At the age of 10, I fell from a cherry tree while picking cherries for a pie and hit my back on a very large rock; by the age of 22 I was told I had arthritis at the L 3-4 vertebra of my spine. At the age of 28, I decided to go into nursing. Over the course of 25 years I re-injured my spine several more times and was forced to leave nursing and go on permanent disability at the age of 57 due to arthritis in the T7-L1, L1-L2,  L2-L3, L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 of the vertebra in my spine. At the age of 47, I had surgery to my spine that helped for 4 years until an injury reversed the surgery and left me in more pain then before. I went to three surgeons in the state of Alaska and had my medical records sent to a surgeon at the University of Washington, all of whom stated they would not recommend further surgery for me.  

Over the years I have done physical therapy, water therapy, used several TENS units, then I had a spinal cord stimulator placed in 2011. I have had prayer for healing many times over the years also.  

On Friday, June 29, 2018 at the Friday Fling in Palmer, Alaska, my husband George and I met up with Pastor Bill and Sue Moore and his daughter Karin; we were visiting. We had been standing for about 15 minutes when I told them that I needed to go because my left leg was so numb that I was holding my husband’s arm so tight to keep my balance that he was beginning to notice it. I asked for prayer and the four of them surrounded me and prayed.

It was a warm Alaska summer day but the air got hot and so did my body. We were standing on a wide band of tar on the street and at the end of the time of prayer the group noticed that our shoes left imprints clearly in the tar that did not fade away.  I felt the pain leave my back, then my left leg. The heat was so intense in my back that my muscles relaxed and I could not stand on my own; I had to lean against Sue for a long period of time. Then the heat cooled down and I could feel my left foot. I have not felt my left foot for 20 years. That foot has been numb for 20 years, sometimes so numb that I would trip because I didn’t know if I was lifting it up high enough off the floor.  

George said he noticed how people wandered past us but, they did not seem to notice that we were praying or had our hands lifted up in praise to the Lord. He said it was as if we were in a bubble; he used the term “cone of silence” from the Get Smart show.  

It is now July 18th and there is no pain in my back. God has given me a great gift, a gift that I have been believing for, for many years.  He gave me the Grace to stand while I waited for this gift. I am so grateful for both the Grace and the Gift of His Healing.