DIVINE INTERVENTIONS: Heather's Healing Song

Mike and Heather Rogers faced a severe health crisis. Despite numerous hospital visits and a barrage of medications, her condition worsened. Heather recounts her struggle with debilitating nerve pain, seizures, and paralysis that left her unable to speak or move.

During this dark period, Mike felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to use music and worship as a means of healing. Miraculously, as she sang the song, "Way Maker," Heather regained her voice and mobility, and experienced complete healing. 

Mike & Heather emphasize the power of faith, worship, and divine intervention, sharing their story to inspire and encourage others facing their own challenges.

Transcript

TOPIC: Divine Interventions – “Heather’s Healing Song”
GUESTS: Mike & Heather Rogers
Season 4, Episode 3

Heather Rogers (00:00):

I can't even like speak. How am I going to sing? Like there was nothing that was coming out of my mouth. And he just kept saying, just sing Heather. Just sing. So, I trusted him. I followed his lead, and as soon as I started singing, “Way maker, miracle Worker, he's a promise keeper, and a light in the darkness.” I was in a very, very dark place. And it just, as soon as I started singing, I just, it, it just came out like I had never lost my voice. And I stood up out of my wheelchair. I was able to move on my own. It was just like total complete healing came over my body.

Ric Shields (00:50):

Thank you for joining us on this podcast. I'm Ric Shields, your host and the director of the DoorWays® Ministry Network. Today I'm speaking with Mike and Heather Rogers. I've only recently met them, heard their story, but from the moment I heard it, I knew it should be shared on this podcast. So, Mike and Heather, thanks for joining me today. You're welcome.

Heather Rogers (01:08):

Good to be here.

Ric Shields (01:09):

Heather, if you would take us back to 2019, early 2020. At the time you were having quite a lot of medical issues. What was going on? So,

Heather Rogers (01:21):

At the end of 2019, I started having some nerve pain in my body. I had been having that for well before the end of 2019 with the nerve pain. But I had the nerve pain kept getting worse, and I was actually unable to even, like, hold a pot of coffee, pour a pot of coffee, because my, the left side of my body, it would just hurt or I would go weak. So, it started getting worse. I was having some blood pressure issues. And then in early 2020, my blood pressure issues would go, like I would have high blood pressure and then it would bottom out. Um, Mike had taken me to the ER several times. I was in and out of the ER with that. They didn't really know what was going on. I ended up getting shingles my head, and I

Mike Rogers (02:13):

Was having, I, I'd come in there in the, in the restroom and she would be on the floor just trenched and sweat, I mean, just trenched and sweat. I didn't know what was going on with him.

Heather Rogers (02:22):

I would go to the doctors and they couldn't really give me any reason on they, they didn't know what was going on. I was having severe migraines that would just, I mean, I couldn't function at all. It was getting the nerve pain was getting worse. So, my doctors ended up actually doubling my medication. They were putting me on all kinds of medications for my migraines. Um, I was sick all the time. Stuff for my stomach and just, just everything. I, there was a lot of medication

(02:56):

in February. One night, I just started feeling really, really, really bad. And I told Mike, I said, I think I just need to go lay down. There's something that’s not right. I was feeling different than I had felt before. When I went and laid down, I had my very first seizure. Mike had come in and laid down next to me. So, he was laying with me when, when I had the first seizure. That's kind of where we,

Ric Shields (03:23):

And you say, “My first seizure,” which leads me to believe there were other seizures to come.

Heather Rogers (03:29):

Yes. I had a lot of seizures. The next few days I had quite a few seizures and I had never had seizures before. Yeah. It was pretty scary. Um,

Ric Shields (03:41):

So, you had small children at the time, right?

Heather Rogers (03:43):

Yes, yes. We had three small children. Ages, gosh,

Mike Rogers (03:47):

Eleven.

Heather Rogers (03:49):

Well, we have an 11-year-old.

Mike Rogers (03:50):

Oh, she's eleven years-old now.

Heather Rogers (03:50):

A 17 year-old. So that was

Mike Rogers (03:53):

Three, four years ago.

Heather Rogers (03:54):

Five years ago now.

Ric Shields (03:56):

Wow.

Heather Rogers (03:56):

Gosh. Yeah, they were small. Yeah. Time flies. Uh, they were,

Ric Shields (03:59):

And you can't, I mean, you can't hold a pot of coffee.

