My doctor has said that I am truly one of one. At 11 and 13 years old, I had severe curvature of the spine (a 60-degree S-shaped curve), for which I received painful corrective surgeries with rods and screws placed up and down my spine and a month in the hospital for each surgery. In my late 50s, I had a total spinal revision to relieve me of the incredible pain of failing hardware that had been placed in my spine in my early years. I have had two hip replacements with four revision surgeries on one hip that had been done incorrectly.
At Schweitzer, I serve on the prayer ministry team (a group of faithful individuals who gather regularly to support one another and grow in our prayer practice). Recently, I experienced what I can only describe as answered prayer. For days, I’d been suffering from unprecedented hip pain so severe I could barely move. Unable to attend our Sunday afternoon prayer meeting, I lay at home feeling hopeless. The only solution seemed to be consulting my specialist in St. Louis, a process that could take weeks or months.
My husband, also a prayer team member, attended the meeting in my absence and requested healing prayers on my behalf. Under Pastor Bob Casady’s guidance, the team prayed for me. That evening, I noticed a subtle improvement, not enough to walk normally, but a change nonetheless. My husband and I prayed together that night for complete healing. The next morning, I awoke to find the pain in my hip had completely vanished, and I was able to walk normally.
I was amazed and so thankful!
Some may call it a coincidence, but I recognize it as something more profound: a time when Jesus healed my pain.