Hey! How is everyone? Hope everyone is going okay! If you have kids, I hope you are surviving the 1st week of school! God has inspired me to share my testimony with you in what I call "Stories of Faith". I am 35 years old. God willing, I will be 36 in January. Since I have been born, I have lived a lot of life, been through a lot of hard times, had a lot of God-moments, and of course, have had good times as well! I hope and pray that God will use these "Stories of Faith" to bless you! And I hope God uses these stories to inspire you to do the same thing--share your own unique story as well!
So let's get started!
As you know, my name is Jerry. I was born on January 13th 1977 in Mobile, AL. If life was a college, my major would be survival. And I started taking survival classes as soon as I was born! On January 13th, my Mom (whose name was Patsy) was rushed to the hospital to give birth to me. The only problem was...I didn't want to be born! Ironically, for someone like me who doesn't know how to swim, I was enjoying swimming around in my mother's womb. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't want to come out and be born! This was BAD. Because this cause my Mom's blood pressure to go high. It got so bad, the doctor's asked my Dad (Jerry Sr.) who he wanted them to save. Of course, he chose both of us, if possible. So as I was swimming around, as soon as my head got to the birth canal, the doctor grabbed my head with a pair of tongs.
As soon as I was born, I started having seizures and almost died. My Mom almost died as well. I was quite the sick child. If you were to see my new born baby pictures, it looked like I went thru hell! I was bald, skinny, and had a red stain on what I was wearing---the red being the seizure medicine I had on.
This started years of taking seizure medicine (Dilantin and Phenonbabotol (sp?), going to doctor's appointments, taking blood, etc... My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Allen was so faithful in taking me to all my doctor's appointments and even taking me to the hospital when I needed to. My Mom wasn't really good at driving in busy city streets such as Mobile---the reason for my Aunt and Uncle taking me to all those appointments.
January 13th, 1977 wasn't the only date I almost died. When I was 7 years old (in 1984), I had a Grand Mal Seizure which is the most severe kind of seizure a person can have. I almost died from that one. In fact, according to family members, I was in a coma for 45 minutes. When I woke up, according to Uncle Allen, one of the first words that came out of my mouth, is that I asked for a cheeseburger! Also, back th en, the hospital did some type of MRI or brain scan..not sure which. But according to my family members, I had a scar on my brain. When they did the scan when I was 7 years old, the scar had disappeared! Praise God!
When I was 8 years old, 1985, I had another Grand Mal seizure in which I almost died! Thank Jesus I didn't! Five years later, in late June of 1990, when I was 13 years old, I went to another doctor's appointment at ap lace called "Crippled Children's Clinic". Dr. Schalub asked the basic same questions. When he foudn out that it has been 5 years since I had a seizure, he decided to take me off my seizure medication. He told me and Aunt Sharon and Uncle Allen that I could quit my medicine on July 3, 1990.
The first few days being off my medicine was a little strange since I felt a slight pressure in my head. But that soon left!
It has been 22 years since I have been off my seizure medication, and I haven't had any seizures! It has been a total of 27 years (since I was 8 years old) that I haven't had any seizures at all!
Uncle Allen back then once told me that I just "grew out of the seizures". However, i don't agree! I believe wit all my heart, soul, and mind that God healed me of my seizures and has kept me alive for a purpose! I may not always know what that purpose is, but I know God will reveal it in bits and pieces in His own perfect timing!
Thank you Jesus for healing me of seizures! I pray that the way I live my life in gratitude is a sweet aroma!
I really enjoyed reading this! :D Thank you for sharing personal stories! The blessings started when your dad chose to save both of you and you both were saved! Do you think your seizures were caused by a birth injury? Like the way they took you out? With Ben, I have no idea if it was a birth injury (it was possible) or if it was because of something Annie/I did. Not that it matters, but it's always something to think about! haha.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 22 years of no seizures! Do you ever fear that you will have another one? I like your outlook at the whole thing. Instead of looking at it as a physical/medical cure, you see it as a blessing from God! That's where all cures come from :)
Thank you for sharing this :D
Looks like you passed the course of survival with flying colors! What an amazing testimony! Did the doctors have to force your mom's water to break? Maybe that's what caused your seizures! Being seizure-free for 27 years is something to celebrate! You have overcome a lot of health trials and God was with you all the way!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think God puts certain things in our life to teach us a lesson of faith, understanding, hope, and to be grateful of the moments we often look past! One of my coworkers said that she spent most of her young adult life complaining and always wanting more. She never had any "real" problems, she just had problems within herself. She just wasn't happy with life no matter what. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was in her 30's and survived that! Now she looks at life differently and appreciates every little thing!
God didn't want you to go yet because he knew that you had more things to do on this earth when it comes to serving him. He also knew that you'd make a great husband and father!