Thursday, September 29, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday

I'm too shy to link up with the official WIWW but apparently not too shy to take a (blurry) picture of myself and post it.


Friday, September 16, 2011

As My Neck Turns

Thrilled to be en route to a family holiday in Galena, I removed my seat belt.  My husband was driving and I was in the second row of our mini van, so what harm could there be in shifting our provisions around a bit?
Plenty, when the older gentlemen in the next car veered into our lane.  Brakes slammed, and so did I, right into the seat in front of me.  Since I had been partially standing, my head and neck bounded away from my body for a moment.
Fast forward to the next morning.  I awoke from a night of restless sleep to find whiplash had frozen my neck and upper shoulders.  Holiday? Ha!
Creeping around our condo and trying to take care of everyone without moving my head or shoulders was frustrating.  Thank God for my husband, who stepped into the gap and heroically escorted our three small children to the resort pool.   Four times.  Within 48 hours.
The pain and stiffness began to fall away slightly as the hours and days passed.  However, Sunday morning I was back home and still couldn't pick up my youngest daughter for the pain radiating down my left arm.  I was starting to panic.  My husband was gracious, but his grace wouldn't cover my temporary disability once he was in Tokyo.  His departure was in three days.
At church, the message barely registered.  The service flowed over and around me as I waited for prayer time.  At last, I went forward and found two gentlemen to pray for me.
Physical healing by the Holy Spirit is something I've been privileged to hear much about and even witness over the last 10 years.  I cried to the two prayer warriors and to the Lord about the pain in my neck, upper back and arms, and then experienced healing for myself.
My arm and much of the pain in my back disappeared.  But knowing all of my needs, God didn't stop with my physical body.  He prompted one of the men to speak about the "whiplash of the heart" I was suffering.  Exactly.
Realizing that the Lord of the Universe knows the state of my internal being floored me and flooded me with peace.
Since then, my neck and back have gradually returned to full function.  I am posting this today because on the two week anniversary of the accident, I went through the day and not once did I note, "OUCH, that bit of my neck apparently wasn't healed!".  The peace ebbs and flows a bit with the rhythm or lack thereof in the days, but even at ebb, it's more with me than before.
How have you been healed?  Or how would you like to be healed?