When I was diagnosed with a condition which restricts your airways and your lung capacity, there were certain things that I knew would be difficult for me. It is surprising how many things you need your lungs for. Suddenly, eating and breathing was difficult; I couldn't string a sentence together properly; I couldn't read aloud fluently; walking and movement made me out of breath.

I have always loved to sing. I just love to worship God with song. He has been so good to me and even in such a difficult situation, I know that he is with me. When I sing, I feel his amazing presence and all stress and anxiety melts away. As I'm sure you can imagine, it broke my heart to find that now, with only one third of the lung capacity of an average woman my age, singing was not as easy as it used to be. I would run out of breath mid phrase and had to sing really quite quietly. Despite this, I persevered and did the best that I could. Worship after all is not about your voice but your heart in all areas of life.

One afternoon in August 2014, I was at a church meeting in North Devon with Chris and my parents. There was a call for prayer so up I went. A church leader from Bath was there. He didn't know me. We had never met. He didn't know much about my lungs. As he was praying, he said that he could sense music over my life. He could see musical notes in the air all around me and asked me if I was a singer. I almost laughed out loud! Yes, I am musical; I can read music but how could I sing properly with this lung condition. Anyway, I thanked him, wrote it down in my journal and got on with my life.

About a month later, I was at a meeting with a church leader from Exeter who was speaking about healing. Of course I was eager to be prayed for but I really wasn't expecting these words as he prayed, 'Rachel, do you love to sing? I see singing and song writing over your life.' Wow! The words from before came flooding back. Now, I started to sit up and pay attention!

I thought about these words over the next month until it was time to attend another conference in London. This time a church leader from Northern Ireland was there. I'm sure you are starting to guess what happened. As usual I was up for prayer. He stepped down from the stage and came straight over to me. He said two things that amazed me. 'You're a teacher, aren't you?' and then, 'You love to sing don't you? I see singing and song writing over your life.'

Whoa! When someone says something once, it could be a guess. When three different people, from three different places, who have never met each other or me, have the same word from God, it is time to start listening! He also knows I am a teacher, something he could not possibly have known! This was also reassuring for me as at the time I wasn't sure whether I would ever be well enough to teach again. I had a real peace now that I would teach again.

The next morning, I couldn't stop thinking about all these words that people had had for me. I thought I would try out my voice just to see... I could not believe the sound that came out of my mouth! Before I was ill, I could sing in tune but now I could hold a note; the tone of my voice was deeper and richer; I could reach high notes! Just amazing!

Now my voice just gets stronger and stronger. I sing for about an hour a day. It gives me so much joy! I thank God for giving me such an amazing gift to be able to use to praise him. I have started song writing and recording my songs and I hope to start learning the piano.

It just goes to show that my God is a God of the impossible. He could have given me any other gift but this one showed me that no matter how bad the diagnosis on my lungs, he is healing me and he is in control! When I went to see the UK lung specialist in Nottingham, he could not explain why I could sing like that and called it 'an unexplainable bonus!' I am so thankful to God for his faithfulness and for such an amazing, unexpected gift!