By Nancy Virden (c)2025

“There is something not right. I can find no reason in your eyes for you to be having trouble with your vision. I recommend an MRI. “

That was the ophthalmologist’s declaration after a thorough and lengthy exam. I was 27, pregnant with my first child, and had been experiencing double vision since age 14, especially of late. Doctor after doctor guessed at the problem and came up with nothing except theories. More than one told me it was in my imagination.

Being pregnant, I was told to wait until after birth to go for the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test. When my early-bird newborn son needed special care, my issue was postponed. He was nearly ten weeks old when my multiple tests began.

I say multiple, because it turns out one has to jump through a few hoops before brain surgery. The MRI showed a giant mass behind my left eye, and the neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic wanted to admit me on the spot. I begged to go home so I could prepare my baby and his grandmothers to watch him.

He gave me a little over 24 hours. The trapping of the aneurysm and recovery took time. I was finally allowed to go home and hold my baby again after ten days.

Jonathan has been a life changer for me in more than one way. He was God’s way of changing my heart and opening me to the world of children, which I have not left in 37 years. Mostly through churches, I have occasionally put in 40-hour weeks, 15-hour days, and long weekends into working with children. Two part-time jobs involved teaching and supervising children. Mentoring, homeschooling, and leading the crafts class in a children’s ministry are ways in which children have remained part of my focus.

Last night we talked on the phone for a long time because it was his birthday. He is wise, perceptive, honest, and gives great advice. I listen to him. Hard to believe it was so long ago, and yet it seems only yesterday that we went through our mini-crisis. Memories of leaving my baby boy still choke me up.

I want to share this today because Jon could have been aborted. The crisis was real, and the life of the mother was definitely in peril. The MRI didn’t take place until after birth because putting him in danger was a no-brainer (excuse the pun). As a Christian of faith, I knew God’s will would be done. Sure enough, in His mercy, he had Jon arrive three weeks early when giving birth was not so strenuous as to burst an aneurysm.

May is celebration month because our family has all our birthdays within a few weeks. I rejoice in Jon’s life and am grateful to know him.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Another wise Jonathan

1 Samuel 19:4-6

The next morning, Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the Lord brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!”

So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.”

If you are feeling suicidal or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S., call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room; in the EU, call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here.) Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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