Two hours into the trip, I received a call from Dr. Neuro #1’s office saying I was booked to see a neurosurgeon in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday. Even though it was Thursday afternoon when the receptionist asked me if I could make the appointment, I said, “Yes.” I hung up and felt panic. How was I going to get from Florida to Memphis? I was wheelchair bound and had difficulty doing anything for myself. By this point, I had to eat with plastic forks and spoons because regular silverware was simply too heavy for me to lift. I called Rose who said she would take me to Memphis once we returned home and not to worry. She said she would work it all out. Kevin and I continued our trip to Florida.
Friday, while in Florida, I received
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While she was in the store, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the Chiari Institute and told me to call. I thought how can I call them I do not have their number and then I remembered the receptionist had called my cell phone so it was in my caller ID. I simply called the number and a woman answered. She told me they just had an opening come up for October 21 and 24, 2005 so she asked, “Could you be here in ten days?” I said, “Yes!” We confirmed the plans and when Rose came out of the grocery store, I was now headed to New York for help. Within less than 24 hours God had opened another door. Hope was not over yet. But what lay ahead was definitely uncertainty. We drove home from Memphis and began to plan a trip to New York. Kevin and I had no money. The entire year had been a terrible financial drain with no end in sight. I simply prayed and gave it to God. I was in so much pain and unable to do anything about the situation except trust God. I consumed my time listening to praise music. The music eased my physical pain and increased my spiritual strength. I knew New York was going to bring answers from God, but I had a lot of concerns. These specialists were not on our PPO for our medical insurance. In other words, they were “out of network,” and Kevin and I would have to pay the bills. However, every part of me knew New York was the right place to
I have struggled with things I didn’t know how to overcome and had to leave in the hands of God. I had to put my trust in God when my great aunt had to have emergency surgery. She is ninety years old and the doctors didn’t think she would be strong enough to recover, but she recovered faster than they would expect a heathy, young person to.
Welcome to Boston, we WON! Boston victory for 2017-2018!!!!! I'm joking... We came 2nd, though. I fully believed we would get 3rd or 4th, for the entire game. After I learned to ignore some of my teammate's uncommon habits... let's go with that... The game became so fun, and the homework so enjoyable. Though it is a lot harder and more time consuming. Seventy percent of the group fools around, and the rest scream at Quebec, every single day. You'll ruin a few friendships, want to change teams, and laugh at an enemy's pain. We allied with another American group, but be careful. Even after asking them for help most of the game, they kept brushing us off...Traitors. On the last day, our home province got invaded, by Quebec
I was fortunate enough to participate on a mission trip to New Orleans, just a year after Hurricane Katrina occurred. It was a horrific sight, all those people in such grief, and fear in their eyes. A desire was instilled in my heart to help those affected by such tragedies. I will never forget one of the nights there, my church group visited a small church that had just finished being rebuilt. They had lost everything in the storm, some even lost family members. I noticed an elderly woman sitting alone in the back pew, I walked up to her and asked if I could pray about anything for her. But she told me to sit down and listen. “I lost everything in this horrific storm, my house, car and all of my family. But I have my church back and that is enough for me. I thank God for allowing me to be alive, I am one of the lucky ones.
The mission trip to New Orleans. I had let Jesus into my heart but I started to get this desire and passion to want to start following him, but I didn't know what that looked like or what that meant or how to do it. And so I prayed and longed for him to show me that. As we headed down to New Orleans, the back of my van started to get into really good conversations about life and each other and Katie Thul asked the question that forever has changed my life. “What has been the hardest part of your life so far?”. This might not seem like to bad of a question, but the fact of the matter was that I had never told anybody about the dark and gritty parts of my life before. I had always bottled it up, to scared to tell anyone because I feared what people thought of me, to afraid they’d turn away. And as people went around sharing, it came my time to share and I knew I couldn't do it, so I said I didn't want to share, and as they went around deep inside me I was being told I needed to. I needed to let it out and just speak. And so they came back to me and I let them in, I told them about what I had gone through and as I was in tears I looked up and saw this kid looking back at me from the front of the van. He wasn't apart of the conversation we were having but you knew he was listening in and as our eyes met, he was in tears. I then realized that this was Anna’s brother. This was the kid. That week I embraced my past and used it to help and grow and evangelize this kid, Jackson. I knew what to say because I was in the exact spot he was in just a year earlier. The Lord showed me that I can make a difference in people's lives through him. God opened my eyes to the people I had around me. He put Sydney into my life, someone who on this trip poured a tremendous amount of wisdom, truth, and love into me and essentially pushed me to love and follow Jesus recklessly and at all costs. So many people, from Ally to Zach, to
I saw kids of all ages living with a burden pinned to their backs. However, they did not show it. They were just like me, a normal kid. Yet everyday they had to live in a sort of jail. Following a strict schedule when to eat, play, sleep, and go to school. They couldn’t hop in the car with their mom and go to the mall. The things I take for granted were what they were praying for. While here my fellow life teen members and I came together as a sort of beacon of light to play with and be a friend to these kids. We all came together to achieve a common goal and help those in need. This experience really hit home with me as I underappreciate all the little things in life that I should be grateful for. Trying to live a selfless life can be hard, but I will continue to help my community and those in need throughout my
One of the substance abuse interventions I recently led, resulted in a very public miraculous healing. I was contacted by the McCracken family early in 2015 to lead a last chance intervention for their son Jeff. Jeff McCracken was barely alive when we got him to treatment. Once he arrived at the facility we had in place, they immediately sent Jeff to the hospital. His medical condition was dire, he was given two months to live and sent to Hospice. In Hospice, Jeff’s parents requested our team to pray over him. Within days of that event, Jeff had an incredible turn around and was released from Hospice and entered a program. I sponsored Jeff throughout the recovery process. God has utterly transformed his life. Dubbed a modern day “Lazarus,”
My trip to a third world country opened my eyes to see that everyone is not as blessed as we are here in America. Nicaragua is a very poor country. People in Nicaragua are robbed of the luxuries we Americans have. Such as, simply, having three meals a day. Most people have to travel far just to find food to bring home to their families. I felt like God had called me to go to these people not so I can bless them, yet so they can bless me and my eyes would be opened.
