not going to bring you all the way here and then just let you fall. Like, that's not, that's not our job. Right. And so, I got to see God come through at everything we asked time and time, time and time again, and see people believing for us, you know, taking care of us and meeting needs. We didn't even know we had. But we spent 26 days in the hospital. Wow. Yeah. It felt like the longest month of my life. But we've had to go home. And it was a glorious, glorious day. We got to go home with

Denisha Workizer  22:53

all 10 toes. Nancy said it's the tale of 10 toes.

Robyn Schwarz  23:00

Yes. Yes. Well,

Denisha Workizer  23:03

and I mean, what a roller coaster like you said, you know, you're at the around the mountain talk with God celebrating a moment of victory. And then the next day, you didn't know what was coming your way. But all through whether it be of a mountaintop experience or a valley day. Yeah. God was with you the whole time. 100% What did your prayers look like during that time? Rabbit Hole,

Robyn Schwarz  23:27

man? Well, I remember that the prayer in the ER, my faith increased. I cannot tell you how much during this time. Because I always felt like you know how you look at somebody go, and they had such a powerful prayer. I want that prayer, right. I didn't know how they got that prayer. That night, I remember looking at data, like what do we do? And he's like, I don't know. Like, he doesn't have an answer, you know. So we just we're calling out to God, we're declaring the healing over him. And I'm like, God, don't take him now. He's only 20 months old at the time. Like, there's so much more. There's so much more. He's a gift, you know, and I'm like, please let us take take care of him. Don't take him yet. Like almost screaming at God, like you have to come through. But knowing that he is like there, there was peace surrounding us. I don't know it's because others were prayed for us. But there was a peace. I'll be it. You're scared and fearful and you know, you feel like you could just pass out at any moment. You know, which is probably why they bring you the sixth

Robyn Schwarz  24:52

their blood sugar

Robyn Schwarz  24:54

because they don't want you to be in trouble either. Laying in a hospital bed with your kid is going through this. Yeah. So I just River, probably not to God, just not caring who was around who could hear me. Right just like pleading with him. You know, just declaring it over him, telling God that I trusted. Even when my faith felt weak, I said, even with my unbelief helped me with it, right? Because I want to trust you, and I want to know that you're gonna come through, and I'm waiting to hear from you. But I remember just like, I couldn't tell you how long it was. I mean, it was a long time waiting for that surgery to be over. I can't Yeah, it probably was not that long. But it felt like eternity hop at it. So, I mean, our prayers. Our faith has changed. We don't pray to say we don't read the Bible to say we know. Everything's different.

Denisha Workizer  26:00

And at one point, the doctors were even coming in your room and saying, like you had special privileges because of how Thomas was. And what were the doctors saying in the room? And what did this mama

Robyn Schwarz  26:13

this this? Forgot? Yes. Yes, this

Denisha Workizer  26:17

is just amazing, faith filled mama, who's declaring life declaring healing, praying to God reaching out in the scared moments in the we had a victory. And then the we don't know what's going to happen today. Men's doctors are coming in. Tell us a little more about Yeah,

Robyn Schwarz  26:35

this is good. So the doctors, they kind of have to set you up for the worst case. And I know that they have to do that. I get the whole system have that. Because sometimes it doesn't. And like our story ends, yeah. They come in, they said, you know, this, this shorts. We're trying, we're doing everything we can but just know that he's, he's probably not going to make it every day I would hear we're doing this. But he's probably not going to make it. And a lot of times, they would come in leading off with that. And I'm like, I can't handle it. You walk in his room, clearly, you can see that he's not in a good state. You know, he's not awake, he's not eating. He's on a ventilator, like, Yes, he is a sick, sick child. And I just got fed up with it. Just like, I know that he's sick, I don't eat, you're coming in and reminding me day after day after day. So I finally I created a little bit of a report with the I don't know what you call her. But she was the head doctor on the floor of the pediatric ICU. And so she would make around the shoe come check periodically through the day. And so there was a moment where she came in. And it's just John and I and her and I, I looked at her and like I said, I don't know, if you have a great relationship with these surgeons that are coming in these different special, you know, specialists that come in and said, but I'm tired. We're not going to speak these words in this room anymore. I said, we will speak live. And only we're only going to speak life in here. If you want to come in and tell me the thing that you're going to do. You're going to have this procedure, whatever I said, Fine, that's great. But we're gonna have faith in here, and we're gonna have speak life. If you want to have a hard conversation. Let's go in the hallway. Let's go another room. Because it doesn't live here. Good job, Mama. I don't know. That was the Holy Spirit. I

Denisha Workizer  28:55

know. I'm like, Oh, I

Robyn Schwarz  28:57

am not that person. I'm usually like, kind of like whatever you need to do, you know?

