It was August 2013, my mother, Louaine, an artist, and I traveled to Ames to Alex's new apartment to celebrate and decorate. We celebrated Alex's birthday and her move up, she'd graduated from Iowa State the previous May and it was time to move out of the undergraduate apartments to a building with more mature neighbor's, post-grads.
Her new apartment was slightly bigger, with a garage and a view.
We were excited to spend time with Alex and help her put the finishing touches on her new home. First things first, we went shopping. We purchased a stand with cubbies that hold baskets for extra storage, assembly required. That was okay, Alex and I are handy and with grandma to supervise, what could go wrong...right?
Wrong...after unpacking the material and beginning assembly we had the whole living room floor covered in cardboard, bubble wrap, particle boards, strange looking screws with special tools, instructions, everything we needed. Not far into the process as I was putting two boards together, Alex was walking across the living room floor when I heard a terrible thud and my mother gasp. Alex had miss-stepped and in the mess we'd created she couldn't correct it in time. According to my mother's eye witness account she twisted to a horrifying degree and fallen straight down on her ankle. By the time I looked up she was on the floor, in shock and said she couldn't move.
This was serious, I sensed it immediately. Growing up Alex was notorious for spraining her ankles, she always got up. I quickly went for an ice pack and Ibuprofen. We applied the ice there on the living room floor, her leg still off to her side and sort of behind her. She looked terribly uncomfortable, my mommy heart was breaking for her. Oh, there is nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain.
But it wasn't just her pain bothering me, I saw all our weekend plans dashed as I envisioned her laid up for days. Plans to put all the finishing touches on her new home, organizing, decorating, putting furniture together, going out to eat, exploring the city, but most of all spending time living, laughing and loving together. I know our time together is precious, since she left for college 4 years prior, we often go months without seeing each other.
That's when Holy Spirit prompted me to lay my hands on her ankle and pray for healing in the name of Jesus. I prayed with complete faith that Jesus would heal her and He did. Not long after Mom and I helped her up and over to the couch. She was already able to put weight on it. By the next day she had a little pain but we shopped most of the day and it was only slightly sore and swollen at the end. She told us later that as she sat there in pain she was sure her ankle was broken. She too was having horrible visions of her next trip to the hospital for a cast. She knew it was worse than any sprain she'd ever felt. But by the power of Jesus and by Alex's faith in Him, she was healed.
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned around and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." (NKJV)
James 5:13-18 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.(NKJV)
Some who have read this may be thinking it was the ice and the pain reliever and that it was not broken, after all how could she know that for sure. To you I will say this, I know by her testimony and by being a witness, that her previous 5 ankle sprains took up to a week or more to heal. So even if her ankle wasn't broken, the pain she felt in her ankle and the swelling it caused was worse than any other sprain she'd experienced, ice and Ibuprofen did not heal her almost instantly.
1Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed. (NKJV)
Thank you Jesus for your healing power, thank you that you are the author and finisher of our faith.
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NKJV)
Praise the Lord!
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