100-Word Stories

The Lord graciously saved me from a horrible relationship. He is renewing and restoring me each and everyday. He is teaching me how to carry His victory and to live – without shame – under his mercy and grace. Praise the Lord!

I grew up in a house of chaos. An alcoholic father and a hippie hoarder mom famous for practicing voodoo; this was Louisiana after all. At this house, you got away with anything. Sadly, that also meant my childhood sexual abuse went unnoticed. I was gay too, for half my life. Today, I’m happily married and a mother. For many years at church, I would worry for any young girl in eye’s view. Sometimes admittedly jealous of our contrasts of fate. Until our first Easter in the new building here, God healed that wound. With a girl named Jude. Me and Him shared a special conversation that day.

Two years ago I experienced an early pregnancy loss. We were fortunate enough to get pregnant again a few months later, but I struggled with fear of losing it again. Last May, I lost my little brother out of the blue when I was 5 months pregnant, and that’s when I knew I was not meant to have the other pregnancy because my brother passed the day I would have been due. I lost my faith for a while during the pregnancy until the end I ended up delivering my baby two days before my brother’s birthday. I truly believe that was a miracle from God.

August, 2015, my son (13) was hospitalized in excruciating pain with severe necrotic pancreatitis due to a seizure medicine. Over the next 17 days, his life hung in the balance. His doctors prepared us that we might need to say goodbye. The church rallied in prayer and God graciously gave us our son, released from the hospital and home. He had a J-tube that bypassed his stomach, couldn’t eat for 30 days, developed sepsis from the part of his pancreas that died, and was not producing insulin or digestive enzymes. But God didn’t let that stand, completely restoring him!

On April 12, 2022 I faced a decision of leaving my marriage of 32 years. My husband is an alcoholic. I did not want to believe it. The pain and hurt he caused me emotionally, mentally, and financially has been very difficult. The gaslighting I dealt with for the past four years. We are still together through tough days and easy days, but God is working. As of today, as I write this in September 2022, he has not touched alcohol. Continue to pray as God is good all the time.

April 11, 2007: declared cancer free.

2019: I began to shake uncontrollably. I would wake up each day and be okay. Then, my head would start to shake rapidly. Sometimes a leg would quit working and I would need help walking. By the end of the day, my husband would carry me to bed. I would sleep and start again. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong.

April 11, 2022: God healed me! He told me, “You’re stronger than you think you are.” Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” I haven’t shaken since and it was on my cancer-free day!

This past month, my grandfather passed away unexpectedly. It’s been a struggle for us all, but the one it’s affected the most has been my grandmother. When I talked to her the day-of she could barely hold it together with her questioning as to “why,” or, “he wouldn’t leave me like this, would he?” And in that moment, I didn’t know how to respond nor could come up with anything other than, “I’m sorry, Nanny, and I’m here for you.” A few weeks later, and now when talking to her, there’s this assurance in knowing he’s okay. Healing takes time, and I know it’s just beginning.

My mother has been bedridden for the last two months with two broken ankles, and then recently a terrible virus she can’t seem to shake. I have tried to remain positive, but some days are harder than others. This week I was out to lunch with some friends and finally let it all out. We ended up praying for her, and for healing if it would be the Lord’s will. Not even five minutes later she asked if we could FaceTime, and so we did, and she showed me that she had the strength to stand up on her own in her boots. She hasn’t stood in almost three months!

I have struggled with Ménière’s disease for several years now, and this year it hit me particularly hard since my tinnitus was really loud and my hearing in my left ear was diminishing. Unfortunately, my doctor told me that my hearing would probably not come back since nothing seemed to be helping. People have been surrounding me with prayer, and last week I officially had my first week without any ringing in my ear since March! I feel like I can already hear much better, and I am just so thankful for God’s healing touch.

My wife Amber had a terrifying stroke at the beginning of the year. We spent days in the hospital trying to find out what caused it. The doctors found a blood clot in her leg and a hole in her heart, which allowed the stroke in her brain to occur.

We prayed for months for complete healing and a prognosis that would allow her to live stroke- and worry-free. After just six months the blood clot is completely gone and there is no lasting damage from the stroke! God met us in every moment. He never left us and worked while we waited.