This is a continuation of a series every Friday where I will be highlighting the growth and healing of one of my readers, a new reader each week. These, my sweet ones, are their brave and vulnerable stories. Take heart…you are not alone. -Elisabeth
January 15, 2016 I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It devastated me. It also drew me closer to God and my dependence on Him. I have a deeper understanding of when Paul was talking about a thorn in his side and how it kept him in constant dependence on the Lord. Over the next few months during my morning time with God, He kept whispering to trust him….the storm was coming. I had no idea what was about to happen.
May 2016 my extended family wanted to give my son, daughter and myself the opportunity of a lifetime. My youngest sister lived on the island of Okinawa, Japan. I had many weird, unreasonable, gut reservations about it, however; we decided to go. July 2016 right before we left on our trip, my son Will called me from Colorado and said his face was paralyzed. The doctors said it was bells palsy; he just needed to take an antibiotic. We decided to go ahead with traveling to Japan. He was young, healthy and he could take his antibiotic with him. When we got to Japan, Will started having more symptoms. He couldn’t swallow and his left side went numb. We spent the next two agonizing weeks in a Japanese hospital not knowing what was wrong.
I made a decision in that Japanese hospital that I would trust God in this mess. I spent a lot of time wailing in my sorrow and sharing my fears with God I prayed with my son every day. I prayed every morning and night. Started praying on my knees. I had lots of struggles to discuss with God; mainly the guilt of the decision to go to Japan. I thought about Mary and what she felt like watching her son die on the cross before her eyes. One particular evening, when Will believed he was going to die, I wept in my son’s lap and I asked Will for forgiveness and he forgave me. I’ll never forget that moment.
By the grace of God, we were able to finally medically fly Will back to Denver, Colorado. During this time my son’s father and grandmother came to Denver. I had to let them help me with Will. My ex took the night shift, mostly because he was a nuisance during the day. The ex was extremely argumentative with staff and condescending to the nurses who came in to help my son. Trying to keep the ex calm and help my son became an unrelenting battle. The stress of Will losing his ability to breathe, see, walk or move his arms and the ex’s bad behavior, my Parkinson’s, and being so far away from family left me emotionally spent.
Strangers and friends began to pray for Will and my family. They would show up at the hospital in droves, so many gave to the gofundme page or sent money in the mail to us. Christians I had never met before began calling me on the phone and asking to pray with me. It left me humbled at the outpouring of love. All of the sudden I felt peace. It was the peace that goes beyond all understanding. It sustained me beyond the pain I felt everyday trying to take care of Will and trying to keep ex out of trouble. So many genuinely prayed for all of us. In fact, they are still praying for us. Friends I know who don’t usually pray, pray to God on a daily basis for my son’s healing and peace. To this day, the richness of God’s peace rules my heart.
-JW
If this sweet woman’s post resonated with your heart, please know that you are not alone. Here are a few resources for you:
If you would like to join my closed Facebook group called Hope & Healing, you can find it here.
If you’d like to receive my free resource “Is Your Healing Halted?”, sign up here.
If you need a nudge in your healing, I would love to work with you! Join me for one of my coaching courses.
If in a difficult marriage: Surviving in a Difficult Christian Marriage is available as a PDF/e-book: www.elisabethklein.com/books
If separated/divorced: Unraveling: Hanging onto Faith through the End of a Christian Marriage is available in paperback/e-book: http://tinyurl.com/phowp95
If a single mom: Moving on as a Christian Single Mom is available in paperback/e-book: www.elisabethklein.com/books