Heather Rogers (04:02):

No.

Ric Shields (04:02):

If you can't hold a pot of coffee, it's pretty difficult to make a meal, to clean house, to homeschool your kids homeschool. Whatever you're doing. I mean, it's, they're,

Mike Rogers (04:11):

Yeah. She literally couldn't walk. I had to, I had to carry her everywhere.

Heather Rogers (04:16):

Yeah.

Mike Rogers (04:16):

So, she ended up paralyzed pretty much. It was insane.

Heather Rogers (04:20):

Yeah. Before the seizures started though I was pretty much, we were homeschooling the kids and we had decided, because I was, I was in so much pain and I couldn't really function that well. We decided to put the kids back in school because it was, it was so bad.

(04:40):

So anyways, when the seizures started, Mike, I don't know how many seizures I had had up and   to the point I stopped breathing. So, he called the ambulance. He had to give me CPR. My sister-in-law lives across the street.

Mike Rogers (04:55):

I called her and she came over.

Heather Rogers (04:56):

She took over,

Mike Rogers (04:58):

She took over the CPR for me so I could take care of, I don't, I don't know what I was doing. Uh, trying to get the people in the house for the, with the ambulance and the gurney and all that stuff. Yeah. It all just happened so fast.

Heather Rogers (05:10):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (05:10):

Mike and Heather, you're business owners. Mike, you told me you started a cybersecurity company. You do some large dirt work projects. You also have a Christmas lighting company. It was a busy year for you this last year, I hope

Mike Rogers (05:23):

<laugh>. Yeah. It's nice.

Ric Shields (05:24):

But I'm thinking back to five years ago. Your wife is sick, three kids, I don't know if you had three businesses at the time. Even just having one is enough and a wife that's not doing well. You're spinning a lot of plates. This is not a circus performance. How are you balancing all of this at the same time?

Mike Rogers (05:40):

Yeah, that's a, that's a really great question. I really feel like it wasn't my capabilities. It was God really helping me, but it, it was overwhelming. I was distraught. I felt like I was losing my entire support system because Heather really is the lifeblood that keeps me pumping. I mean, it's just, if I don't have her backing me, it's hard to do all the stuff that I do because I do bite off a lot of stuff to chew.

(06:08):

And I'm very ambitious. And I like to help a lot of people. I serve our community every chance I get. But when it came down to it, I just had to be here for her, which I just had to put a lot of stuff on hold. The nice thing about the IT business is, it is kind of virtual. So, I can do it from anywhere no matter where I'm at.

(06:29):

And that was the saving grace I think that kept us floating. So I didn't have to physically go out to client sites and do a bunch of stuff during this period of time where she was immobile and I had to take her to the bathroom and, you know, all the stuff that we were dealing with and the doctor's appointments, God just worked it out. I mean, it just worked out. And I'm very thankful for the client base that we have. They were very understanding and patient with us. Life happens, and we just kind of rolled with it and, and trusted that God would provide a way for it to all work out.

Ric Shields (06:58):

So, it's early 2020, the year the world shut down due to Covid.

Mike Rogers (07:02):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (07:03):

But Heather, your health was already spiraling downward well before Covid so this is not covid related. But then things really bottomed out. You were just, you know, mentioning this bottomed out, what in the world, what happened

Heather Rogers (07:18):

So, it gradually started getting worse. And when I, like I said, started having the seizures. I went to the hospital. I was transported, transported by ambulance because of Covid. They had me stabilized and they wanted to send me home because they thought it was, would be safer to be at home than in the hospital with Covid patients.

Ric Shields (07:42):

We'd rather you die at home than die here at the hospital than Covid.

Heather Rogers (07:46):

Yeah. So, they sent me home and the next morning, we got up and I started having seizures again. This time my kids were in the room with me at the time. And so, they, that was pretty scary. They had to witness that. And then the ambulance came back. I went back to the hospital. But at this point, after the second trip to the hospital, I lost complete feeling on the left side of my body. I was paralyzed. I couldn't walk anymore. I couldn't move anymore. I started anytime Mike would just barely touch me, or anyone would touch me. I would go into severe tremors. He had to, I couldn't go to the bathroom on my own anymore. I couldn't shower on my own. I couldn't do anything on my own. He literally carried me everywhere.