Denisha Workizer  29:02

Yeah, this was was was Roarin mama though it was okay. We're speaking in declaring your life. Yeah.

Robyn Schwarz  29:09

And I'm like, I told her I said, we're, we're just not gonna do that here. I don't know how you usually do things. But here we're speaking life. If she just later that day after her shift was over, she came back to my room, Thomas's room. And she said, You know, I have a little girl at home. She's nine. And she goes, I work long hours. Obviously. She said sometimes what how my daughter copes with me being gone, is getting to hear stories of a little ones that I get to help and how she can pray for them. I was like, Well, yes. I said, tell her all about them. Tell her names. Tell her everything about them. I said, that brings me so much joy, knowing that, you know she had to be off the clock having this conversation with me, right? But it was like She sees our faith here. It's clear. And she's taken it home to her daughter. Her daughter is learning to pray over tablets, like

Robyn Schwarz  30:11

the RIP church.

Robyn Schwarz  30:13

She's a completely different world from us. And the like, God, yes.

Denisha Workizer  30:20

The ripple effect of your guys's faith even in the hardest moments was beautiful. It really was. So you got to bring him home. We did. And there was an interesting fact about this ruptured appendix. So this eat he's too sick, right to actually go in and remove his appendix because they're just way too

Robyn Schwarz  30:41

risky. Yeah. They said, No, we're not. Because he again, they're like, he won't make it out alive. We could do it. But I fear that the risk is too great. And the surgeon actually told me during our stay, she said, I have grappled with that decision this whole time. She said, could I have done something more? To help him quicker? You know, all these things? Cuz she goes, What if I made the wrong decision? And he doesn't make it like, you know, the weight, the weight of that I think was really crushing for her. You know, like she, she had a really hard time with that. That I said, I said, trust your gut. I said, I'm trusting my faith. And I know that you're doing what? Using your experience. So I said, I think we wait. And so we saw her multiple times. We started almost every day in the hospital. And then we finally felt like it was September 13. When we had his surgery, and she said it's time to take the appendix out. He is healthy enough, his inflammation is down. He can handle it now. I said, Okay. So we went in, did the surgery. And we're in the waiting room, you know, with all these other families. She comes in and she just sits next to us and slumps in her seat. I'll never forget that. And I'm looking at her I'm like waiting to hear, you know, like so. Okay, so you can she goes, Oh, he's fine. He's fine. Like, oh, thank you. You could have left off with that, but or lead off with that. Excuse me. So anyway, she goes, she goes, guys, I don't know. I'm like, Okay. She said the word. better forget this. She said his appendix is horrible. But he went in there thinking this appendix is just, you know, exploded. I mean, literally, that's what I imagined I imagined do I think she did? And she's like, Yeah, it was. It was normal. Like, stop. I was like, did you take it out? She goes, Well, yeah.

Denisha Workizer  32:51

And that's your thing. Like, this is an organ that ruptured. Yeah. That began to make his body septic. Yes. And so clearly, there's an issue. And she goes in gets to see the Oregon and it is whole, what? Yes. And no, she goes,

Robyn Schwarz  33:08

I looked everywhere she goes, I looked for, like, a tear and maybe the intestines or a hole somewhere or any anywhere that could have leaked. And I'm like, I was like, I said he had three abscesses that I said they happen fast. I said there's no like, slow leak happening here. Yeah. And I'm like it's hole. You know? What? So this woman who's done these types of surgeries? I think she said, like 40 years or something? Wow. She did not have an answer. She couldn't. And she goes, I guess we'll wait for the pathology report to come back. So we did the follow up with her and she goes, it shows no sign of an appendix rupturing. That's crazy. I have no earthly idea of why this happened. And what it actually was, What did you say back to her? Oh, like? I said, why? No, I know what happened. I said God healed our little boy. I said, whether it was the ruptured appendix, whether it was something else that happened very quickly that day. I said, it makes sense that it would be ruptured appendix, because that's all the signs point to it, you know, but I'm like, he healed him. And I've seen her multiple times since then. And she's the same doctor that would come in and tell me he's gonna die. But she had to tell me, right, I mean, legally had to come in and kind of helped me understand that it's bad, right. And now we have the best relationship, her and I and I've seen her many times and she's seen him for multiple follow ups after the surgery which weren't entirely needed. But she can't spell it out just because she wants to see his toes. She tells me Oh, like, I'm not sure about that. But I remember the last time I saw her, she, we were the lobby saying, bye. And she goes, I'm just so glad that Thomas made it through. And it's, it's our faith that's got us through. And she started talking about, like, have been prayed over and all this stuff. And is this the same woman? And I'm like, God, you are working miracles and her to Yeah, it's not just Thomas. Yes, it's not just our little family, like, I know that the whole floor was impacted. You know, all the nurses, the doctors that saw him, you know, because you couldn't come in his room and not feel the presence of God in there. It was beautiful. It was strong it was. That's the only thing that got us through.

