Dell's: Testimony of God's grace in trials

Left to right: Rick (dad), Shelby (sister), Brad, Lisa (mom)

Last September, the Dell's moved to San Francisco with heavy hearts. Rick and Lisa's son Brad was in a life or death situation because of complications associated with his Cystic Fibrosis. Brad's lung condition and function were quickly deteriorating. 

The Greatest hope for Brad's survival was to move to San Francisco and be near the University of California at San Francisco. This is where Brad became a candidate for a lung transplant and where he would receive treatment for his Cystic Fibrosis. 

Rick, Lisa and Brad moved to San Francisco in late September. Rick and Lisa left their jobs in Hawaii, gave up their lifetime dream of living in paradise, and said good-bye to many friends who have become Ohana to them. Brad's older sister, Shelby, moved to Colorado last summer to work toward her master's degree. 

For the Dell's this was all a very huge transition with many unknowns. No jobs, no set place to live, and having to start life all over again in a new place. 

But the Dell's have trusted God through this trial. 

On January 15, 2017, Brad had a lung transplant and is doing extremely well. Today I asked Brad, Lisa and Rick how they have seen God work through this trial. The following are their testimonies: 

Brad's testimony

Probably the biggest thing about the situation that strengthened my faith, was seeing a deliberate plan being played out that couldn't have been strategized by anyone but God.

Despite this situation being what should have been the scariest time of my life, my parents, Kristina (Brad's girlfriend), and I all felt very confident and secure going forward. "Coincidence" after "coincidence" occurred in my favor, making the process way easier.

I think my journey has been one of miracles. Lots of doors being shut only to reveal much better doors being opened (that I wouldn't have gotten if the other doors hadn't shut too). A past post talks about these doors, and a little more about how it increased my faith: Click here to read Brad's blog post

Since then, more has happened, like my getting the transplant after five weeks when I was told it would be between five and seven months. Or the doctors saying I had one of the fastest recoveries they had ever seen.

(This has deepened by relationship with God) because I now believe that there is someone, God, out there putting personal investment in my life and guiding my steps while calming my heart. Because of that, I now see Him as Father, rather than just a "superior being." He has shown true, unconditional love for me, and has grown me. I find myself constantly praying with God. He is not distant. Despite being deaf, I hear him more than I ever have before.

It's been awesome to have so many people be touched by my story and reach out to say that they've begun going to church, or have restarted that, just because they see a real relationship between God and I. That makes all of this sacrifice and all these trials 100 percent worth it. If my pain can be a testimony, then bring it on.

Lisa's testimony

I have learned that no matter the situation, no matter how scary, no matter how sad, God is with me. The phrase that has stuck with me during all of this is God "holding me up with His mighty (or righteous) right hand.”

This struck me in a Bible verse I read one day and I noticed it in verse after verse over a month's time when Brad was first sick in the ICU. So I did a search for all of the verses that had that term. There are many!

Isaiah 41:10 is my favorite: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

I have learned that I don't have to be strong enough to get through something hard, that God will carry me through, will hold me up through anything.

Rick's testimony

I agree with everything Lisa said. And Isaiah 41:10 was a go to verse for all of us. My faith in God was cemented throughout this past year in each phase we passed through. We were encouraged the day Brad was admitted to get his Cochlear implants and praised God for that.

When it was determined Brad was too sick to receive the implant, we were disappointed for Brad but thanked God the doctors didn’t want to chance it and wanted to use the hospitalization for an opportunity to strengthen Brad.

In hind sight, we are able to see how God prepared us for what was to come when Brad's primary doctor told us we needed to consider moving Brad off the island because his health was getting to a point that they didn't feel they could properly care for Brad, that if he were to ever be placed on a ventilator, he would likely never come off it alive.

A day or two later, Brad developed a line infection and we were looking at just that situation. If God hadn't given the words to us about the ventilator, we may have not pushed as hard as we did to keep Brad off the ventilator and ask the ICU doctors to give him a chance by finding an alternative, the one that actually worked and bought Brad the time needed to get evaluated for his transplant.

God was with us as we made the preparations. We were able to sell our house quickly and for enough money to sustain us through our time as transients without needing to be concerned about jobs which allowed us to focus on Brad prior to the transplant and through his recovery.

God had jobs ready for both of us literally the week after Brad's recovery in San Francisco ended. God's hand over our lives throughout this whole experience was so obvious, there's no doubting Him and his awesome power and concern for us. We are thankful for how God saw us through this because we know His will could have been for something different.

Just as my faith in God increased, so did my faith and love for my family. We all went through ups and downs but thankfully, we were able to alternate lifting each other up. It's as if when I was at my lowest points, Lisa had the strength to encourage me and vice versa. God will carry us through anything and he equips us to handle it with the help of the people He has placed in our lives, our family and our church family.