A Gift for Kathryn Kuhlman
December 25, 1974
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Dearest Kathryn:

I am writing early this Christmas morning because I want you to be the first person in this house to receive a present on our Lord’s birthday. Three weeks ago I asked the Lord what you would like for Christmas that no one knew about, that would meet the desires of your heart. This 0.12 mm toothed forceps was His answer. Let me explain what it means.

For the last four-and-a-half years I have used this very instrument on every single cataract operation that the Lord and I have performed. It is indispensable to me. It has three teeth on the end that are 0.12 mm long. You will need some means of magnification to see these teeth well. They are used to grasp tissue so that a needle can be passed through it while it is being held with firmness but gentleness. The teeth must be perfectly aligned to grasp the tissue properly. If they are mal-aligned one hair’s breadth, they might as well be thrown away, for they will no longer grasp in an exacting manner.

The reason this instrument and its function are so crucial is because it is used for closing the wound after a cataract has been removed. This means that the eye is wide open, and there is no margin for error in the surgeon or the instrument. If this instrument is not grasping properly, causing any pressure to be exerted on an open eye, the contents from inside the eye could be pressed out and the patient’s vision compromised if not lost completely. All of this surgery is done through an operating microscope under high magnification. These forceps must grasp tissue 1/2 mm thick and hold it firmly enough to pass a needle through it, while exerting no pressure whatsoever on the open eye. I love this precision instrument. It has served me well and been in the middle of many surgical miracles the Lord has performed. It has functioned perfectly for these four and a half years of use, and now I want you to have it on this Christmas morning. It is intended to serve as a reminder from our heavenly Father to you that this instrument has been in my hand like you are in His hand. You are exactly what He wants you to be. He did not want you to be a pair of scissors or an instrument for extracting the cataract. He intended from the beginning of time for you to be a 0.12 mm toothed forceps holding the tissue so The Great Physician can do the stitching and healing. Not many people in this world are so yielded that God can make of them exactly what He wants them to be, but you are. Our Father wants you to know, on His Son’s birthday, that He loves you beyond words and that it gives Him great pleasure to have such a precision instrument as Kathryn Kuhlman available for Him to use as He wishes. Amen and amen!

Dr. Vaughan

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January 8, 1975

Dear Dr. Vaughan:

The ‘framed forcep’ — your gift sent on Christmas Day — is standing on my desk for everyone to see, and as a continual reminder of the very precious things you wrote in your letter — I shall cherish it as long as I live! There is really no limit to what God can do with a person, providing that one will not touch the glory. God is still waiting for one who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who has ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God’s own purposes and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power — without hindering, let God do great things. MAY WE BOTH CONTINUE TO BE INSTRUMENTS IN HIS HAND!

Kathryn Kuhlman

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