Southwest
Just in time for Christmas, husband receives miraculous 'Godwink': 'Completely healed'
David Espinoza and his wife Toni were living on the southern border of Texas, in the city of McAllen, five hours south of Houston.
As Christmas approached, they received the worst news.
Doctors in Houston told David Espinoza that his heart was operating at only 10% capacity.
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If he didn’t get a heart transplant quickly, he would not live to see his family for another Christmas.
Worse, he was told that finding a perfect donor could take nine months or more.
Just ahead of Christmas, a wife wondered if she and many others were praying for someone to die in order for her husband to live. (iStock)
Toni Espinoza, known to be a prayer warrior, organized everyone she knew — and hundreds she didn’t — to pray for her husband to find a heart donor.
But within days, she felt conflicted.
She decided to change her strategy.
It seemed as if they were praying for someone to die in order for her husband to live.
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She decided to change her strategy.
She began praying fervently for God to completely and miraculously heal her husband.
For added comfort, the woman asked God to confirm her answered prayer by making it snow in McAllen, Texas, on Christmas Day. (iStock)
And just for added comfort, she asked God to confirm her answered prayer by making it snow in McAllen, Texas, on Christmas Day.
She shared her private decision to pray for these miracles with a trusted childhood friend named Crawford.
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“Toni, have you ever seen snow?” her friend asked her.
She shook her head.
“It hasn’t snowed here in 109 years! And never on Christmas.”
She’d lived in McAllen, Texas, all her life.
The average winter temperature on the border was about 75 degrees.
Toni and David Espinoza of Texas. “I know God is going to answer my prayers,” she told a friend. (SQuire Rushnell/Godwinks)
Her friend continued, “The reason you’ve never seen snow is because it hasn’t snowed here in 109 years! And never on Christmas.”
Toni Espinoza shrugged, smiled and gave her friend a look of resolve.
“I know God is going to answer my prayers.”
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It was nearly midnight on Christmas Eve when one of the Espinoza daughters, home for the holidays, looked into the backyard — and shrieked.
“Mom, it’s snowing!”
Coatless, Toni Espinoza dashed into the backyard — delighted to see snow covering her fully flowered rose bushes.
Toni Espinoza is pictured on the night she rushed outside to see the snow. (David Espinoza)
Gazing into the night sky, as white snowflakes speckled her dark hair, she whispered, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The next morning, children across McAllen bundled up, ran outside, rolled in the snow, fanned angels, and made snowmen for the first time in their lives.
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A McAllen newspaper headline announced the “First White Christmas Ever!”
Yet the best Christmas present of all came three weeks later.
The Espinozas’ dramatic story appears in the bestselling book, “Godwink Christmas Stories” by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt. (Amazon)
David Espinoza’s Houston doctor looked at the medical charts.
He shook his head and said, “David, I don’t understand how this happened… but you’re going to live for a long, long time.”
He added, “Your heart is completely healed.”
In tears, the couple embraced — and praised God for the best Christmas gift ever.
The couple’s story appears in the bestselling book, “Godwink Christmas Stories” by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt, from which this article is excerpted. Copyright © SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt. For more info, see www.godwinks.com.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Sunday and accused the collegiate organization of deceptive marketing practices for including transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Paxton said in a news release the NCAA violated the Texas Trade Practices Act “which exists to protect consumers from businesses attempting to mislead or trick them into purchasing goods or services that are not as advertised.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker (Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK/File)
He accused the NCAA of “engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading practices by marketing sporting events as ‘women’s’ competitions only to then provide consumers with mixed sex competitions where biological males compete against biological females.”
“The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions,” Paxton said in a statement. “When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women—not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming, left (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics/File)
Paxton said he was seeking a court to grant a permanent injunction to prohibit the NCAA from allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports in Texas or “involving Texas teams, or alternatively requiring the NCAA to stop marketing events as “women’s” when in fact they are mixed sex competitions,” the news release said.
The NCAA released a statement to Fox News Digital later Sunday.
“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the organization said.
NCAA President Charlie Baker was grilled over transgender participation in sports while he was on Capitol Hill last week. He was also asked about it during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
When McAfee asked Baker how the parents of daughters should feel about trans athletes in women’s sports and the NCAA’s record on it, Baker downplayed the impact.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Reuters/Brian Snyder/File)
“There are 510,000 college athletes playing in the NCAA, there are less than 10 transgender athletes, so it’s a small community to begin with,” Baker said.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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Homicide detectives and loved ones are searching for a missing Los Angeles County woman.
Maria Benitez, 41, was reported missing on Dec. 21, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The woman, who is considered at-risk, was last seen on the 5500 block of Lindsey Avenue in Pico Rivera around 12:30 p.m.
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Maria Benitez’s gray 2008 Nissan Altima sedan with California license plate number 6EPB787. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)
Family members said Benitez suffers from medical conditions and requires medication. They haven’t heard from her since her disappearance concerned for her well-being and asking for the public’s help.
She is described as a Hispanic woman standing 5 feet tall and weighing around 100 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and a scar on her right ankle. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and black pants.
Her vehicle is described as a gray 2008 Nissan Altima with California license plate 6EPB787.
Anyone who knows Benitez’s whereabouts or has information on her disappearance is urged to call the LASD’s Homicide Bureau Missing Persons unit at 323-890-5500.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Some 40,000 Southern California Edison customers were without power on Christmas Eve after a transformer failed in the Downey-Norwalk area earlier in the afternoon.
According to SCE’s outage map, the problems began around 1:30 p.m., with Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, telling KTLA that the utility company did not have a timeframe for when power would be restored.
“Our crews are on scene working to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible. We recognize that this is a tough time to be without power, right before a holiday,” Dunleavy said. “We recognize that this is an incredibly important situation, and we want to get the power back up for our customers.”
Metro’s C (Green) Line trains were temporarily halted between the Norwalk and Willowbrook/Rose Park stops as a result of the outage, though normal C Line train service resumed right around 5 p.m., Metro officials said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
Officials in the City of Downey deployed police to help manage traffic control at intersections where traffic lights were out.
“We encourage residents to exercise caution when driving through affected areas,” officials said in a statement.
There were also reports of last-minute Christmas shoppers perusing the darkened aisles of local retailers also affected by the outage.
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