Denisha Workizer  35:55

And you may never know the full ripple effect, I'm sure I will from those children in VBS, those 400 kids learning how to pray in faith for healing to the parents that they went home and talk to, to the friends that they may have in the future that are sick. And they remember that moment with Thomas to the doctors, the nurses that this particular doctor, the nine year old that's at home of the mama, who's working and praying for you guys, to your church family, that was praying in faith and standing with you guys. I mean, as you are going through what I can only imagine, while at the hospital, those 26 days. God is so much bigger than what was happening in that room. And he had, he knew what he was doing with Thomas. He knew what he was in you guys were Declan. I just love that. You're like you can talk to me in the hall about this. But your life and I was like, Oh, I love that. That's like a fierce mama faith building up and you like I because it was a contradictory atmosphere in a sense, right? You've been praying, you have your pastors over there praying? And it's like, this doesn't fit in here. No. And I just I like to bring me down. Yeah. Oh, I can I mean, I can't imagine our senior

Robyn Schwarz  37:13

pastor came over one night, it was late. And we had finally went to the cafeteria to eat something, because we're not hungry. But you know, you just you have to at some point, you need to take a break. Yeah, you know, so we come back up. And he's sitting there. And he said, I just feel like the Holy Spirit was saying you need to hear what did he say? You need to hear encouragement. You need to hear something different. Because all we're hearing is, this is bad. It's probably not going to work out in our favor. He's declining. All these things. You know, we're hearing the worst scenario. And we're like, our spirit is low. We were weak, right? And I kept telling John, I said that night I remember I said at dinner, we were at the cafeteria and I said, I just need I need somebody else's faith. To bring me up. Right? Like, yeah, I got the vision while we're at the hospital where you have your arms and you know, people are gravity by their arms have lifted you up. That's what a committee does. Yes. of believers, even if you can't make it to the hospital or make it to the whatever you are doing. Like knowing that there's someone praying for you, like truly lifting your name up to heaven. And you're, you're taking their faith, to build up your own until you can stand it, do it yourself. And we did that for a while. Like, we took the faith of others as our own for a while until we were strong enough to stand.

Denisha Workizer  38:48

I love. I love the Holy Spirit speaking Yeah. To pastor to say, Yes, I feel like you need encouragement. And that's exactly what you just said you needed in the cafe.

Robyn Schwarz  38:59

Literally 10 minutes before that. I was like, oh my god, like we're low tonight. When low. And I don't know how to ask for help. I don't know how to ask for this. But if you could just come through. Like if you could help us with this, you know, because everybody always asks you what do you need? What do you need?

Denisha Workizer  39:19

Yeah, no, no, no. Yeah. My boy going home with me is what I need.

Robyn Schwarz  39:25

Like I need him. Yeah,

Denisha Workizer  39:27

yeah. What are warriors you had around you? Yes. Yes. So Robin, what would you say, you know, we may have people listening, who maybe are on the other side of something like this, whether it's a child, a spouse, a friend, a parent, and they may be on the other side and they can praise God just with you and be like, Yes, I have seen God do those things. And I love this story because it encourages my faith. Yeah, you know what, I hear it out when I heard your story and answered you got to hear the tale of tento And I heard I thought, Man that is reviving hope. Yes. So if someone was listening, and they're not on the other side yet, and they're still in that 26 days, yeah. What would you say? If they're low in their hope? What would you what would you say to them

Robyn Schwarz  40:24

there's so many things popping up right now. Because I know those hospital rooms can be very lonely.

