"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
This is my favorite Bible verse. It hit me like a 2x4 the night I discovered it in my reading. The "give thanks in ALL circumstances" was the part that got me. At the time, I recall going through one heck of a flare. I had lost a great deal of function on my entire left side. We had recently returned from an incredible place called the Family Hope Center, where we sought help for our son, then struggling with autism. My stress level hit "ludicrous", which woke Alice, who then went on a terror spree! Maybe if I'd have coined a name for my immune system back then, I'd have had a better sense of humor about it? But all the tripping, the falling, the fighting to put the turn signal on as I drove, primarily right handed...the beating I put upside my own head as I tried to shampoo my hair - well, it just wasn't all that funny. In fact, it was downright scary.
My neurologist, who normally calms me when I begin to get a little verklempt, was noticeably concerned and quickly put me on a course of 'roids. She also made the prognosis that I would most likely not regain full function on that side. Well isn't that special? Early 30's and that's that? I came home and cried...a lot. Then I prayed. And then I called the Family Hope Center to ask what I could do for myself, since they were brain experts. They told me to do as much cross patterned exercise as I could muster, be it crawling, creeping, cross country skiing, or elliptical machines. They reminded me of what I'd just learned about my son...that the brain is fully capable of forming new pathways around areas of damage.
So I did! Got on my belly and tried to pull my hefty self across the floor. I was about 80lbs heavier than I am today. Oh I'm still a sturdy girl, don't get me wrong...but to pull an additional 80lbs of myself across the floor with hardly any strength on one side was next to impossible! By God's grace, it began to work....slowly and surely. After a few weeks, and only a few weeks, I regained full function. I went in for a check up, which is the equivalent of a monkey's performance. She proclaimed, "this is incredible! This just doesn't happen!" Just another time where God spoke louder than man.
But the most incredible moment in my life where God spoke louder than man...the recovery my son has had from autism. That's the one that I can't speak of without tearing up every single time.
Ask according to God's will
1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
