We have one of those erasable calendars on our refrigerator. I purchased it when Katherine, the recent bride, was in middle school. The calendar holds six weeks, and I just erased the first three weeks of August to fill in the rest of the month and all of September, getting ready for future commitments.

It was difficult to erase Wedding Day, the day we had aimed at for an entire year and prayed about for her entire life. But time marches on. Beautiful days come, and they go. It’s still hard to believe it’s over, and we’ve moved onward. We had our eyes fixed on that one spot for so long!

I’ve written about the impact of our youngest daughter’s wedding and about my husband’s wedding speech, but I have something personal to tell you about, because the effect carries forward into my future. Clearly, something has changed.

I started the trip up to Katherine and Christian’s wedding with much prayer. Tim and I had prayed about this wedding together every day for over a year. Our church here was praying for us as we traveled and for my health in particular. My parents always pray for me. In our previous church, the elders had anointed me with oil and prayed over me twice. Many friends have prayed for me numerous times. Therefore, much prayer has been offered up to God over these past seven years.

On top of that, in the airport, I began the trip up for the wedding by being prayed over by people I didn’t even know. A Christian woman named Luda and her family approached me—she is the matriarch of a large and beautiful family from Africa and Ukraine. Luda said the Lord had sent her and her family to pray for my healing.

Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. God works in mysterious and wondrous ways beyond our comprehension.

I’ve always known that should the Lord deem that healing was best for me, then the act of healing would be no problem. He’s the Creator of the universe. He can do anything. But, so far, he has proven over and over to me that this illness has been for my good. It has taught me to rely on the Lord, and it has shown me my weaknesses of pride and self reliance, as I try to do everything in my own strength.

But, here was a perfect stranger approaching me to pray for my healing. I don’t look outwardly sick. The illness is largely “invisible.” The fact that the Lord had sent someone to pray specifically for me — someone who didn’t know me at all while I wear no visible outward sign of sickness — seemed to be confirmation that this was something the Lord wanted to do at this time. 

Aware of all of that, of course, I accepted Luda’s prayers and that of her family. During prayer, the Holy Spirit burned in my heart, like when the disciples’ hearts burned on the road to Emmaus. After they prayed, I bounded out of the airport and got to work, mentioning their prayers to the friend who picked me up and watching to see what God would do with these prayers.

So, what happened? I had amazing strength for the tasks at hand — two full weeks of exhausting activity that followed. It was incredible! The amount of energy I’ve been experiencing and the joy I’ve felt show clearly in the video clip at the bottom of this post.

God performed so many miracles, kindnesses, empowerments, and gracious love promptings during the entire two weeks! All of our prayers were answered! None of this had anything to do with my/our strength, plans, godliness, or lack thereof. None of us became perfect in order to merit this help from the Lord, most certainly not me. I distinctly remember losing my temper with my husband at a crucial moment, so perfection on my part was clearly not achieved.

Yet, in spite of this, God sent unexpected healing. Jesus empowered my body to function in a healthy way and to accomplish strenuous work.

Now I’m home again, where I first focused on self care and recovery from our labors. I do turn sixty soon, and during these recent years I’ve learned to take care of my body, something I never knew how to do before. I steward my body’s resources carefully for good health and maximum productivity as a wife, mother, grandmother, and writer. The human body has limitations—even Jesus got tired and slept, even in a flooding boat.

But, I’m feeling fine and well. I’ve never experienced that sinking feeling of sickness this entire time of focused prayer. In fact, I haven’t since I went up for the wedding shower and my local church and so many friends prayed about this specifically.

I can’t wait to see what we find out when my bloodwork is drawn in September. Confirmation of total healing wouldn’t surprise me at all. God can do whatever he chooses as best for my life, whether he’s granted a temporary reprieve or a total turn around of my condition. He gives exactly what I need, both during wedding week and now. I’m feeling better than I have in years. God works wonders! Whatever he does, either way, is good.

The Lord has blessed abundantly! Thanks be to God!

Dancing the night away!
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