Robyn Schwarz  40:38

My heart hurts for those that are going through it. But you are not alone. Put on that worship music, read scriptures over that loved one.

Robyn Schwarz  40:55

I cannot say that enough. declare His promises over that loved one. Pray your heart out. Pray for the doctors and the nurses ask God to bring someone to you. Because he will. And the here most needed moment and he's there

Robyn Schwarz  41:24

just recitative, because, you know, the doctors are doing everything they can. But God is a God of miracles, He wants to heal, he wants to be there with you and sit with you. And it just prepare a spot next to you for him, you know, because he is there. And he's, I know that in that room for us, we had a piece that was just unexplainable it. Like there were moments of just, you know, sobbing and crying out. But there were so many moments of just being able to sit and breathe deeply. I know that God's gonna take care of him. And I don't have to fret. I worried a little, I was fearful a little. But I didn't have to fret because I knew that he was there. And he was healing him from the inside out. Amen. And so we we literally have to, we have to believe that he was there. So whatever increases your faith, whether it be people, whether it be prayers, whether it be worship, music, you know, all of it, do all of it.

Denisha Workizer  42:44

And I love that you didn't isolate? It would be I mean, you're isolated to do right, you're isolated in the hospital. But you could have told everybody just stay away.

Robyn Schwarz  42:53

Anybody here? Yeah, I could have done that. Yeah,

Denisha Workizer  42:57

if you are listening, and you're going through a hard time, I think that's a beautiful example of a community of believers that came alongside. And sometimes people don't know what to do when something like that is going on. And so sometimes one just showing up for them, allowing people to show up for you. It's okay that we need each other. We were wired for connection, we're wired to need one another as believers. And just like you heard with Robin, John, like, we need somebody's faith, and God sends pastor in with you know, this, I feel like you just need encouragement and your faith right now. Yeah. So allow people to be there for you. That is what the body of Christ is meant to do. We're to hold each other's arms up when we feel like we can't do it anymore. And God is bigger than what you're going through. Yes. I remember one time when we were going through something hard. The Lord said, I know the end from the beginning. Things that are out of your reach are in the palm of my hand. And I'll never forget that. And I always tell me, okay, you know, the end from the beginning. I am in this moment right now that he knew the end from the beginning with your Thomas. And the healing was out of your hand. Right. But it was in the palm of his hand the whole time.

Robyn Schwarz  44:09

Yeah. And I just kept saying, like, just take the next step. Like you don't have like a pathway of stones, and it felt like, just step on this next stone. And we'll address what we need to address there. And then we'll go to the next one. Yeah, go to the next one. We don't have to see the end. Yes. Yeah. You know, you don't have to see what the outcome is. You just have to follow that journey with him.

Denisha Workizer  44:33

There's a peace and a comfort in that because when you try to eat the whole elephant, right? How do you eat an elephant one bite at a time it's to try to look for that end is too hard, but to know in this moment, we're going to stand with the Lord. We're going to speak life here. I will never forget your testimony for the sole sake. If if I'm ever in a position where someone is speaking contrary to I know what God's heart is, like I'm I'm going to declare that I just hear me speak life. Here we speak life and it's clickable are lots of events. So many, right? Yes. Whether it be your marriage, whether it be like anything that needs that is dead that needs to come back to life a relationship with your child, right? So many different things. So rather than thank you so much for sharing, I know this is a hard story. It's still very fresh.

Robyn Schwarz  45:20

It's very fresh. Yeah, but I got through it without too many tears,

Denisha Workizer  45:25

You did amazing. Thank you for your courage, because your courage to share really does rely of hope and all of us. So thank you so much for sharing. Thank you. And I would like to add, if you're in a situation, I know Christmas can be a time of reviving hope. And it can be amazing. And it can also be very hard. And if you need some backup, if you need some prayer, if you need just to not feel isolated in wherever you are, we would love to just invite you to email us at connect at reclaim story.com. And there is not a robot behind that email. It is real people who truly do care and would love to support you in prayer. So feel free to send those prayer requests and we can reach out back to you. Thank you so much for listening today. And I hope that Robin and John and Thomas's story just revived hope for you today. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. I pray you found hope in today's conversation and maybe even feel a little less alone in your story. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed story. Want to learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of our growing community ever claimers? Check out our website at reclaimed story.com all of those links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this inspirational podcast Be sure to subscribe rate and review. Not only will you be the first one to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help and helping us reach more people to live the reclaimed life.