The Puzzle of Elijah. Olga Anischenko

for strength when a disaster comes to your family.”

      I was scared and thought that something bad would happen to Oleg. Later that evening, my Grandmother came up to me and said, “Learn to be humble and patient.” I praised God often and prayed for His protection over our family.

      …….

      One month was replaced by another and the time of my lay-off was getting closer. We made financial changes in our family. Unbelievably, our debt became smaller. We sold both cars, eliminating two big payments and bought cheaper cars. Saving every penny, we tried our hardest to pay off our credit cards. I stopped going shopping and sometimes even went to a food bank to get help with food. The year of lay-off notice gave us time to adjust to a lower income.

      Surprisingly, a year and a half later, we were debt free, except the mortgage payment, which was still very high relative to our income. We sought a loan modification, which took about three years to be finalized. Looking back, we were amazed at how God had helped us. I stayed at home with David, Kristina, and Michael, who were 11, 10 and 6 years old. We were happy together and thanked God for blessing us.

      …….

      4

      You never know what your real values are until you

      are faced with difficult real-life choices.

      We love children and were delighted to find out that I was pregnant with our fourth child. In the sixth week of the pregnancy I developed complications and went to see the doctor.

      “Olga, the ultrasound shows two fetuses,” the doctor said. “But one is smaller and not developing, and the other one is bigger and growing. This creates a risk of miscarriage. I need to prescribe strict bed rest for you.”

      “A miscarriage? Two babies? One is not developing?” A sense of dread descended over me like a shroud. Scared, I implored God to save our baby, if it was His will. A few weeks later, I felt better and one of the fetuses survived.

      At four months of pregnancy I went for a second ultrasound.

      “It is a BOY!” the nurse said.

      Then she paused, seemed worried.

      “Actually, let me go get the doctor,” she said. “There seems to be a problem here.”

      The doctor came and very carefully examined the ultrasound images. The look of his face registered concern. I knew immediately, there were serious problems.

      “Olga, when we do the ultrasound, we can see if the baby’s heart is healthy. If a baby has Downs Syndrome or Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, the heart looks different. I can see the left side of your baby’s heart is not developing. It means he has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which is not good news.”

      For a moment, I couldn’t speak. My heart started beating rapidly and my hands started shaking.

      “What? Our baby has health problems?” tears filled my eyes.

      “This is a very rare heart defect which occurs in only 1 of 2,500 births. Usually, with this syndrome, 50% of babies also have Downs Syndrome. Your baby has no chance for life once born,” the doctor explained.

      “Is there anything you can do to fix this problem?” I asked shakely.

      “Previously, these babies had been dying right after birth. But 30 years ago, the doctors began doing surgeries to correct such problems. Usually they do an open-heart surgery on the first day of the baby’s life. Then, another surgery at six months, and the third one at the age of three years. The recovery is very difficult and not many babies survive these surgeries,” the doctor answered with a sad tone.

      I was devastated and shocked by the news and could not believe this was happening. Why had God allowed me to survive the risk of miscarriage, to let this happen to my child? I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle this situation, but just because I thought this, it didn’t make the problems of my pregnancy go away. “What if I could not handle this situation emotionally or physically? What about our other children?” The questions raced through my mind. Then reality grabbed me. No matter how many questions I had, none of the answers would take away the harsh reality of this pregnancy.

      “Olga, I am referring you to a high-risk pregnancy specialist, in case you consider an abortion,” the doctor continued.

      “I can’t do an abortion. This is our baby, whom we already love so much.”

      All in tears I left the doctor’s office. Outside, shaking, crying, and having a hard time concentrating, I called Oleg at work and told him the devastating news.

      “Our baby is a boy, who is having many heart issues. He will die if we don’t do the surgeries. Why did God let it happen to us?”

      “Olga, God will help us. We should trust in His will,” Oleg said with a calm voice.

      But I thought reality is reality and miracles just don’t happen in today’s world. Men often hide their feelings and don’t talk about them as much as women do. I wondered whether this was Oleg’ true feeling or if he was telling me what I needed to hear.

      …….

      That minute I remembered the Bible story of Job that Oleg and I had recently read. Job was a blameless, upright person, who feared God and shunned evil. Satan thought that Job was righteous because God had blessed him.

      “If you take everything away from Job, I will prove to You that Job will curse you,” Satan told God.

      “I let you test Job. I am sure he will not curse Me. He is a righteous and blameless person,” God replied to Satan.

      With God’s permission Satan tested Job, by destroying his wealth, killing all his children and taking his health away from Job. But Job didn’t curse God. He remained loyal to Him. Satan was proved wrong and God blessed Job even more than before, by giving him more children and wealth. I wondered if God was testing us, as He had tested Job?

      I drove directly to Mom’s house to see and talk to her. I knew her comfort would be forth coming.

      “Our baby has very serious heart issues and may be born very ill,” I broke in tears. “He may not even survive…”

      “Daughter, please don’t cry. Give your worry to God. He is in charge of everything and He will help you. We will be praying for your baby,” hugging me, Mom tried to calm me down.

      I picked up our children and went home. Later that evening, Oleg and I talked to our children.

      “David, Kristina and Michael, we have news for you!”

      The kids came and sat next to us, ready to listen.

      “The baby in Mama’s womb is a boy. You will have a little brother!” Oleg said.

      David and Michael jumped up, being so happy about baby brother.

      “But I wanted a sister,” Kristina started crying.

      I comforted Kristina and shared the rest of the news.

      “We also have very sad news for you. Your baby brother has many issues with his heart. When he is born, he may not even live long. He might require multiple surgeries and may not come home right away.”

      The children were scared. With tears on their eyes, they looked at us, not sure what to ask, how to react or what to answer.

      “We need to pray to God and ask Him to heal our baby,” Oleg said. “God is powerful. He heals people, if it is His will.”

      Oleg embraced the children in his arms. We all prayed and cried out to God, asking for His mercy.

      …….

      One week later, while Oleg was at work, I had a second ultrasound at a high-risk Obstetrician/Gynecology clinic.

      “Olga, this ultrasound confirms that all the problems with your baby’s heart are real,” summarized the doctor.

      “Why