I remember looking for decorations for my room and I saw a canvas with the quote “When you see only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that he carried you.” I immediately fell in love with it, it has impacted my life tremendously. God carried me through a situation most people would think of as not a big deal, the situation was having to give my dog away. It was really hard and God helped me get through it.
One of my recovery goals is to write my book about 50 years of medical disasters and yet hold on to one’s enthusiasm for life.” In his time of need he asked for help from the only people he has left to call ‘family’, people he’s helped and loved immensely for over a decade. They don’t offer help even though they have the means to do so. When asked for some compassion and assistance, they say they will pray for him and not much else. “This crisis has shown me that once I can heal up and work again, some big changes are going to be necessary.”
He was looking for a job so my mother hired him. He never sat down and was always working to make a living. After a couple of weeks, I found out that he was homeless and living out of his car or a hotel. Immediately a part of me felt a sense of urgencysss to help this man out. We quickly found him an apartment and bought him new furniture, a tv, and a bunch of groceries. He began to cry to us about how thankful he was, and how he knew that God was always looking out for him. Helping others in need gives them a second chance to begin a new
Terrified was an understatement. “Surgery….surgery…surgery…” was the only word that I heard echoed through the room , and suddenly images of knifes and flesh being cut invaded my ten years old mind. Peritonitis, was what I had, “unfortunately” I thought then, yet “fortunately” I know now. My calling in life was then discovered and for that I will be forever grateful. Petrified and alone, I was yearning for someone to understand my fear and explain what is about to happen to me; to clarify what the doctors said. That 's when a Physician Assistant walked in and changed my life forever. I will always remember Julie 's smile and reassuring voice which filled me with a sense of calm and genuine comfort. She was carrying a doll and highlighted what my surgery was all about. As I lay in bed recovering after surgery, I decided that one day I will be like Julie and I will help people feel secure and safe in the healthcare setting.
My mom was spending lots of her time over at a friends house in 2013, because one of her best friends Jenyi, was diagnosed with cancer. This was tough for me. Not being able to see my mom as much and knowing that Jenyi was struggling. This helped me grow spiritually and emotionally. I learned to put my trust in God, and as a family we spent many nights in prayer, hoping God would heal her. He didn’t. Instead, he chose to take her home to heaven. We didn’t understand, we had lots of grief and pain. I miss Jenyi, but I learned that everything was going to be okay. That good things came from bad, and that God can use these things to change people. After Jenyi died, we had to continue life, so we did. Not much later, in Des Moines for Labor day, we went boating with my mom's side of the family.
I began to accompany my mom when she went to pray for family friends, and also when she would go volunteer at events that took place at our church. I met different people from diverse backgrounds who had gone through different tragedies. Through prayers people who had lost a loved a one, or lost hope in bad situation in life had gained new hope once again. It was a beautiful thing to see others experience. We were all so different, but yet so similar when it came to our faith in God. That same faith has helped maintain a positive mentality, and always look towards the bright side in difficult situations within my communities. That faith has become an important part of who I am today. It has helped me immerse myself into trying new things such as helping people and becoming an involved member within my
I awoke to the sound of gunshots in the night. My air mattress had deflated and I was lying on the church’s cold tile floor. Police were banging on the doors and the security alarm was blaring. This was my first night in Memphis, Tennessee.
In September of 2015, the unexpected happened before my eyes, my grandmother experienced a stroke. Despite getting her to the hospital in a timely manner, I still blamed myself for not reacting quicker, or knowing at the time what I needed to do. It was a torturous night as well as the most frightening thing I have ever experienced. As I spent every moment I could by her side, a day came where I felt a sense of security in her recovery. On this day, my grandmother received a new nurse, and she was not anything short of amazing. She was courteous, helpful, and she made sure my grandmother received the best care possible. It was a blessing because I believed things were not going to change for the better, but she gave reassurance that God would