God Writes the Best Love Stories

To the beautiful women and mothers of our town, this story is to encourage you to take a step of faith:

My earliest memories are of my parents’ devotion to God, a faith they instilled in me at birth. My parents’ love story started with a step of faith followed by a miracle on the day they met. It is a story of a young girl’s faith. A story that is proof God hears and answers a mother and young woman's prayer. 

A Deadly Paralyzing Disease

In 1952, my mother was an innocent young teenage girl, 14 years old, when she contracted a deadly form of spinal polio. She was the same age as my youngest daughter Kaitlyn is now.  

In critical condition, my mother was hospitalized at St. Luke’s in Kansas City, Missouri. Doctors informed my grandparents that their only daughter would not survive. Word was sent to my mother’s older brothers in the military to return home to say their farewells.  My grandmother, a woman of faith, was determined to fight this deadly disease that threatened to take her daughter's life.

An Unanswered Prayer

With no medical means to cure her, my grandmother gathered her lady friends around my mother’s hospital bed. Together, these women prayed and interceded with God on my mother’s behalf. They asked God to spare her life. They asked God to heal her body.    

God heard their prayers that night. God saw my grandmother’s tears, saw her faith and need.  God did answer her prayers, but did not give her the answer she desired. 

God is faithful. God is all knowing, all seeing, everywhere.  Even in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us and He has an eternal plan for our lives.   Sometimes God tests our faith. Sometimes God does not give us everything we want or ask for or even give us what we think we need. When we are walking through the valley, in our despair we often cannot see that God’s answer may not be the answer we wanted, but it is the answer to our prayer.

My mother did survive that fateful night at St. Luke’s.  But, in the morning she was left paralyzed on her lower left side, her left leg paralyzed.   There was nothing the doctors could do for her.  She was paralyzed for life, afflicted with a disease that at the time was epidemic. She was told she would probably never have children. My mother and her parents were devastated.

Eventually, the doctors released her to return home.  

In a body brace and on crutches, my mother returned to her hometown in Versailles, MO, devastated by the crippling disease.  She attended church with her mother, but, the noisy crowd and loud singing and rejoicing and clapping proved too hard on her fragile nervous system. My stern grandfather (an unbeliever who was the mayor of the town) forbade my grandmother to take their paralyzed daughter to church anymore.  Her disease had ravaged her youth and left my mother without hope of any normal life.

Hope

Then one day, my mother read in the newspaper that an evangelist was coming to Sedalia, MO to pray for the sick and lame.  My mother was still little more than a child. She was paralyzed by a hopeless disease that had left her leg atrophied and shrunken in size from non-use. 

For the first time my mother’s child-like faith rose up inside her. She felt hope where there was none before.  She begged her mother to take her to Sedalia to visit my great grandparents and attend the healing service.  I can imagine how she pestered my grandmother to take her to Sedalia… I think my girls may have inherited this trait from my mother as my kids certainly have elevated pestering me to an art form.  Lol!

My grandmother finally gave in to my mother and agreed to take her to Sedalia. Their quiet defiance of my grandfather’s prohibition against attending church was an act of faith. They knew my mother was fragile, her nervous system unable to handle the large crowds. Together, they planned a visit to my great grandparents’ home in Sedalia to coincide with the healing services that they had been forbidden to attend.

The night of the healing service, my mother was brought into the church in a body brace and on crutches. Inside, there was standing room only in the packed church.  Kids were sitting in the window sills and aisles. At the front of the church a 19 year old guy was cockily giving orders to bring fresh air inside the packed house.

Prayer

During the service that same young man preached and prayed for the sick.

When it was my mother’s turn to be prayed for, the evangelist prayed for God to heal her. She was expectant, believing God had the power to heal her. The young evangelist then did a surprising thing. He commanded her to throw down her crutches, remove her body brace, and walk up the aisle.

He was commanding her to take a step of faith but it was one that was impossible for her to perform as she was paralyzed on one side.

A Step of Faith

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yet, in her child-like faith, my mother followed the evangelist’s instructions and removed her body brace and discarded her crutches. It was an act of faith as she knew she could not walk as her left leg was paralyzed.

And then something happened.

She took a step of faith. She took one baby step unassisted. Then another baby step.  And then another. Until soon she was walking, one foot in front of the other down the aisle of the church.

"So we are always of good courage. .... for we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 

A Miracle

With confidence my mother walked up and down the aisle that night, faster and stronger and more steadily, as people gave the glory to God. My mother was healed. She was no longer paralyzed.

It was a miracle. It happened instantly. Her miracle flowed from her faith in God, a word of prayer and a step of faith. And God completely healed her.

When she arrived at my great grandparents’ home that night, she walked in their front door unassisted. They thought she was suffering from some form of hysteria … that she would wake up in the morning paralyzed again. Their unbelief did not deter my mother or grandmother.  Their faith was stronger than my great grandparents' unbelief.

When my mother went to the doctor for her check- up, she walked into the doctor’s office in high heels. The doctor measured the circumference of her legs. With tears in his eyes he declared both of her legs were the same size. He was a witness to her miracle.

My grandfather, previously an unbeliever, became the promoter of the ministry of the young evangelist who prayed for his daughter.

A Love Story

As you may have guessed by now, the night of the healing service was the night my mother met my father.  He was the cocky young man who she observed ordering everyone around before the service. He was the young evangelist who prayed for my mother.  He was the 19 year old who told her to throw down her crutches and walk. He was the young man who told her with God’s power she could do the impossible.

My mother fell in love with my father that night. She was only 14 years old. Her mother told her to hold her love close in her heart, and if it was of God, it would come to pass.

Four years later my parents were married. They have now been an inseparable team for 56 years. My parents are still deeply in love, best friends. Their ministry in helping others has an exponential ripple effect as they raised up young ministers to minister to others who in turn reach out and touch the lives of tens of thousands of people across this nation and the world. Their children and grandchildren are their legacy. 

Our family is a family of faith, our lives dedicated to God from childhood. We are not perfect. We have failings. At times we have doubts and uncertainties and cares. It is in those quiet moments that God speaks to me.

With my mother, God speaks to her wherever she is, driving, looking for a parking space, washing laundry, cleaning house. God is on her speed dial. No wonder, her faith is strong.

Prayer

Lord, I pray for the women in our town. Give us courage to pray for our children like my grandmother prayed for her daughter. Give us courage to take a step of faith like my mother took when she threw down her crutches knowing a step was impossible. Give us the faith to believe in You. Work a miracle in each of our hearts. 

A Journey of Faith

I wrote the story of how two women in my family took a step of faith that led to a miracle.  I hope you will join me on this journey as we explore our faith and femininity and God’s healing power and what He has in store for the beautiful women of our town.  

Blessings to all of you!

SharonRose

Other Articles on My Blog

*CALLING ALL DAUGHTERS OF EVE! http://losgatos.patch.com/groups/women-faith-inner-beauty-healing-and-purpose/p/calling-all-daughters-of-eve_5f9f3ddf

*GOD WRITES THE BEST LOVE STORIES http://losgatos.patch.com/groups/women-faith-inner-beauty-healing-and-purpose/p/god-writes-the-best-love-stories

*YOU ARE NOT ALONE: http://losgatos.patch.com/groups/women-faith-inner-beauty-healing-and-purpose/p/you-are-not-alone_a9bbcf02