Ric Shields (08:39):

Mike, this has to be scary. I say scary, probably terrifying is more like it was.

Heather Rogers (08:46):

Yeah, it was. I couldn't even speak anymore. Yeah. So, like even,

Mike Rogers (08:51):

And we,

Heather Rogers (08:51):

Trying to communicate anything with him

Mike Rogers (08:53):

In our home, we operate under the mindset of a structured home, according to the Word. And we are very functional and we're efficient and we run like a clock. I mean, we are just a power pack team. And I just love it. But when that piece of the puzzle dropped, man, it just shattered our world. All of us. And we didn't know what to do. The kids didn't know what to do.

(09:18):

You know, we were adamant about keeping the kids homeschooled because we're not a big supporter of the public school system. And we want to train them in a certain way with godly principles and to stick them back in public schools you know. I forgot, but we did that. That's a pretty big statement. 

Ric Shields (09:35):

That’s huge.

Mike Rogers (09:35):

Probably.

Ric Shields (09:35):

Yeah. You're listening to the DoorWays® Ministry Network podcast. My name is Ric Shields. I'm joined on this episode with Mike and Heather Rogers, a young couple who found themselves in a health crisis. It went from bad to worse, to critical, to devastating.

(09:49):

Heather, you went to the hospital after having several seizures. Eventually they got so bad you stopped breathing. Mike and his sister had to give you CPR until an ambulance arrived, took you to the hospital. But it's the year 2020. A year some referred to in Latin as, annus horribilus or the “horrible year.” Hospitals are one of the last places people want to go to. They're filled with people who have covid. They don't want you to stay, they get even more sick. So, they send you home. So going home, that had to really work well for you because the next day had another seizure!

Heather Rogers (10:22):

Right? Yes, we did.

Ric Shields (10:24):

Oh, my word. Now, you guys, I've heard your story. Even before you were married, music had been an important part of your lives, but it's also an important part of this story. So, Mike, before we get to that, tell us about the importance of music in your life. What's that all about?

Mike Rogers (10:40):

It's funny, we were just visiting about this the other day. Our teenagers both had a guest stay with them overnight last night. And we were sharing part of that story and testimony with, the girl that was with Cadence. And we just love ministering and sharing our story with other people and trying to encourage them how to get through the phases of life that seemed to be challenging and overwhelming.

(11:00):

Well, we were talking about how we met and, you know, visiting with her about her relationship and all that stuff. And it came back to the table and I said, “You know, I remember the first time I saw Heather. I was actually at a, it was a worship conference that we were at through the Church of God Prophecy. We both went to the same organization of churches. She was in the Oklahoma City area; I was in the Tulsa metro area. But we were sister churches pretty much. So, we always went to the same campgrounds. I'm back on the soundboard. I'm making an adjustment, and I hear this huge voice.” And what was the name of that song? Redeemer? Give a little.

Ric Shields (11:36):

Okay.

Mike Rogers (11:36):

No. Okay. That's

Heather Rogers (11:37):

Okay.

Mike Rogers (11:37):

So maybe later if Ric asks, she'll probably

Ric Shields (11:40):

Just hum a few bars.

Mike Rogers (11:41):

Yeah, yeah. <laugh>. So, she was singing “Redeemer.” And I'm on the board and I'm looking at the board while the track is starting. And then I hear the vocal, and I mean, it blew me away. It was like I was sitting in front of Whitney Houston and I, man, I’ve got to meet that girl. And I looked up and it was just this little bitty girl, this big voice. And it blew me away. And I knew for a fact that was going to be my wife. I knew it. And, I was so ecstatic and happy to

Ric Shields (12:10):

Wow. Wow. Wow. I mean, this is a lot of steps. I mean, you just flew from, from zero to 60. Boom.

Heather Rogers (12:18):

<laugh>. Yeah.

Ric Shields (12:18):

Yeah. This girl sings and you say, she's going to be my wife.

Mike Rogers (12:21):

Yeah. I felt, I felt the spirit of the Lord on me.

Heather Rogers (12:24):

<laugh>. He actually did tell me that. And I laughed at him.

Ric Shields (12:27):

Why? Why did you laugh?

Heather Rogers (12:30):

Like, uh, okay, well, God's got to reveal that to me too. <laugh>. It took a

Ric Shields (12:34):

Little, that would be helpful, wouldn't it? Thank you, God, for doing that. <laugh>.

