Thankful For A Small Victory

 Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in for another Saturday post. I hope you are having a great day! I am doing good. 

I typed this post several days ago, but sadly It did not save right. When I returned to proof it a couple of days later, I found only a blank screen! What in the world? That is not what I expected to find! Here is my take two on writing this post.

Thank you all for always helping us pray for things when we ask! You all have helped us bear a lot of heavy burdens! Many of you have reached out to us this week to let us know that you are praying for my family! You will never know how much your prayers and encouraging words mean to us!

The Backstory

If you are new around here, let me give you some backstory. I was born premature and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) at 2 years old. `I will not rehash my entire life story. My life has been a series of miracles leading up to today. I have lived a fabulously blessed life!

Here is how CP affects me. My brain does not send the proper signals to my muscles. That is the reason I can not walk. My muscles are always tight. The tightness can cause me much pain and stiffness. I also have very little balance on my own.

We have been praying for my complete physical healing for 35 years. It has not been time for God to heal me yet. He has a purpose and plans for my life. I have tried to be content and trust His plan and timing.

God has been so faithful and helped me through my life. I will not retell the entire story today. God touched me miraculously in 2006. With God's help, I could relax some of my muscles some of the time. My pain went down 80 or 90 percent! It has been a fantastic blessing in my life.

Now I still have good, bad and occasionally horrible days. Thank God the good days have far outweighed the rest! Weather and other factors can contribute to my bad days. Other times they show up without warning. I push through and overcome. Soon it gets better.

Small Victory

I am here to share a testimony with you. I like to share answered prayers. I want to thank God for every victory, whether big or small!

Last month I had a horrible day physically that turned into weeks. This spell was almost three weeks of pain, stiffness, no balance, cramps and muscle spasms. I was miserable!

I usually do not share about the bad days. There was no hiding this one if you were around me. Changing positions was excruciating and difficult. My average speed of moving is much slower than most people's. During this time, I could not even move at my normal pace. Hurry was not even remotely possible. I would tell my brain to hurry. The correct message never was delivered to the proper channels, for my hurry speed to kick into gear.

At the two week mark, I was desperate for some help from God. I was not asking for my total healing at this point. I just wanted strength and relief. I would have moments of relief. I am so grateful!  

I reached out to a few close friends for extra prayer. They were gracious enough to come alongside me in my time of need. They bombarded Heaven on my behalf. Thank God for amazing friends!

During this period, I was pouring out my heart to God. There was a moment I felt my last thread of strength was breaking. I was at the end of my rope. 

The Lord gently reminded me of some of the times He touched me. He spoke to my heart and said, "I touched you, then I can touch you now." Oh, I rejoiced! I was thankful for the reminder. He was aware of my current situation!

Was I better right then? No, but I had peace. The bad days continued for another week. Then one moment, I transferred much easier from my bunk to my wheelchair. When I stood up, I felt strength back in my legs!

I rejoiced for a small victory! I may still have rough moments, but they have been getting less frequent! Thank God for coming to my rescue one more time!

Thanks for joining me today! I encourage you to thank God for small victories! Those small victories add up to big blessings!!

Odie