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CBN.com – “It’s just really important to realize how powerful the water is, and you need to have somebody watching you from the shore because anything can happen.”
For 15-year-old Ginny Rawls, that “anything” almost cost her life. It was a cloudy, overcast day in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Summer was coming to a close, and Ginny wanted to take one last dip in the ocean before heading back to school.
Susan Rawls, Ginny’s mother, recalls, “We arrived around five in the afternoon, and everyone was ready to swim. No one noticed there were red flags up, and there was an undertow.”
“I wasn’t even past the break yet,” says Ginny. “So that’s about two feet out and about three feet deep. One wave came and just knocked me to my knees.”
“I was looking out at the water, and I could not take my eyes off my daughter,” says Susan.
“The next wave came and kind of knocked me a little dizzy,” says Ginny.
Susan adds, “When the third wave came, my daughter disappeared. I ran into the water hysterically. I got on my hands and knees. I felt around the ocean and could not find my daughter.”
“My life just kind of flashed before my eyes. I was under the water,” says Ginny.
“I instantly started praying,” says Susan. “As this was going on, I found an uncontrollable peace that the Lord had her in the palm of His hand.”
Ginny’s mom found her daughter’s ankle and pulled her to shore. There, her brother-in-law Hobie, who was an emergency room doctor, took over.
“I think that Ginny probably wasn’t breathing for a good two, probably three minutes,” says Hobie. “She was very close to not making it. I reached around her and gave her a few back thrusts. As she came around, the first thing that I recognized is that she expelled some air. Then she started taking breaths after that.”
At this point, there was a concern that Ginny could have lung problems and a neck or head injury. So as she was rushed to the hospital, more and more people were enlisted to pray – including Ginny’s great uncle Kenny and CBN.
“The Lord led me to call CBN, as I usually do and pray for her,” says Kenny. “The counselors are trained to pray, and God just touches them with the anointing of His presence.”
So, how did all the praying pay off for Ginny?
“There were no effects from this near drowning for her,” says Hobie.
Within hours, Ginny was released from the hospital. Everyone was convinced that Christ alone spared Ginny’s life.
“I can look at this incident and analyze it medically,” says Hobie. “I can explain it all away if I want to, but I don’t want to. I have a measure of faith that allows me to believe that this was all orchestrated by God.”
“I think I probably would have been seriously injured if prayer hadn’t been a factor,” says Ginny.
Susan says, “We serve an awesome God. He’s sovereign. He’s the beginning; He’s the end. There’s nothing that He can’t do for us.”
Uncle Kenny agrees. “When we pray, God moves. Always moves. Prayer is the key to the kingdom."
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