Mike Rogers (12:37):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (12:38):

So, so you're at a music conference, you meet and you fall in love before you even date <laugh>.

Mike Rogers (12:45):

Yeah, exactly. Love at first sight, right?

Ric Shields (12:47):

Yeah. That’s crazy.

Mike Rogers (12:49):

Yeah, it was good.

Ric Shields (12:51):

So, I have to go back now to you met, music was important and, and that's where you got started. But here, Heather is sick. You must have felt like you're just drawing at straws. You're the guy who has to fix everything now. You have to be everything. You have to do everything. This had to be just absolutely overwhelming. And in the throes of all this crisis, you feel the Holy Spirit giving you a gift of faith and a plan to turn things around. And it's all centered around music and worship. So, what happened next?

Mike Rogers (13:23):

That's right. We, we've always been centered around music and worship. You know, our oldest daughter, her name is Cadence. I was a drummer, and Heather's a singer. So, she's our musical rhythm, cadence, of course.  And that's how we, um, ended up with that name. But for me, you know, we've, she used to travel with her family before we got together as a quartet all over the place. Very talented. Her brother, oh my gosh. He would, he would, as he as potent, as Heather's voice is, his, is just as special. And his story, I think would be a great fit for your podcast as well by the way. He is, uh, God is so good to us. And we were just sitting and trying to figure out what to do. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me, and I just, we'd been through the ringer; traveled everywhere, set up sound systems, torn down sound systems, you know, the, the drill.

(14:09):

And we have a sound system here at the house that we use for a lot of her engagements. So, I actually left her on the bed and went and got the entire sound system with the main speakers and everything. Set it up in the living room. And I had a track ready to go. And, I knew which one I wanted. “Way maker” was the track. I picked her up out of bed. I brought her in the living room and sat her in the chair and she saw the sound system. And I could see in her eyes, she's like, “What are you doing?” And she can't talk to me. She literally just couldn't control her vocal or anything.

Heather Rogers (14:40):

Go back just a little bit before that. So, Mike had put worship music on the phone, and he would just play it in like, right next to my ear. I remember at times just crying because I just wanted my voice back. If he could just, to even speak to my family, you know, just taking my voice was very, very hard.

Mike Rogers (15:04):

Yeah. Worship was always something that I knew was a special weapon that God gave her to defeat the enemy. She is a warrior in my mind. I feel like she's a powerhouse warrior. She can take down the demonic forces with that voice and God is with it. So, worship music has always been a part of us, and we always play it no matter where we are.

Heather Rogers (15:23):

So, he had been playing that. So, I had the worship music constantly playing in my ear, and I didn't know that he had been doing this and the, you know, setting the sound system up. Everything in the living room at this time.

Mike Rogers (15:34):

So, I get her in her chair and she knows what I'm doing at that time. because she can see it. And I had the microphone, and I mean, I didn't just have her sing in an empty room without a microphone. I gave her the microphone and everything, just like she was on stage. And I said, “Heather just sing.”

(15:50):

And she wouldn't, she didn't want to take the microphone from me. I said, hold the microphone. I put her hand around the microphone and I gave it to her. I said, “Just sing.” And, and in my heart, I felt like God was saying, “Your faith is all I need, Mike. Your faith is all I need.”

(16:05):

And as soon as she opened her mouth, it was just the spirit of the Lord just filled our room. It was so powerful. I had never felt like I've been, I've traveled with ministries and I've seen people healed before, and I've seen miraculous things, but I, I've never been like the one that God chose to do whatever caused it to happen. So, to me, that was so unique and special, and I just man my heart, I just started crying as soon as it happened.

Ric Shields (16:33):

Heather, you had to wonder what had gotten a hold of Mike. I mean, he gets you out of bed, he puts you in a wheelchair and he tells you, “Sing!” What <laugh> what was going on in your mind?

Heather Rogers (16:44):

I don't really <laugh>. I don't know. I'm like, I couldn't. I'm thinking to myself there, I can't even like speak. How am I going to sing? Like there was nothing that was coming out of my mouth. And he just kept saying, “Just sing Heather. Just sing.” So, I trusted him. I followed his lead.

