By the end of day 3, we were overwhelmed by the thrill of hearing and responding to God's voice; but we were also physically exhausted from our morning ministry (heavy yard-work on rough terrain). When the adrenaline of God's Treasure Hunt started to subside, I realized that I was limping and my knee was swollen, stiff, and in a great deal of pain.
I've been plagued with knee injuries, surgeries, and pain for years; but I never let my pain slow me down. After all, I am "strong polish woman" (pronounced – voooman). For several weeks leading up to the trip, I'd noticed that my daily/nightly knee pain had increased. I had recently lost a good bit of my flexibility/mobility/strength, and I had been thinking that one or both of my knees was going to need another surgery very soon. That morning's manual labor had simply been too much on already damaged knees, and I found myself sitting with icepacks during the nightly debrief. Having had knee problems for years, I knew that I had done additional damage that morning, and I was already planning to call my Dr. upon my return from TN.
Toward the end of our debrief, our sweet Project Leader – Casey Kowatch announced to the group of 40+ that they all needed to gather around me and pray for healing over my knees. Whoa! Why had that not even occurred to me? I've been to healing services. I've heard miraculous stories of God's healing power in scripture and current times (after all … I work surrounded by World Racers)! I certainly believe that God can heal us physically. Honestly, I think I didn't ask for prayer out of fear of disappointing the other participants. I knew how bad my knees hurt and the severity of my injury, and I didn't want to let anyone down if God decided not to heal me that instant … after all, I've lived with messed up knees for a long time. But, here I was … surrounded by prayer warriors; and the prayers of God's faithful were ringing out! I prayed along with the group believing that not only could God heal me, but that he would heal me!
After the prayer, we were dismissed for the evening and the group started to thin out as folks retired for the evening. I stood to go to my room as well, and I was amazed at the difference in my knees. I could bend them (no more swelling). The pain was gone too! A few moments later, Project Leader – Tom Kowatch asked me how they felt; and I was really pleased (& still kind of amazed) to tell him that they felt a LOT better. In fact, they felt the best they had all day (maybe … the best they'd felt in months). God is so good!
The next day = no knee pain. The next week = no knee pain. Nearly 1 year later = no knee pain (o.k. maybe a little knee pain every now and then) BUT, I've been working out and doing Zumba (hello … ZUMBA!!!) for months now! This time last year, I was counting on another knee surgery. Thanks to God's healing, I'm more active now than I've been in the last 4 years without a surgery!!!
"And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues."
1 Corinthians 12:27-29
Thank you God and thank you Casey/Tom for your faith and boldness in using God's gifts.
Stay tuned for Recognizing God's Treasure – Appalachia Day 4 … this is one more Appalachia/God-story that must be shared.
