Abundant Healing
This article originally appeared on the CBN website on Sept. 18, 2024 here along with a must-watch video with interviews and photos. The Venerable Canon Rev. Justin Murff is the Priest-in-Church at Incarnation Anglican, Williamsburg, VA.
Jenn shares, “You're worried about the people that you love, how it's going to affect them, their heart.”
The news came as a shock for Jenn Murff and her husband Justin. In June of 2022, they learned she had a tangled mass of blood vessels in her brain known as an arteriovenous malformation or “AVM.” On a scale of 1-6, it measured a five. It was so large and complex, they couldn’t find a neurosurgeon qualified or willing to perform the delicate, high-risk procedure. Without it, the mass could rupture causing permanent brain damage.
Justin says, “We began to pray, ‘Lord, first of all, if it's your will, bring healing.’ Then the next prayer was, ‘Lord, if it is your will that you're going to operate and that you're going to heal her medically, please make it be the right surgeon.’”
After three weeks of phone calls and many prayers, they found one of a few neurosurgeons in the world who would take her case: Dr. Nirav Patel, director of the AVM program at Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and one of the top neurosurgeons in the world. He explained that following a successful surgery the 37-year old mother of four could go on to live a perfectly normal life, or she could have complications such as seizures, physical disabilities or brain damage.
Jenn recalls, “I was trusting the Lord, but I didn't know the outcome. Like, was I gonna walk again? Was I gonna be able to function normally? Was I gonna be bedridden for the rest of my life?”
Justin shares, “She's a mom of four. She homeschools our children, she runs a ministry in the Middle East. She's active doing so many things and really had no clue what effect this was going to have on our family and on our life, but we knew things were going to dramatically change.”
In early July, a month before surgery, Jenn received a text from a friend who told her to watch the 700 Club. Terry Meeuwsen had given a word of knowledge she and her family needed to hear.
Terry Meeuwsen says, “The word that comes is entwined, and I believe this is somebody, you have a, some kind of a mass in your head, and it's operable, but the problem is, it's entwined with other things that make it very, very difficult. God is creating pathways to healing for you right now. Just right now receive it, God is healing you in powerful ways.”
Jenn remembers, “It was pretty unbelievable to see that we did hear from the Lord, and he already went before us, and I didn't have to be afraid.”
On august 8th, Dr. Patel and his team performed what would be the first of three surgeries. In all, Jenn would endure 40 hours of surgery over a 9-day period before the mass was successfully removed. But until Jenn was brought out of her medically induced coma, there was no way to determine what complications, if any, she might have. For two weeks, Justin, their children and hundreds of others agreed in prayer.
Justin says, “I tried to be as confident with my children as possible, that mom is in the lord's hands. And that healing takes time. And that sometimes the Lord answers our prayers immediately. And sometimes he answers our prayers over a series of, of days, weeks, months and years.”
On August 21st, Jenn was brought out of her coma and taken off the ventilator. For her, it could have been a very frightening experience.
Jenn recalls, “I woke up to that not being able to feel my body and move my arms. I couldn't itch my nose. I couldn't function the way I did before. I wasn't afraid at all. I just wanted to know how to fix it.”
Now in rehab, Jenn would need several more surgeries to address infections. Meanwhile, she was re-learning motor skills from holding a fork to walking. As the holder of a doctoral degree and an adjunct professor at Regent University, Jenn says at times she questioned God.
Jenn shares, “Why would you take away the very thing that you gave me to use for your glory? You're taking my brain. I thought I was just having brain surgery. I didn't think you were gonna take my intellectual capacity.”
Even then, the couple always came back to God’s promise.
Justin says, “Being a husband, a dad, just being real and just saying, I don't understand either, but I know that you're in the Lord's hands.”
Jenn shares, “I remember saying, well Lord, if this will bring you glory, I will do whatever you want.”
After 6 weeks of rehab Jenn was walking on her own, and able to go home to Virginia where she continued rehab. Then in March 2023, nine months after the mass was removed, Jenn returned to Boston for one last surgery to replace a portion of her skull that was infected. Afterward, she took a victory lap with the team who helped her in her journey to healing and recovery.
Jenn remembers, “We cried thinking, God, you are never early, you're never late, you're always on time. And so, my skull cap, you've taking care of it. So, I've never worried that I'm gonna have to have it replaced again. The prayers of the righteous are effective and they avail.”
Jenns’ case was so complex, Dr. Patel is presenting his findings in a case study to help other surgeons treat grade 5 AVM. As for Jenn, she continued physical therapy, and eventually was strong enough to go hiking in the Swiss alps with her family. She also returned to work full time. Although she has numbness on the right side of her body, Jenn has full use of her right arm and leg. Whatever the outcome, Jenn and Justin are thankful for prayer and God’s healing touch.
Justin says, “It's really unbelievable. In fact, the doctors say, we don't know how to explain it other than the word miraculous. Really He does not leave us or forsake us. The single most profound element that made the difference in our journey is having that confidence through prayer.”
Jenn shares, “I don't think that I would've been able to survive this without prayer. God is so faithful to hear our prayers, to listen, to lean in, to respond. The Lord wants to meet us right where we are, even in our hard times.”