Dany's Christmas Wish

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dany’s CHRISTMAS wish by anna valdez as told to Beth Guckenberger

A true tale about a young girl’s unexpected miracle.

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Dany is an adolescent girl living in a children’s home in Monterrey, Mexico.

She has lived in this home for 10 years, rarely seeing her biological mother during that time.

Last holiday season, Dany faced the greatest challenge of her life.

Her story begins on a weekday morning before school... Â

6 Dany’s Christmas Wish Anita was tired of waking up at 5:30am every day, but the girls in her dorm room depended on her. “Buenos dias. Time to get up,” Anita announced.

She already knew who would struggle to wake up and called out their names a few times in particular. Some girls sat up in their beds, others went directly to the bathroom; Dany stayed asleep a little longer. Anita tried stroking her hair, but Dany pulled the covers over her head.

“Ok,” Anita announced. “When I return with breakfast, everyone who is in their bed needs to be dressed.”

6 Anita came back just in time to see Dany laughing, sprawled on the floor.

“That’s what happens when you get out of bed so quickly,” she quipped. Dany slowly brought herself to her feet. “I just fell. It must be slippery.” An hour later, as she heads out for school, Dany loses her balance again, falling on the pavement outside.

“Anita!” She immediately cried out, “I can’t walk!

My legs, they feel numb. I can’t control them.”

There was no laughing this time. Dany was

Dany was always in control

always in control of how she looked. She couldn’t control the reality that she was in a children’s home, how often her mom visited or even who took care of her, but she could control what she wore, where she

went, and, certainly, how she moved.

6 From that point on, things progressed quickly, and soon, Anita was watching as Dany was rolled away in a hospital bed, staring into her eyes, searching for comfort. Anita tried to keep calm, but the day felt surreal and comforting words were difficult to find.

Dany spent the following nights yelling in pain. Anita would stay at the hospital, moving her from side to side, trying to make her comfortable.

The first night she would lay in the same position for 15 minutes. Then, the pain would resume.

The paralysis soon spread over her whole body.

Eventually, Dany was only able to move the right side of her face.

Her smile was crooked, one eye was shut, and the pain was only escalating.

6 Doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare disorder in which the immune system attacks the body’s nerves.

“Help me…please Anita help me,” Dany moaned.

Thankfully, early mornings gave Dany some rest. And while Anita returned to the children’s home to sleep, Anita had reached out to Dany’s birth mother to help care for her.

“I don’t want you to leave,” Dany confided to Anita. “I don’t like it when you’re gone. Please hurry back. I don’t want to be with her alone.”

Dany rejected her mother, Flor, from the beginning. She had lived in the children’s home for 10 years and rarely received a visit. For that

6 reason, she believed her mom didn’t belong there, and she did not belong to her anymore. It was now torturous for Dany to depend on her to even move. Flor wanted to help, but was always anxious for Anita to return.

One night, as Anita walked back into the hospital, she felt something stir in her heart - it was almost hopeful. She prayed, God, do the impossible. You are the one who makes all things possible. Heal her.

Anita settled in for the night beside Dany. “Do you want me to sing you to sleep like I always do at home?” she asked, as she gently moved Dany’s legs.

Dany nodded, closing her eyes.

God, you are the one who makes all things possible.

6 Anita sang softly, and when Dany was almost asleep, she asked in a small voice, “How many days have I been in here? How many more days until Christmas?”

Anita stopped singing. “It’s soon, but remember, Christmas will happen wherever we are.”

“Do you think I will still be here? Will you be with me? Will my mom be here?”

“I don’t know Dany,” Anita responded. “But I do have a question for you. What do you want this year?” what do you want this year?

“That’s easy. To be all better. And I want to be out of here by Christmas. I think I want to be with my mom and my sisters.” Dany’s lip quivers. “I even want to go to church in

the children’s home, and you know I never want to

6 go. When I get better, I’m always going to church, and I’ll be in the front dancing.”

“Why don’t we pray for that? Let’s pray God will release you for Christmas so you can celebrate with your family.”

Anita paused, realizing what she had

her faith spoke before her mind could conceive the impossibility.

just said. Her faith spoke before her mind could conceive the impossibility.

Oh Jesus, that’s possible, isn’t it? I know you can do all things. Can you give her this wish for Christmas?

Anita prayed.

As the days passed, Anita began to notice Flor had started to comb Dany’s hair and hug her daughter goodbye, instead of just whispering a shameful “adios” as she left. Two days before

6 Dany’s release, Flor kissed her baby girl, who could still not move a muscle on her own.

Anita’s heart warmed as she noted the They realized they were witnessing a different kind of miracle.

change, and realized she was witnessing a different kind of miracle. God answered a prayer no one had prayed.

He had done it again. Jesus showed up where no one thought He would

be. Once it was in a manger; today it’s in a Mexican hospital in the heart of a once abandoned child.

Isn’t that a part of Christmas? God made us family on that Bethlehem day. The grafted-in branches make up a family tree, and He has been about the forming of family long before He moved in the hearts of Flor and Dany.

6 On December 20, 2013, Dany was released from the hospital. Although the cold air stiffened her muscles as she was rolled through the glass doors, she broke into a grin and Anita’s last view of the hospital was a mother pushing her daughter’s wheelchair.

That Christmas, Dany spent the day with her mother. Dany continued to undergo intense physical therapy for the following five months, and on a July morning, she walked into she danced her way to the front row.

church and danced her way to the front row.

Merry Christmas In this holiday season, we here at Back2Back Ministries find ourselves grateful for you, our extended family. Thank you for listening to the stories of some of the 163 million orphaned children and praying for their needs. Thank you for engaging deeply in their lives and covering medical bills and school tuitions. Thank you entering storylines as staff supporters and capital campaign contributors.

Thank you for praying, advocating and coming to the front lines. Whatever you have to offer, keep offering it! If you have been praying, keep lifting up the children and their individual needs. If you have been giving your time, keep coming and keep volunteering - your time counts! If you have been

advocating, keep sharing these stories. This is how we engage the community. If you have been giving, continue sharing your resources, and we commit to stewarding them as best we know how. Share with us your commitment, tell us your stories. It is encouraging in this year-end season to trust God together for His direction into 2015.

In this year end season, we invite you to join us as we trust God together for his direction in 2015.

6 God absolutely writes the best stories and we are looking forward to reading them together with you.

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merry christmas

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christmas is...

A Nigerian boy, who for the first time, will read the Christmas story in a home aptly named Destiny.

An Indian child, feeling like never before because she has a home she considers her own and a caregiver who knows her name.

A Mexican boy, finding a present under the tree for the first time in his brand new foster placement.

A Haitian child, playing on a new swing set a church gifted recently in love.

A Mexican girl, receiving specialized medical care, feeling hopeful for her own next developmental steps.

A Hope Education student, finishing her exams and celebrating her holiday in community.

An American teenager, learning what it means to live missionally, serving others this season.

Christmas is God’s best story, told this year around the world through the thousands of prayers, gifts, hugs and words you shared.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

P.O. Box 70, Mason, OH 45040 | 513-754-0300 www.back2back.org

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