This supposedly barren Christian couple has just been blessed by God with not just one, not just two, but three healthy babies on the same day!
Moreover, in a span of seven years, they have actually received five such blessings.
In Facebook and Twitter posts, pastor and New Testament scholar Jeremiah Johnston announced last July 8 that his wife Audrey has given birth to triplet boys at the Texas Children's Pavilion for Women in Houston, Texas. The new arrivals in the Johnston family are Ryder, who weighed in at 3.8 pounds, Abel, 4.6 pounds, and Jaxson, 5.5 pounds, local news station KPRC reports.
What made the births special was that doctors had earlier told the couple that they could not conceive.
But the couple held on to their faith and trusted that God, not the doctors, would have the final say on the matter, The Christian Post reports.
With the help of in vitro fertilisation and lots of prayer, the Johnstons are now the parents of five children. Before Audrey gave birth to the three boys, the couple also celebrated this year the seventh birthday of their daughter, Lily Faith, and fourth birthday of their son, Justin.
In vitro fertilisation, or the manual joining of an egg and sperm, is considered the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Johnston credited his wife's strong faith for the blessings they have received from God. Before their first child was born, he said there were times when he wanted to give up on believing that they would ever have a baby. But Audrey's faith helped bolster their hopes, he told The Christian Post in an earlier interview.
"She was the one who kept believing, kept trusting in spite of all of the odds," he said. "In spite of people saying 'you'll never get pregnant.' The beautiful thing was, as couples, especially as couples who follow Jesus, we have to make a decision when we experience problems — are we going to allow those problems to drive us apart or drive us closer together?"
Johnston said God finally answered their prayers when their first child was born after he and Audrey had resolved "to trust God no matter what."
