By Pat Centner, AFAJ staff writer
January 2003 – Even after six years, Ginger Millermon's voice still choked with emotion as she told radio listeners nationwide of her infant son Jarrott's struggle for life, and of the way God had used that struggle to teach Ginger and her husband, Joel, profound lessons in surrender and faith.
The Millermons had traveled from their home in Hutchinson, Kansas, to American Family Radio's (AFR) headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi, to tell Jarrott's story on Today's Issues and to promote Ginger's new CD, First Breath, which features many of the soul-baring songs she has written as a result of her experiences. The couple had also come to the Tupelo area to present a musical concert for Sav-A-Life, an organization devoted to the sanctity of life.
This particular day was devoted to AFR and the AFA Journal, so Ginger, a petite young woman with brilliant blue eyes, prayed with Joel, and then donned a pair of studio earphones and began to tell her story.
It all began with Ginger's second pregnancy. She noted that she and Joel had been thrilled at the prospect of giving their 18-month-old daughter, McKenzie, a new little brother or sister. However, in Ginger's 29th week of pregnancy, she began having contractions and was rushed to the hospital in Delta, Colorado, near their hometown of Paonia. Doctors determined the baby was in breach position, but were completely shocked when a sonogram revealed that Ginger was carrying not one, but two tiny boys in her womb.
"Those little boys wanted to come," Ginger said, but it was dangerously early. She was immediately transferred to the hospital in Grand Junction, where desperate measures by physicians held the babies' birth off for four days. It was still ten weeks before the actual due date. Had their birth not been delayed, Ginger said it is probable that neither of them would have lived. Instead, Jarrott and Brennan were delivered by emergency C-section on August 6, 1996, weighing in at 2 lbs. 14 oz. each. The twins' birth marked the beginning of a time of testing and suffering that would change the Millermons' lives forever.
A fragmented life
"When they're born, premature babies' lungs are usually very hard," said Joel, "and both our boys were having severe breathing problems shortly after birth. They were given surfactant, a drug that lubricates the lungs, and Brennan responded within 24 hours. Jarrott didn't. As a result, when he was four days old, Jarrott was flown to Children's Hospital in Denver.
"I literally thought I would never see him again," Ginger explained. "I couldn't go to Denver because I'd had the C-section and was still very sore. So before they left, I went and stood over Jarrott's bed. I literally couldn't touch him because it would over-stimulate him and send him into respiratory distress. So I stood there and cried, and said 'Bye, I love you.'"
After that, life was challenging, Joel said. Ginger returned to Paonia, but frequently had to take Brennan to Grand Junction with reflux and other problems. "With Jarrott in Denver and Brennan in Grand Junction, sometimes we wouldn't see McKenzie for three weeks at a time," mused Ginger. "She would go to my Mom's in Kansas. She was a real trooper."
Jarrott's fight
From the beginning, doctors diagnosed Jarrott with a preemie lung disease, bronchial pulmonary dysplasia. "But it took quite a while for them to discover that he also had tracheal bronchial malacia a disease in which the airways in the trachea and bronchi collapse," commented Joel. A normal person's trachea has ring-shaped cartilage that holds the airways open, but Jarrott's did not. He continued to struggle.
"When he was about four months old, the doctors began to hint that Jarrott probably would not survive," said Ginger. "But they just pulled out all the stops; it was kind of their last ditch effort to save his life.
"Shortly after, they called us into a care conference that I will never forget. We went into this room, and all the doctors and specialists were there. Everyone had tears in their eyes. The head doctor over the preemies shook her head and said through tears, 'We have fought so hard for him, and there's just nothing left to do.'"
Joel asked about a heart/lung transplant or other options, and was told, "It will take a miracle for Jarrott to survive." The pulmonologist said, "There is no way this child can live with these lungs. And if he should happen to live by some miracle, he will have no quality of life. He will never walk or talk; he will never run and play. He will have cerebral palsy and be on a ventilator the rest of his life."
Joel and Ginger were given the option of taking Jarrott off the ventilator and letting him go right then. The doctor said, "He's going to die anyway, and it will be over for you guys. You've been under so much stress; and it'll be over for him too."
The other doctors also encouraged them to do this, but Joel and Ginger could not find peace. Since Jarrott still had active brain waves, the couple told the doctors they were going to continue to pray for a miracle.
"And we knew God could do that," Ginger explained. "We also knew that God is sovereign, and after five months, we had finally come to a peace about letting Him take Jarrott if that was what He chose to do. The verse God used in my life at that time was one I'd known since high school Psalm 46:10: 'Be still and know that I am God.' And that's where Joel and I were. We needed to be still and allow God to do what was best for all our lives."
From that experience, God led Ginger to write Be Still, one of the songs on her CD. Here are partial lyrics:
There are times in my life when I ask You "Why?"
When my sorrow runs deep and I start to weep,
When I'm lost and confused and I can't find You,
And I wonder if You're there.
But if I'll be still, and know You are my God,
Your love will never fail, and Your faithfulness is true,
And if I'll only be still, and seek You once again,
Your strength will be my own when I am at my end,
If I will be still, just be still.
"After that conference, we literally were waiting for Jarrott's last breath," continued Ginger. "Then God reminded us of James 5 where it says, 'If any among you is sick, have the elders come and pray over him.' My dad, Joel's dad and Joel were elders, so they prayed over Jarrott, and we waited.
The answer
"It's a complicated story, but after spending more than a year in the hospital, God did miraculously heal Jarrott," said Ginger. "Today he's six years old and runs and plays like all the other kids. He has no lung disease or cerebral palsy, and he can say his ABC's forward and backwards. He's an amazing little guy."
Last year when Jarrott went for therapy at Johns Hopkins Hospital, one doctor looked at his chart and said, "This was God. There's no other explanation. Jarrott should not have lived; it's nothing that men did."
A commitment to life
The Millermons are completely committed to the pro-life cause as a result of their own struggles surrounding Jarrott's life. Ginger explained: "I think the whole issue of the doctors confronting us and telling us Jarrott would have no quality of life and that we should let him go, and then watching God heal him, is the same issue we're confronting in the pro-life arena, and that is, every life is to be cherished, from the moment of conception on. Life is a precious, miraculous gift from God."
Today, a vital part of Ginger's music ministry is serving pro-life organizations across the country. She wrote First Breath for the Open Door Pregnancy Care Center in Hutchinson, Kansas. The song's lyrics reflect the cry of the unborn child:
Mommy, give me a chance to say I love you,
To hear you singing a lullaby,
Holding me close when I need to cry.
Mommy, give me a chance to hear your laughter,
Watching me as I giggle and coo,
Taking my first steps to Daddy or you,
There are so many things that I want to do.
Give me my first breath.
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made, fashioned by God's hand.
My days were written in His book long before time began
Give me my first breath. 
The Millermons present their concert ministry for churches, banquets and other venues. For information, or to obtain a copy of First Breath, call them at 620-665-3015; write them at Anothen Music, P.O. Box 624, Hutchinson, KS 67504; go online at www.gingermillermon.com; or email info@gingermillermon.com.
