Nancy's Story ...
After attending a friend’s funeral, my wife Nancy and I took a couple days at the family cabin to think and pray about life. I remember asking the Lord that if there was anything he wanted to teach us or to do in our lives, that we wanted Him to do it. Two hours later, while driving home a guy ran a stop sign and our lives were changed forever.
The accident wasn't that bad, but I could see there was something wrong with Nancy from the moment of impact. She was shaking and couldn't seem to coordinate herself. We went to the hospital and they gave her some pain killers and told me to take care of her. The fire department had used the “jaws of life” to bend our fender out from the tires so that the car could be driven home, and so away we went.
In the next couple weeks, I watched as her nervous system shut down. It became evident that something happened that was preventing her body from receiving certain messages, while at the same time she was receiving pain sensations from absolutely everything. The doctors put her on a cocktail of Demerol, methadone and other drugs that took away the girl I'd married and left me with a fragile and broken shell of who she used to be. Through the next few months, her mobility decreased to the point where we had to purchase a scooter. She could hobble around the house but she could not get around anywhere else. The final word from the specialist was that she would not be getting better. This was to be her life, and the sooner we got used to it, the better off we would be.
August 20, 2008 – the anniversary of the accident - came and went. Three full years of believing in a God who was able to heal but was choosing not to. At the same time our insurance company was stonewalling. We were spending hundreds of dollars a month out of our own pockets on naturopathic care, which was the only thing that was helping. I had been working my 40-50 hour week at my job, then picking up another 20 or so hours of side work just to keep our finances on track.
On the morning of August 23rd I came to my breaking point. I was trying to rebuild our home after a flood had left us with black mold. I wound up taking 7 months off work to renovate our home because we couldn't afford to pay anyone to do the work that was required. The day before, I received an entire truckload of windows for the house and didn't have a clue how to install them. All the guys who had promised to help me cancelled out and I was left to do it myself.
As Nancy and I visited that morning, she noticed that I was carrying a larger than normal chip on my shoulder. When she asked me why, it all came out. I told her I was sick of it all and I was tired of a God who is able to heal but won't. I ranted and raved and made a fairly large ass of myself. And then the girl who had every right to be upset told me that she refused to be upset at the Lord, but that His ways are perfect and even in this miserable situation she had seen me change from being self centered to being there for her. God was working and that she was confident that this was his will. Our friends who had told us that we had sin in our lives and insufficient faith were wrong. God allows suffering to bring about character we wouldn't otherwise develop. Over the next several hours we prayed through all kinds of stuff... and that's when we heard it...
Nancy looked at me and started to say something, and I told her, "I know, I heard Him too." We both heard a voice that said, "I am here to heal you today". I put my hands on my wife and started to pray because that's what was on my heart to do. As I prayed I could feel her being straightened back up and I could feel a heat and a vibration. When we were done praying, nothing seemed different. A few minutes later, Nancy hobbled to the bathroom and that's where she heard a voice say, "get up and walk." For 3 years, when she tried to lift her legs, they would only come up an inch or two, but when she attempted to lift her right leg, it came all the way up to her chest. She tried the left leg and the same thing happened. She called to me and I went and saw what the Lord had done.
August 20, 2008 – the anniversary of the accident - came and went. Three full years of believing in a God who was able to heal but was choosing not to. At the same time our insurance company was stonewalling. We were spending hundreds of dollars a month out of our own pockets on naturopathic care, which was the only thing that was helping. I had been working my 40-50 hour week at my job, then picking up another 20 or so hours of side work just to keep our finances on track.
On the morning of August 23rd I came to my breaking point. I was trying to rebuild our home after a flood had left us with black mold. I wound up taking 7 months off work to renovate our home because we couldn't afford to pay anyone to do the work that was required. The day before, I received an entire truckload of windows for the house and didn't have a clue how to install them. All the guys who had promised to help me cancelled out and I was left to do it myself.
As Nancy and I visited that morning, she noticed that I was carrying a larger than normal chip on my shoulder. When she asked me why, it all came out. I told her I was sick of it all and I was tired of a God who is able to heal but won't. I ranted and raved and made a fairly large ass of myself. And then the girl who had every right to be upset told me that she refused to be upset at the Lord, but that His ways are perfect and even in this miserable situation she had seen me change from being self centered to being there for her. God was working and that she was confident that this was his will. Our friends who had told us that we had sin in our lives and insufficient faith were wrong. God allows suffering to bring about character we wouldn't otherwise develop. Over the next several hours we prayed through all kinds of stuff... and that's when we heard it...
Nancy looked at me and started to say something, and I told her, "I know, I heard Him too." We both heard a voice that said, "I am here to heal you today". I put my hands on my wife and started to pray because that's what was on my heart to do. As I prayed I could feel her being straightened back up and I could feel a heat and a vibration. When we were done praying, nothing seemed different. A few minutes later, Nancy hobbled to the bathroom and that's where she heard a voice say, "get up and walk." For 3 years, when she tried to lift her legs, they would only come up an inch or two, but when she attempted to lift her right leg, it came all the way up to her chest. She tried the left leg and the same thing happened. She called to me and I went and saw what the Lord had done.
For the first time in 3 years she was able to grab our sons, pick them up and hug them.That week we started dance lessons because she had always wanted to dance, and I figured, if you're able to dance, then I'm there. I can't even tell you all the things I have learned through the experience of those three years. We both agree that if we were given the opportunity to go back in time we would choose to go through it all again. What God did in us was worth the difficulties along the way.
