He didn’t know that in a few short years he’d have to face his greatest fear. Or that the journey from perfectionist to accepting father would be as arduous or as rewarding.

In May 2005 a former student asked Coach Chad Judice, “What’s your greatest fear?” The self-proclaimed perfectionist thought a minute. “My greatest fear would be to have a child with a mental or physical handicap.”

His Greatest Fear

A teacher at a Catholic school in Lafayette Louisiana, Chad said he always had a relationship with God, “though I was the only one who knew about it.” He’d bought into the adage that one should never discuss religion or politics in polite company. Soon his faith would be tested.

The Judice family: Ezra, Ashley, Chad, Eli and Ephraim.

He and his wife, Ashley, already had one child and were planning the conception of their second. “I had the idea in my head that we could control this. … Looking back on it now, I’m sure God must have been quite amused at my attitude, and my illusion that Ashley and I were the ones in control.” Soon their second child was on the way and an ultrasound was scheduled.

During the ultrasound, the tech looked “perplexed,” recalled Chad. “Everything is okay, right?” he asked her. When she said that she couldn’t locate a part of the brain known as the cerebellum, his greatest fear became his reality.

Praying with a Purpose

Rather than sink into despair, Chad began to reach out to others for support. He spoke with priests and close friends. He never prayed alone. Prayer partners interceded with him for the baby’s health.

When he felt God asking him to surrender his will, Chad didn’t hesitate. “I guess I could have chosen to face this alone, but instead I chose to let Him carry me. At that moment I knew for the first time ever that I was not in control of the events in my life. I had spent thirty years on this earth under the perception that I was. And within the span of twenty-four hours that illusion was shattered.”

Tests showed that the baby would have Spina Bifida, a spinal cord defect that occurs in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Parts of the cord are exposed to amniotic fluid and that can lead to paralysis, mental disabilities, and a host of health issues. Eli would never walk and have a host of other limitations. He’d face numerous medical procedures for the rest of his life.

Chad and Ashley prayed for a miracle. The journey was full of peaks and valleys. Sometimes they’d get both, as  when a blood test showed normal results, but an amniocentesis test supported the earlier diagnosis. Receiving the amniocentesis results motivated him to go back to God and pray for help. “Some days I prayed in fear, other days in frustration and sorrow, and some days in hope.”

The Power of Prayer with Partners

He and Ashley named their boy Elijah Paul — Eli for short. “Eli would become and will always be my stairway to heaven,” he said. “I have sought a more personal relationship with God in my prayer life each day. And the rewards He has given to us for seeking His grace are many.”

Chad and Eli Judice

The lesion on Eli’s back was smaller than expected, but its location should’ve resulted in complete paralysis. Through the countless prayers of family, friends, and complete strangers across the country, Eli was able to move his legs and do things that many with his disability can’t.

“The miracle of Eli’s life is not only that he has physical abilities that doctors said he never would, but also that his story has had such a profound impact on the faith and the lives of others — starting with mine.”

Chad wrote a book on the experience called Waiting for Eli: A Father’s Journey from Fear to Faith, published in 2010. It quickly became a best-seller. Inspired by the testimony of others, he was moved to write the sequel, Eli’s Reach: On the Value of Human Life and the Power of Prayer. Published in 2012, it was named the best book by a small publisher by the Catholic Press Association. It details Eli’s progress as well as his direct influence on two couples. One chose not to abort their unborn children because of Eli’s life. The other chose to adopt a child with Down Syndrome.

An Easter Miracle

It also tells of a bona fide miracle on Easter weekend 2011 that saved Eli’s life. A cyst in his brain threatened the boy’s life. After two brain surgeries in less than 24 hours, the doctors told Chad and Ashley he would likely need a third surgery.

Just before Eli’s birth, Chad visited the Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans. As pastor of a church in the city in the 19th century, the priest selflessly served the victims of yellow fever, until he contracted the disease and died. 

Two years later, Chad prayed for hours by Eli’s bedside. A Catholic, he asked Father Seelos to intercede for Eli’s healing. He was exhausted by 10 p.m. and went to bed.

The next morning, Eli’s surgeon seemed perplexed. Eli no longer needed the third surgery. The cyst had drained by 75 percent overnight. The surgeon told Chad and Ashley, “I am planning on writing a medical study on this, because in 40 years of practicing this type of medicine, I have never seen a case like this.”

It was a “bona fide miracle,” Chad says.

Chad and Ashley continue to lean on the Lord for strength. They pray that others will be brought to Christ through their experience. “Life is a journey, and it never turns out the way you initially imagine it will,” Chad explains. “Once we encounter Truth itself — a person, not a thing — and we trust with childlike abandonment in prayer, He will write straight with our crooked lines. While never promising to eliminate suffering, instead He went to the depths of it, so that when it finds us in our lives we can unite it to His and be transformed into instruments used to bring others to Himself.”

More information about Chad Judice’s books and speaking engagements may be found at his website www.chadjudice.com. His Growing With Eli will be published this fall.