Why we pray.

At nine months old Abigail couldn't/wouldn't put weight on her legs. If you held her up to a standing type position she would stick her feet straight out. If you put her in the exersaucer they sort of just dangled. We had just found out that she had NF1. I had known for a while she wasn't putting her legs down like most babies did, but kept it stored away for "just in case." So I mentioned it at her nine month check up. The doctor thought it constituted further investigation, and ordered an MRI. Insurance denied it.

So at this point we were stuck trying to figure out what to do. Our pcp could appeal to our insurance company. We didn't have an appointment with the NF clinic until October (this was July). Or we could apply for a state insurance specifically for children with special needs that MIGHT cover it. I felt so helpless to figure out what was going on with our baby.

I was reading in James one night and had to stop at this part:

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up." -James 5:13-14

I immediately felt like God was asking me to be obedient to His word. I didn't feel like He would or wouldn't heal her. Just that His word said to have the elders pray. So we did. And a few night later our pastor and his wife and children, as well as two of the elders and their families came and layed hands on Abigail, anointed her with oil and prayed. I could feel God moving. I didn't know what He was doing, but knew that He wanted to show Himself.

Before they all left our pastor's wife held Abigail up and she put weight on her legs. I was astonished, and wasn't certain if I believed it. I couldn't get her to do it again and thought it was probably just a fluke.

The next day we were playing at a friends house whom I had told all of the previous too. I was showing her how Abigail couldn't put weight on her legs, but instead all she kept doing was standing on her legs. I was nearly in tears as I watched it happen.

Over the next few months Abigail began to crawl finally, pull herself up, and eventually walk. With each new milestone I never forgot that God healed her. We didn't know if there was a tumor somewhere He had healed, if the leg issues were from her low muscle tone, or if we would ever know what He had healed. We simply rejoiced at our God's ability to perform miracles. And I still look at her sometimes, standing, dancing, jumping, and (making an attempt at) running and know that God did something, and has something awesome planned for her life.

There is more to this story....so you will have to stay tuned.