(17:01):

He was playing “Way maker” on, that was the worship song that was playing. And as soon as I started singing “Way maker, miracle Worker, he's a promise keeper and the light in the darkness.” I was in a very, very dark place. And it just, as soon as I started singing, I just, it just came out like I had never lost my voice. And I stood up out of my wheelchair. I was able to move on my own. It was just like total complete healing came over my body.

Mike Rogers (17:35):

Yeah, we had a wheelchair in the house, but none of our doors were really wide enough to move it around. So, so it kind of stayed, it stayed in the living room, and that's what we used it in here, but we couldn't use it anywhere else. But man,

Ric Shields (17:46):

Mike, I think maybe you might want to make your home ADA compliant <laugh> <laugh> if for no other reason that, you know, we do carry things back and forth in one room to the other, it might be helpful in the future.

(17:58):

Had I not heard your story, or had I not seen you singing a few weeks ago here, Heather, I'd say this is unbelievable. But that's how it is with miracles or what we've referred to as the divine interventions. They are beyond our ability to comprehend or even imagine. And it's what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 3:20. It says, “Now to him, who's able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.” And it's unbelievable until you experience or see it with your own eyes, and then knowing that God is at the center of it all, it becomes a remarkable story of his grace and power at work that brings him glory and honor while encouraging the body of Christ.

(18:42):

Guys, this story again, it's just unbelievable, but it is totally believable. It’s the juxtaposition between the two.

(18:52):

As we draw our time to a close, I wonder, do you have any special words of encouragement you'd like to share with our listeners? What lessons have you learned that you can share with others?

Mike Rogers (19:00):

I would say life without faith is really a challenge. If you develop your relationship with Jesus Christ, and you do your best to love others as he loved us, it's so much easier. And it's so much better. And there's a lot less heartache. And whenever you get hit with something that's, that seems unfathomable or you can't overcome it, anything is possible with God, the mountains will move for you. And for me, faith is really where it's at.

(19:29):

So if I was going to encourage somebody, I'd say lock down, get planted into a church that's really rooted in the word, feed your spirit the word, cut out all the trash, and just let God use you as a tool to bless others. Because whenever you're hopeless, it's hard when you're by yourself, but you're never by yourself when you got Jesus Christ with you in your heart.

Ric Shields (19:50):

That’s good. Heather, how about you?

Heather Rogers (19:52):

I just know that a lot of people, you know, a lot of people don't see, they don't believe miracles unless they see it with their own eyes. Like, I have to see this in order to really believe it. But you just have to have faith. You just have, God is so faithful and even in the darkest times, he still gets you through. He was still right there with me and comforting me. And, you just put your whole trust in God in all things.

Mike Rogers (20:21):

We were sitting in bed last night and was it last night or the night before? And some, an old song just hit Heather in her mind. And she started trying to figure out the words to it and started singing it. And man, both of us just started crying. It was crazy.

Heather Rogers (20:35):

It was actually, “God's Still Faithful.”

Mike Rogers (20:36):

God's still faithful

Heather Rogers (20:37):

In the midst of it all.

Mike Rogers (20:38):

He's still faithful. I said, “You should call somebody that's on your mind and just sing that song to them today.” I said, “That would be such a great ministry.” And she's so shy and you know, she just doesn't, you know, she doesn't believe, you know, she doesn't feel like it's a special gift. I mean, she knows it's special, but she doesn't see it like everybody on the outside sees it. And it's hard because she's modest and she doesn't want to be too bold around people sometimes. But man, I just love hearing her sing. I ask her every opportunity I can.

Ric Shields (21:07):

The song Heather Rogers sang in her darkest hour is called “Way Maker.” It was written in 2015 by Sinach, a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and minister. Three years later, a video of Sinach singing that song received over 100 million views. I probably watched it at least five times myself. It's a beautiful song with powerful lyrics:

(21:31):

“Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, that is who you are.”

(21:39):

And while singing that song, Heather Rogers experienced the healing touch of God. Not only did her voice return so she could sing, she found the strength to get up out of the wheelchair she had been confined to and received her healing. That my friend is a divine intervention. God moved and changed what was her current reality and made it a part of her history.

(22:05):

Today she is a vibrant and active wife, mother, worship leader, youth sponsor at her church and a homeschooling mom, too. I won't suggest that you'll receive a miraculous healing if you sing that song, but I will tell you that the same God who touched Heather Rogers can touch you, too. Open your heart, open your mouth to speak praises to him, and be prepared for a divine intervention in your life.