Just Getting Home...

Hello to all 20 of my followers!...lol..I hear that more than that read my blog, but for some reason they don't follow me, which is ok if they don't want to...I say a friendly Hello to all my visitors as well!!!...
It's been several days since i've last posted...I just got back from Disney yesterday. We went down there with Cindy, Anthony and Landon..and Janet and Kevin Sanders and their family. We had a lot of fun as always...but i'm glad to be home. It was hot down there...a lot hotter than I remember it being for this time of year...and I could definitely tell a difference in how I held up this time...I have to use a scooter because I have severe Arthritis in my knees and ankles, and i've been using a scooter for the past 3 yrs now when I go down there...but this time, my knees hurt from just sitting and them being bent all day...I had a very hard time walking even the shortest distances....I wish I could feel free to ask the Lord to heal me, but He's already done that once before when I was younger.....
I had gotten up one Easter morning and my ankles felt sore. It felt like I had sprained them both. By the end of the day, I couldn't stand to put any pressure on them...Tony had to carry me to the car to go home. Needless to say we were concerned...I had no idea why I couldn't walk or what had happened...As the week wore on, my ankles got worse, and it started affecting my knees. Knots had come up in my legs. After about a week of just getting worse, I went to the Dr. He ran some tests and the results were I had RA...Rheumatoid Arthritis...he said that as fast as I was going down, I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life within weeks. There was nothing they could do other than pain management...devastated and confused as to why this happened, I went home with no hope of getting better, just something to help with the pain. I was a young mother, with 2 school age kids...they were only in like 1-2 grade...Slowly I got worse, the med's weren't helping much at all with the pain..I talked to Tony and told him that I didn't want to take the medicine anymore. I wanted to trust the Lord. If He didn't heal me, I would be in a wheelchair soon. I have always been an active person. We sang in a group. I thought of all the changes in our life that would have to be made...and I cried. I cried at night that I wouldn't be able to raise my children. Within a couple of weeks, I could no longer walk, even with assistance. My legs would not support me. They were swelled, full of knots and looked awful. But I was determined to push forward. When it was time to get the kids up for school, I would crawl down the hall using my arms. I couldn't use my legs at all. They were like dead weight...but I could not let myself give up. They didn't have cordless phones at that time, ours hung on the kitchen wall...and when it would ring, by the time I could work myself to it, they had already hung up...I don't know what I was thinking anyway...I couldn't have stood to take it off the hook..so after a few times, Tony got me a phone that sat on our coffee table...after a few weeks of struggling like this, I took another downward turn. I was in constant pain, and it was getting worse. I was having trouble eating, I guess being in bad pain, my body wasn't focusing on food...therefore I grew weaker..Now, I was going to church and having them pray for me..and once they met at the church to pray for me, and I would get some ease..once I even fell asleep on the bench as they prayed and they just left me there asleep and proceeded to have service..lol. But, despite all the prayers, I grew worse daily. In just a few short days, I was bedbound. I remember totally breaking down when I could no longer care for myself. I could do nothing, not even feed myself, my hands had drawn...all my personal care had to be handled by the sisters...that is a humbling experience. As they took care of me, I could feel the love and compassion they had for me..they knew that it could have just as well been one of them. In just a short time, I went from a normal 20 something year old mother, to a bedbound invalid...we were trying to have faith that the Lord was going to heal me, but I still grew worse..even my toes started to draw back towards the bottom of my feet...my head hurt constantly, my knees and ankles were swollen and feverish, throbbing with each heartbeat...I had lost 36 lbs in 3 weeks..and was hardly eating or drinking anything. My kidneys were producing something that looked like coffee, nothing like normal. I was beginning to find it hard to stay awake...hard to focus...the only time I was really at myself was when the pain was bad...and when it seemed I would only last a few more days.......
It was Sunday night, around 10pm. I was in so much pain, I couldn't hardly bear it. Tony told me that we needed to call them in to pray, but I refused. I told him that it was no use. He then asked me to at least call Sis Charlotte Stephens..we were and still are good friends, and he at least wanted me to tell her..so I did. She, like Tony, told me I needed to call the Children of God in to pray...again, I said, "I already have, 3 times"...it was late, and I figured they were ready to go to bed..but she insisted, saying..."that is what they are here for"..."this is part of our duty, to pray for you"....finally, I said ok...she arrived within minutes, and began calling them in...Tony had gotten me settled in the bed, and I lay there, still as I could as to not cause any more pain...2 brothers walked in the room and stood at the foot of my bed. I lay there with my eyes closed, and I heard one of them say.."She'll be dead in 2 days"...Oh my Lord!!!....and then as the others came in I could hear them saying things like..."I am so down"..."meeting was dry as a bone, I didn't get anything out of it"..."my mind is so bothered"....and i'm laying there thinking..."Lord, you have sent me a bunch of dud's to pray for me"..."there ain't no way i'm gonna get healed tonight!"....lol...I can still remember the feeling of desperation I had as I listened to them talk...I just knew I should have not listened to them two...but as Br Jr called them to order, and began to say a few words about what they were there for, a calm came into the room...I was still just laying there, quiet and still...and they began to pray...in what seemed like a few minutes, the Lord came into the room...quietly at first, but the Saints began to feel Him there with us...they began to pray harder, and the next thing I knew, Br Jr laid hands on me...I opened my eyes, and saw the Saints rejoicing..Br Jiggs Brewer was jumping up and down, under His power..I had a ceiling fan going in the room, and his hands would go in between the blades...that was amazing!...some of the other Children of God were up shouting too...and they laid hands on me...my hands began to straighten out...and the pain left...Now I don't know what some of ya'll are gonna think about this part, but it happened...some saw a figure, dressed in white, standing outside that bedroom window. Couldn't make out a face..but I think it was Slick, who ran out the door and looked at the outside of that window, and saw no one. There was no way whoever was standing there could have known he was going to do that, cause he wasn't in the bedroom with me and they wouldn't have seen him leave it to check...I think Slick just heard them talking and went out to see...myself, along with several others, believe it was an Angel, sent with healing, to come to me. But regardless, it was an amazing night...everyone there got spiritual help, I was no longer in any pain, and I had a sense of peace...from that day forward I begin to improve. At this point I had been bed bound for 2 weeks..it was another week before I could actually get out of the bed..It had been 3 weeks since my feet had touched the floor....but I was eating and drinking again...I began to sit at the edge of the bed at first, then starting taking little steps...it took a few weeks before my strength and appetite were back to normal...but I finally got to where I could walk alone again... and i've been walking ever since!...there was a sister who worked for the Dr I saw about this and he asked her how I was doing..he was concerned because he knew that the RA had hit me hard and fast and was curious about my condition..when she told him what had happened, and that I was back to normal, he was stunned..
That's been many, many years ago. I have raised my children. I am literally a walking miracle. That shouldn't have been my fate..but the Lord was good to me..and every now and then, I think about the pain i'm in now, and I feel selfish asking Him to take it away...this is just plain old age Arthritis, a disease I developed from too many years of WALKING on cement floors...lol ..I feel sorry for all the people that don't have the Lord to help or heal them...I'm one of the lucky ones...and i'm thankful for all the good years He gave me...