Years ago in a grade-school gym class our teacher wanted us to do headstands on the mat.  She did one herself but didn't really give us any instructions. Then we all tried. No one was able and many of us fell. Then she instructed us to start by putting our hands flat on the mat and getting our balance with and our knees on our elbows before lifting our feet and arching our backs.

Although her instructions were good ones and I eventually could do a great headstand, they were too late. In the fall I had twisted my back and neck. I was out of school for about a week and can still remember the severe pain, but nobody realized what had really happened and what problems would develop over the years.

Several years later as my Mom was making me a dress she noticed my shoulders were uneven and I was developing a bump on my left shoulder blade so she took me to a doctor who specialized in spinal injuries.  He tested me to see what movement I had lost and took x-rays.  He found that two vertebrae in my back had been forced together pinching off the blood vessel that fed the top muscle of my left arm. It also forced my neck to curve opposite to what it should be. 

There was nothing he could do to improve my injured condition, except send me to a doctor that would stretch my spine and give me some exercises that might develop stronger muscle around the injured area. He also put me in a brace, which was very painful, but it was to help pull my shoulder back so I could stand straight.  In spite of all the efforts to help me, over the next 15 years my shoulder drooped more and more and the hump became bigger. The top part of my arm became useless and hung close to my body, lifting my arm up was impossible even though I had some use of the lower part of my arm. Because my shoulder dropped forward my back became wider and store bought clothes no longer fit. They cut into my skin at the front of my shoulder so I resorted to making all my own clothes. I even had to make my own pattern that was extra large in the shoulder area to fit in a wider sleeve.

My bone structure had become deformed. Just as the dear woman in (Luke 13:10-13) who had a crippling spirit, I to had a crippling spirit through that injury as a child. Even though I had gone to church for years, the fact that I wasn't taught the gospel of Christ through repentance and salvation left me open for any spirit to come in and bind me through my weaknesses, injuries or an illness. God has great protection for his children who are taught to receive and obey the truth of his word. Thanks be to Jesus and the fact that he gave his life for me, I found God's truth and he had a miracle for my back.

When I was 26 years old my husband and I were born again into the light and the knowledge of Christianity and we were searching for a good church that would teach the fullness of the word of God. We had read our Bible and the scriptures led us to believe that God had more for us than what we were seeing in the churches we were attending.  Scriptures like (HEB 13:8) God does not change, also (Mark 16:18b) and (John 14:12-14) that true ministers of the gospel would have signs and wonders. In our search we found a church where the minister taught the infilling of the Holy Spirit which we had already received and he also prayed for the sick. As we watched for several weeks it seemed like people were getting healings and miracles. I was persistent with prayer because it was not what I was used to and did not want to be fooled by anyone. By the excitement and expressions of the people being prayed for I knew they were getting something, especially the small children. The innocence of a child is something no one can fake. I saw them get everything from their hearing and speech to their minds being recreated. It was amazing and I constantly prayed to God for his reality and truth in all I was seeing. Although I read about so many miracles and healings in the Bible I was desperate for the revelation of his work today in our times. After several weeks God answered my prayer in a way that I would never have to question his power for modern day miracles again. He proved he had not changed and his love and concern for our well-being was in heavenly proportions.

Through an unusual set of circumstances, one evening at church, we managed to get a seat in the middle up front.  I was anxious as the prayer line formed because now I would really be able to see everyone close and what God was doing. The first person in line was a man with back trouble. The preacher turned to the people and said, "It's not me that heals anyone but God. If you have back trouble you can be healed as I pray for this man." I had never prayed to God for healing in my back before so I bowed my head and said to God, "Well they said it was my back." I know that wasn't much of a prayer but God heard.  Immediately I felt a warmth go down my spine and it went up feeling cold. Then it felt like a hand was pressing in the middle of my spine and my left shoulder was being pulled from the back. It began to jerk and crack overwhelming me to the point that all I could say was Oh! Oh! I wanted my family to see my shoulder jerking back into place so I turned to my Mom and pointed to my shoulder but  I guess the noise I made in church embarrassed her and she turned away. So I turned to my husband, pointed and made the same noise, and he was excited for me. One of the ushers saw the episode and came over to see what was wrong and he told her.  Then she told the pastor and he asked me about my miracle. I was still so overwhelmed I could hardly speak. Later I found out that it was special to him also, because it was the first time anyone received a miracle of recreation in his service without him using the biblical principal of laying on of hands. (Luke 4:40-41)

There I was one minute with a bent over crippled back and arm, then the next minutes sitting up straight. It was so amazing. The next week the whole left side of my body felt strange.  The blood flow had been restored to the muscles and I could now use my arm which made it a little sore, but sore felt good.