I was raised in a church that taught me that miracles died with the Apostles. It was said that those who practiced these things were out of God’s will and they were frauds. Then last week my son was healed of a life altering allergy. Now I’m standing in my faith taking baby steps towards whatever God has planned for my family through all of this. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them)
Last week Benny went to a healing conference with our friend Zack. He learned some amazing things and we are now pursuing God in new and powerful ways. Among them, believing in God’s power and what He’s doing in the world, and discarding what we were taught by people who decided what God can and can’t do. Or is it what God does and doesn’t do? Do we really think we can tell God what He can and can’t do? How arrogant is that??
A little history:
Almost since birth, Pete has suffered from food allergies – dairy being the most severe. Nursing him resulted in projectile vomiting and we didn’t know why. When solid foods were introduced, certain foods (like eggs, wheat, soy, and many more) made him break out all over. As a mom, I felt sorry for him and myself that I could do nothing to help him. His little body was covered in raw patches that he couldn’t stop scratching – causing him to bleed. I prayed all the time that God would take away his eczema. We tried everything and our doctor was stumped too. He recommended a dermatologist and the guy we saw was a cocky jerk. His expensive creams didn’t help at all. He was almost 1 when it was finally diagnosed as food allergies. While in the middle of trying an elimination diet, we moved to Colorado and began looking for a church. I got a small glimpse of what leprosy must be like as we were kicked out of nurseries when the workers saw his skin and feared for the safety and health of the other children. My explanation of his eczema went unheard. Then we visited the church Heather (my good friend now) goes to and she was the one in the nursery. Instead of shunning me, she told me she thought she could help us. Pete was 2. Between Heather and our friend Dr. Brian, they were able to heal most of Pete’s allergies through allergy desensitization, but dairy still remained a serious problem. Fast forward a year and a half to the healing conference…
On Friday night the kids and I drove to Castle Rock to attend the evening worship service. Hundreds of people had been healed the night before and Benny and I wanted healing for Pete. I was skeptical, but extremely hopeful. Throwing off theological baggage is hard work and I wasn’t there yet. I was the parent in the Mark 9:24 statement, “I do believe, help me in my unbelief”.
I felt a little out-of-place as we stood in the back, but I could not deny the energy in the room. The Holy Spirit was poured out on this place! Sometime I’ll share some of the other healings that took place that weekend, but this is Pete’s story. The kids were getting antsy so we took them out in the lobby for a bit. A woman saw our energetic 3-year-old running around and asked Benny if her family could pray for him. They went to a quiet room away from the crowd and began praying healing over Pete. Suddenly Pete said, “Popa! What’s that singing?” Benny told him that no one was singing, but Pete insisted that someone was singing even though no one else in the room could hear it. Angels singing over my little boy? Wow. Were they praising God for His wonders? Were they ministering to Pete’s spirit? I don’t have an answer for that.
Later when our family surrounded Pete in prayer again, Max put his hand on Pete and looked like he was concentrating hard. Then he said, “Popa, I think God just gave me a message in my heart…He said Pete is going to be healed by midnight.” Was this my 7-year old prophesying??? I was stunned. He is a baptized believer, but this was new to me and strange. Throughout the night we received confirmation in so many ways that we chose to believe what the Holy Spirit was doing and embraced the promise that Pete was healed. I was so incredibly tired as we drove back to Denver that night that I prayed the whole way home. “Please God, keep me awake and get us home safely. Please God, heal my little boy! Please God, help me believe in healing. Please God, show me what to do. Please God, let this be real.”
We all woke up on Saturday morning and it was time to test the healing out. The kids had cereal for breakfast and I put regular milk in Pete’s bowl instead of the rice milk he usually drinks. His only reaction was “Mommy, rice milk tastes better than this.” Nothing physical happened. His reactions usually occur within seconds of coming into physical contact with dairy products. I immediately thanked God for the healing and continued to wrestle with this new-found step of faith. For lunch, Pete had a cheeseburger. He picked the cheese slice off and asked me, “Can I eat this?” “Yes Pete, God healed you.” So he ate the cheese first. Still no reaction. Well, being the giant of faith that I am, we had cheese pizza for supper. 😉 No reaction. Sure, we ate unhealthy food all day, but I was testing God’s promise. I wanted to believe so badly and yet there was still a small part of me that was bracing myself for a let down. But here’s the truth of our situation:
My son, who has never been able to touch let alone ingest dairy products,
is now completely healed of his dairy allergy.
I wish I could say that I’m not stunned, that I knew it would happen all along, but I can’t. Here’s what I know now – I’m believing the promise and proclaiming God’s power! I’m so incredibly grateful for what God has done and is continuing to do in my heart and head. I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do next…
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