08. Jenny Hong

08.1

Jenny Hong

We were living in California expecting our first child – a girl, and had no reason to believe she would be anything short of beautiful and healthy. She was beautiful. She wasn’t healthy. Kailey was born with a VSD – to put it simply, she had a hole in her heart. The position of her hole was of concern, which required semi-yearly follow-ups. For the next two years, her cardiologist repeatedly reassured us that surgery was not and would not be necessary.

It was around this time that we were faced with the possibility of relocating to Texas. Sim’s company was shifting some employees around, but the problem was that we loved living in California. We had recently re-dedicated our lives to Christ and were involved in amazing, Spirit-filled fellowship with members of our church. Our relationship with God was ever growing, powerful, real, raw and strong – life seemed perfect. I didn’t want it to change. God knew better.

Sim and I were struggling with the choice of whether to stay or move. Sim was offered another position within the company that wouldn’t require us to relocate, which made our decision more difficult. We were in constant prayer and meditation, seeking God’s will for us. The confusing part was that Sim and I both felt convicted – but we weren’t in agreement with each other. I felt absolutely certain that God was telling us to stay in Cali and Sim was equally convinced that God was leading us to Texas. How were we to follow Him when the directions were fuzzy? Then we had our breakthrough. One day during my daily devotion, I prayed for God’s will to be done, for discernment, and to clearly show me where he wanted us to live –and I just “happened” to be on Ephesians 5. In Ephesians 5:22-30, God’s word says

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and

cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body.

And on a different day, I “coincidentally and randomly” came across Colossians 3:18-19

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

08.2

Jenny Hong

These verses can be interpreted (and abused) in a few different ways, but I felt Spirit-led. He was leading me to give up the control I always had to have, to put more trust and faith in Him and in Sim, and finally to accept and be at peace knowing that He is answering my prayer: He was leading me to the path to be walked on…and it led to Texas.

As we settled in Austin, Kailey’s new cardiologist surprisingly recommended open-heart surgery. It couldn’t be! We immediately sought second and third opinions but they were all in consensus. In desperation, hoping that he would refute the others, we sought out the top-dog in the area – the chief pediatric cardiology surgeon at a world-renowned children’s hospital in Houston. Not only did he not refute the others, he noted that she needed to get this surgery soon. We were surprised when he told us he would perform the surgery himself. It was around this time that Sim and I realized one of God’s reasons for relocating our family it was to meet this one man.

The surgery was successful and when it was over the chief surgeon came out to tell us some surprising news. During the pre-op ultrasound, the hole in Kailey’s heart measured about 3-4 mm in diameter. This was deceiving because surrounding tissue was covering the true size of the hole, which was a 10x18 mm oval. The doctors were amazed that Kailey didn’t suffer any other damage to her heart (and overall health) and that’s when Sim and I had absolutely no doubt that God, our Healer, our great doctor, was sustaining Kailey all this time. He performed so many little miracles leading up to Kailey’s surgery, He answered our prayers, He loves and gives, He is the true comforter, He is in complete and utter control and worthy of all of our praise! How great and mighty is our king!