My husband and I were married in January of 1994. I was 21, he was 20. I had recently dealt 
with some female medical problems, specifically endometriosis. This has become a fairly common
problem with women, and it's severity can range, making it easily treatable, or it can cause pain 
and eventually fertility problems. I'd been experiencing a lot of pain, and it was decided I'd need 
to undergo the traditional laparoscopic surgery, at which point the doctor discovered the 
condition was much worse than expected, and the anticipated 30 minute procedure took nearly 
2 hours as she attempted to burn off as much scar tissue as possible. 

We tried to be hopeful at that point, but less than a year later, the symptoms began nagging again. 
We had only been married a few months when, after making a follow-up trip to the doctor, my 
husband and I were faced with some very big decisions. I presented our choices as objectively as
I could, and told him to take a few days to mull them over before responding. They were: go 
through forced menopause at 21, have a hysterectomy, or attempt to have children if we were 
ever going to want any, though our chances were slim, and more realistically, none. He apparently
didn't want a few days to think it over. His response was that, even though we were young, we 
had been in love quite some time, and it was always in our plan to have children. He didn't think 
the idea of menopause, knowing the side effects that go with it, was a good idea for our marriage,
and the idea of a hysterectomy dashed all our hopes of what we wanted our lives together to be. 
His choice was to try (and pray) for a baby. We would go from there. 

Even though it was the most idealistic choice, it added a lot of stress to us and our new relationship 
together. In the meantime, there was a revival that had been taking place at our church at the time, 
Carpenter's Home in Lakeland, Fl. with a South African preacher, Rodney Howard-Brown. The 
meetings were exciting, and the power of God moved evidently. Prayer lines were offered at these
meetings, where everyone interested could line up shoulder to shoulder and Rodney would go 
down the lines touching people; the power of God so strongly on him that people would often 'fall
out in the Spirit'. I can say to the skeptics, there is an enormous difference between someone 
pushing you to show off, and the power of God falling on you so strongly that you cannot stand in 
His presence. That happened to me. I had an exceptional experience with God that I will never forget. 

I had the image that I was lying in an operating room, I was awake, and the surgeon was God. I was
amazed that every time a question would begin to form in my mind, he would answer me before I 
could voice it. He was working on my abdominal region, and I could literally feel a tugging. The 
question formed in my mind, 'What are you doing?', and as quickly as I had thought it, He answered, 
'I'm making everything okay for Kyler Robert.' This was the boy's name my husband and I had 
already decided on. I have no idea how long I lay there. The power of His presence was 
overwhelming, yet I felt such peace. 

The amazing testimony I want to share is that in September of 1995, merely one year after the grim 
report I'd been given by the doctor, our first child Kalee Raheann was born. And to prove how 
God has so much more for us than even our faith can anticipate, he provided an unexpected blessing
to our abundant joy. Brielle Nicole was born in May of 1997. 

We still anticipate the birth of our son Kyler in the future, knowing that God's promises are always
true and never change. We are involved right now in trying to be gestational surrogates for someone
dear to our hearts, as we want them to experience the joy God has provided for us, and know that 
He works in mysterious ways, different for each circumstance. 

He is the giver of life, and in all things TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!! 

Karen Hassell