Are all tragedies bad? Can any good come from them? Sure, good can come from tragedies, but can the good outweigh the bad? I know a story of tragedy that was actually a miraculous story of victory. How can this be, you might ask? Let me tell you. Change My Mind Or Change My Body!
This is a very small portion of the story, but to write it in detail will take more than one book. I am actually writing the first book on this miraculous story now. I hope to have it finished and published sometime around the end of February 2011. This is a true story. This story is about my wife, both before I knew her, during the time we met, and now during our marriage. This is the Janiece (Turner) Hartmann Story.
From the age of 11 to the age of 30 she lived with the thoughts that she was a male in a female’s body. She cried out to the Lord over and over again to either change her mind or change her body. The battle raged and raged and over time she gave in to her mind and decided to proceed with taking the beginning steps to having her body surgically altered. The surgery would begin with the removal of her breasts. The day she had an appointment with her doctor to start the process, was the day of a horrific accident in her life.
She was her father’s helper at a local printing company in San Antonio, Texas. He was a printer. One of her jobs was cleaning the printing press. The press was cleaned while it was running. On this particular day, her father had already clocked out and was on the dock. As she was cleaning the press, the unthinkable happened. Her thumb got caught between the rollers and it started to pull her in. It was crushing the bone and blowing out the muscles as it continued to pull her in further. Desperately, she tried to reach the shut off button, which was recessed, but it was just beyond her reach. Somehow, her father heard a noise from outside and came to her rescue. By the time he was able to shut the press down, it had pulled her in to her armpit, crushing flesh and bone all the way.
These are some of the miracles that happened this day. The place her thumb was caught, was the only place on the press where the rollers could be separated easily and quickly by a crank. Her father was the only one who knew anything about the equipment to get her free and he was usually gone by this time, but he was still there to hear a sound like screeching tires coming from within the shop. Two very renown specialists, the orthopedic surgeon and a plastic surgeon who was also renown in Europe were not only in the city at the time, but were actually at the hospital on call when she arrived. They were able to save the arm, even though they insisted that it would have to be amputated. The ink was ground into the bones and if it couldn’t be scraped out, it would have to be amputated.
There would be years of recovery and many trials to come over the next seven years, including extended stays in mental institutions and finally, a sentence of death from other doctors, because at that time the mylen sheathing on her brain cells was disintegrating and she was dying. There was no hope, or was there?
Finally, she was placed in a home to live out her remaining days at the advice of the doctors, but someone else had a better plan. He had heard her cry and it wasn’t in vain.
The Lord had heard her and He reached down from heaven and completely restored her to life. Miracle after miracle continued until she was completely restored. Her mind was made whole and she was now a female in a female body. She even married and had a son. The breasts that were almost removed, now nourished her baby boy for almost three years and she enjoyed every minute of it. She was sad the day he stopped nursing.
There is a lot more to this story and a lot of it will be shared in this first book. Jaan, (Janiece) also shares her story with those who want to hear. She is available, as the Lord leads, to travel and share with groups of people. She is used by the Lord to help bring wholeness to others. We will be sharing more of her story on this blog in the days to come. If you would like to contact us, please use our form on our contact page. We hope this post has encouraged and blessed you. Never, ever give up. The Lord has a plan and purpose for your life, no matter what you are going through.
Joseph James