Anne Reed
AFA Journal staff writer
October 2014 – Jeff and Lynel refused to believe they needed to be rescued from the child God had given them.
Two years after marrying, college sweethearts Jeff and Lynel Willis suffered a miscarriage in 2002. Devastating news of infertility that followed forced them to face their faith in a way that went far beyond their shared life of studying and writing papers at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
They decided to reject fertility drugs and resolved instead to trust wholly in God. Two months later, Lynel conceived. What a miracle!
A sonographer rolled a probe over Lynel’s belly and cheerfully pointed out tiny hands and feet on the screen. Suddenly her descriptions stopped, and silence filled the room. Clearly, something was wrong.
Their doctor explained that a portion of their baby’s brain tissue was growing into a sac outside the head. If the baby survived in the womb, death would occur during the birthing process.
Lynel’s mind was consumed with the thought, “I don’t know if I can watch this baby die in front of me.” When the doctor recommended interrupting the pregnancy, a sense of relief rushed over her. She waited expectantly for a description of the fetal surgery that would correct the problem before birth.
Jeff and Lynel soon realized the doctor was really recommending termination of the pregnancy – not interruption. He pressed with explanations of an easier road and a chance to start over.
But Jeff and Lynel refused to believe they needed to be rescued from the child God had given them. Instead they prayed, and they used social media to recruit their church, friends, family and strangers.
They soon learned Lynel was carrying a girl, and they named her Haley Faith. They found themselves praying for simple, tender moments. Jeff envisioned her grasping his finger, and they hoped for the gaze of her eyes – if only once.
Haley survived the pregnancy. However, as expected, the grapefruit-sized sac containing one-third of her brain ruptured during birth. Nurses quickly covered Haley’s head and placed her on Lynel’s chest. With eyes wide open, she reached out and grasped Jeff’s finger. Their prayers had been answered.
After five hours of awaiting her demise, doctors decided to transport her to Children’s Mercy Hospital to remove the sac and close her head. Four days later, Jeff and Lynel were advised to take their daughter home to die.
After nine months of struggling to secure care for Haley, Jeff accepted a position near a world renowned neurosurgical center in Arizona. The neurosurgeon there was baffled to see Haley smiling, eating and acting like a normal child.
Finally, Haley was wheeled into surgery to repair her skull. The surgeon emerged after less than two hours of an eight-hour surgery, describing the surgical team’s amazement when they discovered the bone surrounding the opening to be strangely thick. He said they were able to shave pieces from the edges and “knit them together” to make a cap that fit perfectly over the opening of her skull. One hundred percent of her own bone was used.
Jeff and Lynel immediately remembered countless times they had prayed Psalm 139 over Haley: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (vs. 13).
Haley is now an 11-year-old girl full of life. “She is the most social person in the world,” said Lynel. “God uses her to break down walls in other kids…[and] to minister to adults to give them hope and peace.”
“Looking back,” said Jeff, “what a journey it has been. God has defied the odds of science and medicine. He is using a little girl named Haley Willis, who nobody gave any hope for, to reflect His glory.” 
