My Story :)

My name is Connor Singleton and when I was 14 years old, I had open-heart surgery. I definitely just laid it out there for you but I want to share my story with ya'll and tell you how important the presence of God is in your life and that he can heal! Finding out that I needed to have open-heart surgery was a complete and udder shock to me.

I had grown up with a heart murmur but when I was 7 years old they told me that it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. So in hearing this news I couldn’t help but to feel so broken and utterly shocked at the news that just came across the table to me. It was the day that everything about me changed, my life, my worries, my focuses, and even my demeanor. One day, I walked into my local healthcare center to find some relief from the cold that I had, but it turns out I would be walking out with a lot more than a cold. My doctor listened to my heart and told me that I needed to see a cardiologist immediately. From that point on, I went and got examined by a cardiologist; they told me that I had two options, open-heart surgery or catheterization. Being a 14-year-old girl, I thought I was dreaming! How could this have happened to me? I hadn’t had any heart problems for a long time, how in the world could this have happened? I was supposed to be worried about what I was going to wear to the dance and what boy I liked at the time, not open-heart surgery! But I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t realize the amazing story that God was writing with my life.

I had what was called a ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) which is within the four chambers of your heart, the top two didn't have any tissue or anything to separate them, it was like I had three chambers, two smaller ones and one bigger one! I was in utter shock and felt like I couldn’t comprehend any of it. So in hearing this, I couldn’t help but to feel so broken and utterly upset at the news that just came across the table to me. It wasn’t until later that I understood exactly what God was doing in my life, but here is when it changed. I couldn't understand why this occurred for the longest time, but one day, a teacher of mine came to me before I was going to have the surgery and take a leave from school and he gave me this bible verse that I will never forget. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6 It's crazy awesome how God works because at that moment I had a revelation. I didn't have anything to worry about because God had me in this hands at all times, and whatever his plan for my life was, it’s going to happen his way. I put all my trust in him that whatever he needed to do was going to be done. Your will be done Lord. That was the day that I "Let Go, Let God!"

So, on February 6th, 2013, I went into having open-heart surgery with a clear mind and a heart that was saved by God! I had and still do have my complete trust in him and his plan for my life. I woke up 6 hours later with a brand new believing heart, a brand new heart in Christ and a brand new heart within myself! These trials in my life prove that God is faithful and with you at all times. If these trials wouldn’t have happened I don’t know where I would be today. Open-heart surgery has developed me as a person on so many levels; it has made me appreciate every single little thing that life has to offer and has showed me that life is too short. Life is just a mist, a vapor, we are only around for a short period of time, doesn’t that make you want to cherish every minute?

God has walked with me every step of the way since then, I don't know where I would be without him. I have given him all control to do what he wants with my life. “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Just as Isaiah 64:8 says, he has changed everything within me and molded me to be the absolute best version of myself I could possibly be through him.

He healed me, he saved me, and he knows me by name.

That is the amazing Lord I follow!